What started as an unofficial project of the Association for Computing Machinery, became an ongoing passion for both club members and Bob Rinker, an associate professor in the University of Idaho College of Engineering computer science department.
For Jazz Fest 2014, Rinker explained ACM’s mission to blend engineering and music in his 50-minute presentation, “The Collision of Science and Art.”
“There is this sort of natural relationship that occurs between engineering and music,” Rinker said. “I’ve got to tell you, it has been really fun working with the music people. We get so excited we usually have to back off a bit.”
Rinker and his group of students set out to spice up the appearance of the UI marching band the best way they knew how by adding circuit boards and colored LEDs.
To start, they attached simple flashing lights to a pair of sunglasses, which they dubbed “goofy glasses,” and gave them to a drum major. When a child at one of the marching band’s performances shouted to his parents about the band member having laser eyes, Rinker knew ACM was onto something, and more complex versions of the goofy glasses were developed that utilized special Arduino microprocessors.
“Once you have a microprocessor, you have a lot more capabilities,” Rinker said.
To demonstrate his point, Rinker held up two commercially-made LED cables. One of the cables was only a row of lights, but the cable equipped with a microprocessor was able to produce a full rainbow of colors and several motion effects. The current model of goofy glasses is equipped with similar capabilities, and each pair costs about $5 to make.
“Where we want to go, if we can find the money to do it, is to put one of those on every band member,” Rinker said.
To further spice up the marching band, ACM also added about 700 LEDs to the bells of 15 of the marching band’s tubas. Future goals for ACM, Rinker said, are to develop stronger power sources, better control modules and wireless capabilities for their light displays, alongside ways of cutting costs and making the process less labor-intensive.
“I think what we’ve done is we’ve sort of evolved into trying to make things easier to manufacture,” Rinker said.
As Rinker demonstrated each piece of equipment, those in attendance spoke in hushed tones and got out of their chairs to see the various light displays from different angles. Several stayed behind after the lecture to get a closer look at the LEDs and computer equipment Rinker brought with him.
“I teach an integrated seminar called, “The Creative Mind,” and it was interesting to see all the problems they were addressing and solving,” said Elizabeth Sloan, a UI professor who sat in on the presentation.
While the flashing lights, circuit boards and microprocessors are impressive, the real mission of ACM’s marching band project, Rinker said, is to include students from the engineering and music departments on campus, who likely would not interact with each other if they didn’t have a shared project. To continue cooperation between departments, ACM holds build sessions on Saturday nights, where engineering and music students can come together for free pizza and to put their soldering skills to work.
Cynthia Roberts, another audience member, effectively had a foot in both camps.
“I was only like 10 credits away from a music degree when I gave it up for engineering, so it was kind of like unfinished business,” Roberts said. “I was just interested in how he was using the lights and how he applied it to the music world. I can see where it’s going to be kind of a gradual thing, but it’s something they can build on.”
Daniel Durand can be reached at [email protected]