The method for capturing tilt signal of musical instruments using light sensor

Abstract

Players of musical instruments used to express their intuition and emotion not only by playing style but also the motion of the instrument’s body. Furthermore, on the ensemble, this gesture plays a role as a language to communicate to each other. Substituting some players for a computer is one part of the information to make interactions between human players and computer. To get them, tilt sensors which catch accelerations are used in general. They are used to generate underdamped signal and have to apply LPF for acquiring stable responses. This method results in delay and may affect temporal difficulties on ensemble. If the light source of the performance room is directional, the light intensity signal that is caught at photoresistors on two or more points of the instrument’s surface can be used to calculate the amount of tilting. The photoresistor senses the light intensity which is determined by the distance from the light source, and differences on each value represent relative angle according to the light source direction.