Sonaqua asks the question: What does water quality sound like?
With this ongoing installation and workshop series, I collect river water samples from across the globe with the assistance of volunteers and workshop participants. Each water sample contains different minerals and will conduct an electrical current (EC) at different rates. Measurements of EC correlate to total dissolved solids (TDS), which is often an indicator of heavy metals pollution by industrial and mining process. So, the more ecologically impacted a river system, the more electrical charge it will likely conduct.
Using a simple Arduino circuit, this artwork creates sonification orchestral arrangements of water samples. As an autonomous installation, it acts as an electronic organism, emitting patterns of noise and reflects the interconnectedness of our ecological system. As an installation, it can also include direct interactivity through buttons and sensors to engage in a dialogue of scientific-based curiosity. The installation can morph into different forms, depending on context.
I am also teaching this as a series of workshops where participants solder circuits and construct enclosures to build handheld Sonaqua devices, so that we can create large-scale performances.
Note: Incomplete directory are from pre-Dinacon tests
#####Working: ######SonaquaModulePlayer_v06: The basic example. This one does not use Mozzi and also will output to the LED backpack. This is a great first tester.
######Sonaqua_Synth_Simulator: A series of synth effects for simulation, before plugging into electronic sensors. This is always a work-in-progress, not finalized code. Just used for testing
######Sonaqua_SoilSensor: Uses the Sparkfun Soil Moisture Sensor to make sounds. I'd still like to clean this one up. In a previous iteration, I was getting some lovely undertones, but I can't seem to quite get there anymore.
######Sonaqua_Phasemod_Humidity Humidity Sensor with Phasmod effects
######Sonaqua_Heartbeat: A working example which uses a heart rate sensor and makes tones to match beats-per-minute.
######Sonaqua_Plant_Electrods: Electrode hooked up to a plant. Use a 100K resistor to ground, 5V+ to plant, like a potentiometer.
######Sonaqua_EC_Light_Sensor: EC Sensor + Light, in progress
#####In Progress:
######Sonaqua_Light_Sensor: In progress, just a template for now.
######Sonaqua_Electric_Noise: A working example of Mozzi using analog input for current flow (usually through water).
#####Sonaqua_Electrodes: Crude sketch with electrodes, good for reading plant leaves. EC values are in range of 700-950
######Sonaqua_Detuned_Beats_Wash: In progress, using Sonaqua with Mozzi
######Sonaqua_Alcohol_Sensor: In progress
######Sonaqua_Phasemod_Envelope: In progress, using Sonaqua with Mozzi
######Sonaqua_PWM_Phasing: In progress, using Sonaqua with Mozzi
#####Quartet: This is in-progress, where we trigger synths from another Arduino. I'd suggest ignoring what's going on here for the time being
The programmer cable you'll need is the 5V FTDI cable, available from Sparkfun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9718
[full parts list to be added]
[to be added]
Sonaqua (c) by Scott Kildall
Sonaqua is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
You should have received a copy of the license along with this work. If not, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/.