Madrona Soundplane A

Our first hardware product is the Madrona Soundplane A, a force-sensitive surface for intimate control of electronic music. What is intimate control? Instruments like the violin and hand drums give the player a very responsive connection to sound through their physical construction. In a state of creative flow, we stop thinking about these instruments as separate devices and speak directly through them. In a very real sense they become part of us.

On a typical MIDI keyboard, most of the information from each finger gesture is thrown away, and the rest is boiled down into a single 7-bit velocity value. The Soundplane A transmits x, y and pressure data at about 1000 samples per second, letting the synthesist move beyond the ADSR model for control and articulate each note individually, as on an acoustic instrument. An array of very responsive capacitive sensors detects a range of forces from an extremely light touch to a hard slap. A DSP calibrates the sensors dynamically and sends the data via USB.

The playing surface is a material custom developed for us, a flexible sheet of hardwood veneer bonded to a plastic backing for strength. The case is milled out of alder, a sustainably harvested Northwest hardwood. We have sourced all of the construction locally and will test and assemble by hand here. The entire instrument is about 28 inches wide by 8 inches deep by 1 inch thick. We think it will look great next to a monome.

We are currently finishing hardware design and moving on to the embedded software. After that comes testing. Lots of testing. When it's ready, we will announce a ship date. In the meantime, we will post updates here.

Soundplane A FAQ

When?
When it's done.

Why?
"Musical ideas are prisoners, more than one might believe, of musical devices."
- Pierre Schaeffer

How much?
A fair question but hard to answer now. The Soundplane A contains a fast DSP and some special materials, is lovingly handcrafted, and represents lots of development effort. On the other hand, we want you to be able to afford one. Please stay tuned.