In this instrument, my passion for trombone and for sound synthesis are coming together. I love the physicality and intuitiveness of playing trombone as well as tinkering with electronics.
The trombone’s slide is emulated through a distance sensor using theremin technology. By pitch-tracking the sung frequency and rounding it to the nearest overtone of the respective slide position’s overtone series, the desired output frequency is calculated, comparable to a real trombone.
The 3D-printed thing in the left hand is the so called Virtual Plunger, as the plunger is without question a trombone player’s most valuable tool. The Virtual Plunger contains an IMU-Sensor for measuring Rotation in 3D Space, several sliders and one joystick. The data is collected through an Arduino and send to Pure Data via USB where it is used to control parameters of the sound synthesis. The same applies to the foot pedals.
In Pure Data I use different synthesis techniques, but especially work with recorded material of my own trombone playing which is then shaped in various ways.