bitHarp - 2013/2014

BitHarp is a series of handmade MIDI harps along with a sound engine programmed in MaxMSP. Each string is connected to a Teensy microcontroller, which is programmed in Arduino. The Teensy uses capacitive sensing to sense when a person touches a string. When a string is touched, a MIDI note message is sent to the MaxMSP program, where a note is played. The sound engine allows you to pick you scale, root note, sound effects, filters, and more. Additionally, I connected a foot expression pedal to provide more control over the sound.

I started with a 2 foot tall bitHarp, which was my final project for class called Multimedia Installation and Performance. I then built a 6 foot tall version, which to brought to several STEAM festivals for people to play.