Don't know if this will work, but if it does, it's propably been done berfore. The attached drawing didnīt work, so bear with me
The idea is to use a photoresistor as a "gate" for the output of a sound, serving as a trigger for a bend, nothing new here.
The photoresistor is put inside a small lightproof housing that has a little hole on one side to let the light in. under this contraption runs a lightproof rubberbelt 0,5 -1,0cm wide that is set around wheels, sort of like a conveyorbelt or a tapeloop. The wheels are controlled with a varispeed electrical motor.
Under the belt, in line with the photoresistor is a LED or some other light.
On the rubberbbelt one can then pierce holes of different sizes and lengths to let the light thru whenever a hole passes the photoresistor. By measuring the belt these holes can be arranged so that they form a rhytmic loop that can be speeded up and down by controlling the motor that runs the belt.
is that enough explained?
I guess you could transform an old cassettedeck for this purpose and use a looped tape and a paper-punch-hole thingy for the belt..
All sorts of variations come to mind like linking 4 of these with different patterns to the same motor and use a simple "punch in" button for each so you could like... jam.. and stuff..
So, has anyone tried/seen/heard of something like this? Any further ideas on the subject?
it's a bit like an old piano roll sequencer then? but with photo resistors instead of pins. hmmmm, i'm liking the idea.
mind you, it's a bit of a major project but could be well worth the effort. if someone can make a walkman powered mellotron then i reckon the belt driven sequencer is a possibilty.
Yup.. might take a few evenings to put it together.. Also would have to make an opamp so I can use those really fast-responding photoresistors.. Or is there a way around this, so I could use regular ones? Actually the wind/water power idea is great! In a postpostmodern-eco-hippy-kinda way! Would make a nice installation piece..
That mellotron is crazy!! Just wish they had made some more interesting sounds for it than that same old flute.. sounds pretty nice tough!
seems like it should work and would be very cool in a 'what if it had worked out different and we were all using vinyl drives' kind of way, but i'm not sure i'd be willing to call it a 'cheap & EASY sequencer' though.
that walkman mellotron is a masterpiece of 'way to much time on your hands' action. Weird how these things become obsessions.
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