a new Musical bench
Back when Ryan Jenkins and I were working with the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium, we turned one of the museum’s benches into a playful electronic instrument. That musical bench was one of many experiments with making music based on touch and electrical resistance. My favorite is still the musical drinking fountain, a rouge exhibit that was installed after hours and turned one of the museum’s drinking fountains into a playful electronic musical instrument. When someone drank water from the fountain, they completed a circuit and made music. The best exhibits were often created this way, because someone had an idea and couldn’t wait to try it out.
It was in that spirit that Ryan and I hacked one of the museum’s benches, adding a PICO cricket microcontroller and a sound processor that we connected to two conductive metal plates on the armrests. When two (or more) people sit on the bench, touching the armrests while holding hands, they complete a circuit. Because the circuit is connected through their bodies, there is electrical resistance. The microcontroller detects small changes in electrical resistance, and translates them into musical notes. You can play music by holding hands, hi-fiving, or even play it with a kiss (kisses have very low electrical resistance). Because the bench is too wide to connect the circuit easily on your own, it encourages people to hold hands, and experiment together to try to figure out how it works.
The Tinkering Studio wrote an instructable for the musical bench so people could build their own version, using an Arduino and a midi shield, and the idea spread far and wide. There are now many, many versions of the musical bench in museums, schools and art galleries around the world. They all look different, and they are in really different environments, but the playful, surprising, and social interactions they create are the same. People can’t help but smile when they hold someone’s hand and make music together.
musical benches out in the world
Ryan recently wrote a new guide to making a musical bench, and it is fantastic. His new version uses a Playtronica “Touch Me” board, a Bela Board, and code that you can play with to adjust the quality of the sound.
I used Ryan’s new design to make a musical bench for Artschmart, and it’s lovely. It’s built into an old beer garden bench, and it is currently at Squabisch pretzels on Solono Avenue if you would like to play with in person. While we were setting it up, we discovered that you can use a pretzel as a switch. Bring a friend!
The Tinkering Studio’s Musical Bench instructable
Wonderful Idea Company’s musical bench plans (and a history) this is how I built the new one for Artschmart
