STRINGFREE GUITAR

​​

Stringfree Guitar was made as a semester-long school project, together with 3 other students. Our client for this project was De Rijdende Popschool, who asked us to come up with a digital prototype that would be accessible for a musician with cerebal palsy, a condition that severely restricts his movement abilities. He has a fascination for music but is unable to play a traditional guitar like he wishes to, which is why we were tasked to invent a new type of instrument that changes this.

​

The Stringfree Guitar required us to think of both software and hardware solutions. We started on developing the hardware, and came up with an easy-to-customize modular design that can easily be adapted to the needs of the user. This controller consists of a small wooden box with 5 buttons, as well as another box that has a large stick attached. I was responsible for making this controller work within our software, by making it register input that could then be used to perform actions.

​

From a software side, the tool consists of two different modes: the composing mode and the practice mode. The composing mode serves as a music editor, allowing the user to record multiple tracks using the controller and adjust settings such as the tracks BPM and length. Functionality for a metronome to help playing to the rhythm is also implemented. I was tasked with the programming behind this mode, as well as designing a lo-fi wireframe of its UI.

​

Practice mode is intended to help users get more comfortable with the instrument, by challenging them to a simple rhythm game where they play along to a song. The menu contains a wide range of instruments, songs and genres to choose from. I supervised and assisted in the technical implementation of this mode, as well as doing initial research into rhythm game design. I also assisted with integrating the controller into this mode, of which the design can be seen below:

​​

​

​