Process

Together, we decided that our project would involved projection on to a wall. Initially, we wanted to have the ukulele determine the the patterns that would appear on the wall. For example, each note would cause a different result to be projected. However, we felt that within our time constraints, this would not be possible to do well. Therefore, we decided to do the opposite- changes in our projection will determine what our ukulele will do. The end result is that randomness can be determined by the program itself. 

To build our concept, we decided that we wanted to have the audience be able to interact with our work. Since we were using an instrument, we decided to limit ourselves to four very distinct sounds, because to those who are not musically inclined, many notes can become indistinguishable. The concept of the grid of dots came about when discussion interaction ideas. We stumbled on the concept of twister, a familiar game to many people. We adapted this game of twister to fit format- four distinct colors that are randomly generated through the whole grid rather than in columns. 

One design choice we had to make was in regards to choosing what colors to use. Since we  were using sounds to dictate the play of the game, we wanted to somehow connect the colors of the dots to the music. Therefore, we first started with the selection of notes, and then tasked ourselves to come up with the best color that embodies that note. For example, for the shorter note, we chose red because red is synonymous with face-paced and passionate emotions. Hopefully, with some time, players will come to recognize the notes as colors themselves, even without explicit direction. 

We also had to decide what shapes to use for our pattern. We initially thought of squares because squares create a much more defined grid. However, we realized that squares do not seem as inviting. Circles, on the other hand, have a direct link to games like Twister, so we decided that that was a better option.