1. Altering the construction of the bass drum to improve the sound quality of the bass drum
2. Removing the images and using smaller sound files to enhance sound quality
3. Labelling the parts of the drum for ease of use and set-up
LAST BLOG UPDATE FOR MY TECH PROJECT
This project has without a doubt, challenged me through it's hurdles and malfunctions allowing me to develop a skill in an area which I previously had limited knowledge and expertise in. Having successfully designed and built two midi drum kits for classroom use, I'm confident and proud to say that other music teachers (with their students) will be able to recreate this project. I am very glad that I made the decision to tackle this project!
1. Altering the construction of the bass drum to improve the sound quality of the bass drum
Having tested the bass drum with the piezo stuck to the inside of the jar lid, an unclear crackling sound results. However, when I sandwich the piezo between two pieces of mouse pad material and then place this inside the jar lid, the sound quality significantly increases to I have changed this part of my design.
2. Removing the images and using smaller sound files to enhance sound quality
Troubleshooting
Having done further tests using the smaller files sizes James sent me (At 22 050 64kps of the 808 samples) and removing the images from the code, there is a significantly improved sound quality coming from the program compared to the larger sound file sizes running with the images.
So, in my second drum kit, I deleted the code for the images (first wrote them as a comment to see if this made a difference - which it did) and ran the smaller 808 sound files. I was thrilled with the outcome of these two changes!
3. Labelling the parts of the drum for ease of use and set-up
For ease of use and set-up, I have used a label maker to mark the 5 parts of the drum kit and placed the corresponding maker on the bottom part of the whiteboard of the Arduino.
TECH PROJECT COMPLETE!!