Hand-held gestural music instrument controlled by water
The Aquapella is a hand-held gestural instrument for exploring the unique relationship of liquid turbulence and musical expression. The device consists of eight conductive water-level sensors in a custom 3D printed container. As a musician moves the device, it generates a chaotic flow of water within the container and translates the motion into real-time midi signals for audio-visual interpretation. The Aquapella also features a static camera to augment visual performances through displaying the water’s movement to the audience.
I designed the Aquapella along with Professor August Black at CU Boulder. We had the pleasure of presenting our work at the International NIME2025 conference. Our paper is published through NIME and is entitled Aquapella- Gestural Interactions with Liquid Turbulence as Musical Expression. Below is a video showing the Aquapella in action and our published paper.
Future Work
This is a project that is still in production. Much of the research we did was a great start but we are going to start by redoing the sensors using a custom PCB and a capacitive sensor that will be more robust and accurate than a transistor.