Abstract This thesis showcases the development process of a tool for achieving a sustained, non-percussive sound that captures the sonic essence of ceramic objects, a so-called ‘sonic screwdriver’, meant for implementation in iterations of Daniël Maalman’s Lost & Found Orchestra sound art installations. The tool is meant to use a different way of sound excitation than Maalman’s conventional method of simply tapping objects with cores of solenoids. This is done by means of creating an audio feedback loop on the surface of the objects, which allows the objects speak in their own voice by using its resonant frequencies in an audio feedback loop. The audio feedback loop is composed of a contact microphone, a surface transducer and an audio amplifier. The system achieves accurate pitch control of the audio feedback at the resonant frequencies of an object by means of a control signal being input into the audio feedback loop via a second surface transducer. The developed solution can be used as a powerful tool in the creation of many types of sound art. 1 Quinten Tenger | Creative Technology | University of Twente | 2019 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank Daniël Maalman for giving me the opportunity to work on this project, inspiring me with his way of working and being available to answer questions day and night. It has been a truly interesting and rewarding challenge. Furthermore, I would like to thank Edwin Dertien for helping me stay on track in times of confusion and frustration and his continuous support and guidance, as well as Erik Faber’s. Erik Faber, Eddy de Weerd and Douwe de Bruijn all deserve my gratitude for helping me out with the experiments with the HP 4194A Impedance/Gain-Phase Analyzer. Finally, a word of thanks is in place for Koka Nikoladze and Diemo Schwarz, who both helped me out via email despite both of their busy schedules and not being affiliated to the University of Twente. 2 Quinten Tenger | Creative Technology | University of Twente | 2019 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... 6 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 8 2 State of the Art on sustaining sounds in ceramic materials................................................................. 10 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.2 Background research ................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Audio feedback ................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.3 Methods of Feedback Control ............................................................................................. 11 2.2.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.3 State-of-the-art review ................................................................................................................ 13 2.3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 13 2.3.2 EBow ................................................................................................................................... 13 2.3.3 Koka’s Magnetic Bow ........................................................................................................ 16 2.3.4 The Sound of Ceramics ....................................................................................................... 16 2.3.5 Ceramic Sound Art Instruments .......................................................................................... 17 2.3.6 MIDI Sprout ........................................................................................................................ 19 2.3.7 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 20 3 Methods & Techniques ....................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 21 3.2 Ideation ....................................................................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 Scientific literature research ................................................................................................ 22 3.2.2 Co-design ............................................................................................................................ 22 3.3 Specification ............................................................................................................................... 22 3.4 Realization .................................................................................................................................. 23 3.4.1 Building prototypes ............................................................................................................. 23 3.4.2 Laboratory experiments ...................................................................................................... 23 4 Ideation ............................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 24 4.2 Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................ 24 4.3 Brainstorming ............................................................................................................................. 25 4.4 Interviews .................................................................................................................................... 25 3 Quinten Tenger | Creative Technology | University of Twente | 2019 4.5 Preliminary requirements ............................................................................................................ 26 4.6 Building plans ............................................................................................................................. 26 5 Specification ....................................................................................................................................... 27 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 27 5.2 Object sonification ...................................................................................................................... 27 5.3 Excitation .................................................................................................................................... 29 5.3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 29 5.3.2 Surface transduction ............................................................................................................ 29 5.3.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 34 5.4 Pickup ......................................................................................................................................... 35 5.4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 35 5.4.2 Condenser microphone ....................................................................................................... 35 5.4.3 Magnetic coil pickup ........................................................................................................... 35 5.4.4 Laser microphone ................................................................................................................ 36 5.4.5 Hall effect sensor ................................................................................................................ 37 5.4.6 Contact microphone ............................................................................................................ 38 5.4.7 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 41 5.5 Amplification .............................................................................................................................. 41 5.5.1 Introduction 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