The Nashesizer Development - Gemma Nash

for Sound & Music Pathways Programme

Lewis Sykes - Update Nov 2017

Introduction
As requested by Nicole Rochman and Gemma, this outlines a plan for next stage
development of a working production version of The Nashesizer MIDI controller prototype
produced for the Drake Music Lab North West Challenge - as part of Gemma Nashs
Pathways programme for Sound and Music.

Team Input
Lewis Sykes (Project Manager/Lead Developer), Craig Howlett (Music Technology
Support), James Medd (Salford Eagle Labs) and Mike Cook (Mentor and Advisor) will
continue to work on the project together.

Lewis will manage the project development overall and lead on technical development.
James will contribute to the technical development and lead on the design and
fabrication of the device.
Craig will research current music technology hardware, tools and software that could
further support Gemmas creative workflow and through regular one-to-one sessions,
work with Gemma to develop her skills and expertise in using Ableton Live, integrating
the device and trying out and implementing potentially useful tools.
Mike will provide ongoing electrical engineering expertise and advice for the team.

Components & Materials

~1000 - to purchase the various electronic components, tools and materials required. We
plan to build two devices - one for Gemma to use, test and offer feedback on and a second
for us to develop in parallel. When new and requested features have been implemented
well swap the devices over so that we can leapfrog development - so that both Gemma
and the team will always have a device available to work with.

Salford Eagle Labs support

500 - as a nominal retainer and gesture of good will to help cover James Medds ongoing
input and cover the cost of using the Labs facilities. James actual time and the 3D printing
and other services required at the Labs standard rates will very likely exceed this.

Timeline - from October 2017

While the process of developing the The Nashesizer for the Drake Music Lab North West
Challenge was informative and taught us a lot about working together as team, the device
itself was certainly a rapid-prototype. It showed potential for helping Gemma make creative
work more easily but it was decidedly temperamental and far from robust.

Notes from subsequent email exchanges

We see this as a process - its about the team building something with rather than for
Gemma The 8 weeks (4 weeks planning and 4 weeks building) of the Drake Music Lab
North West Challenge was much too short it was all far too rushed.

If we condense the timescales too much we loose iterations cycles of identifying needs,
researching solutions, implementing ideas technically and then testing that things work as
desired. Each cycle probably last 2-3 weeks as a guide and I think we should be aiming for
at least 3-4 cycles in the development phase. We should have a working version of at least
a couple of iterations of The Nashesizer for Gemmas residency opportunity with Metal in
mid Feb...

Scoping & Planning - 6-8 weeks

We need to go back to the drawing board, to scope out - with the knowledge weve gained
so far - what a custom MIDI controller for Gemma should actually do, what types of inputs
it would need to have and how it might best integrate with Ableton Live and other music
making software Gemma uses.

Once weve settled on this outline well develop an implementation plan that:
identifies, sources and tests various types of inputs;
designs and develops a core programming framework that is robust and extensible;
details the overall design and fabrication of the device.

Developing & Testing - 12 weeks

Once weve completed our scoping and planning we can begin to actually build the device
- likely in a staged way that starts with the fundamentals and then adds flexibility and
complexity later on. This is an iterative process - each new feature needs to be
implemented and then passed to Gemma for testing and feedback. In this way the device
develops more organically and in response to Gemmas experience and expectations.

Refining and Finalising - 6-8 weeks

Post the Developing and Testing stage we need a further 6-8 weeks to refine and finalise
both the design of the physical device and its control software. No longer about
development, this stage is about weeding out glitches, fine-tuning the user interaction and
realising the final look and feel of finished device. There is still some interaction and
exchange with Gemma - but its less intense than the previous stage.

Breakdown of team input over stages

Components & Materials 950.00

Salford Eagle Labs support 500.00

Scoping & Planning

Lewis - 3 days @ 150/day 450.00

Mike - 2 days @ 150/day 300.00

Craig - 2 days @ 85/day 170.00

Developing & Testing

Lewis - 7 days @ 150/day 1,050.00

Mike - 2 days @ 150/day 300.00

Craig - 5 days @ 85/day 425.00

Refining and Finalising

Lewis - 3 days @ 150/day 450.00

Mike - 1 day @ 150/day 150.00

Craig - 3 days @ 85/day 255.00

TOTAL 5,000.00