Vocal Seismograph

For Chelsea Steinberg Gay

Chelsea commissioned a redesign of her prototype, which wasn't generating sufficient vibration for her artistic vision. Her original system required laptop operation. The key innovation involved relocating the transducer from vibrating the entire installation to vibrating a pen mounted on a sheet metal arm instead.

A gaming transducer receives audio input from a USB microphone connected to a Raspberry Pi, which remaps the frequency to optimize the transducer's amplitude response.

Proof of Concept

I assembled a preliminary version using basic wooden construction, testing transducer performance at various frequencies via laptop power.

Final Build

The completed installation features components manufactured through CNC milling, 3D printing, hand-cut sheet metal, and laser cutting. The structure was finished with stain, and the Raspberry Pi was programmed to detect and respond to Chelsea's vocal frequencies.