Turning a Skateboard Into an Instrument

I was recently tasked with creating a new type of instrument that takes a physical input, and processes that input digitally to create sound. You could say that an electric guitar sort of fits into this category, but I was going for something more digital, and a lot more experimental. Part of the inspiration for this project came from Malloch & Wanderley’s “T-Stick” [1] which was basically a PVC pipe that they covered in capacitive sensors allowing people to play it.

As I paced around my house wondering what other types of shapes or objects would work well as an instrument, I started thinking about how I like to experience the physical world and if there was any way I could translate those activities into sound. Rock climbing, skiing, riding a bike, they seemed like the weren’t maneuverable enough to “perform” as an instrument. I combed through all the activities I’ve tried over the years and then finally the answer seemed totally obvious, it had to be a skateboard. As a bit of a side note I’m going to say something that might sound controversial, but it serves to justify my choice.

I’ve tried pretty much every sport you can imagine at some point, and I’ve also taught a lot of people other technical sports like skiing and rock climbing, and I am absolutely convinced that none of them are more challenging, and that’s why it’s perfect for this project. Here’s an analogy: if you gave an average person a violin and told them to play hot cross buns, or any other elementary song, it would sound like a chalkboard playing DDR with a drawer of cutlery. They would be lucky if they could play the first two notes in anything close to the right rhythm. That’s skateboarding. Almost every person that I’ve tried to teach how to skateboard has landed on their butt within about 10 seconds. It’s not just about the learning curve, the ceiling is also ridiculously high.

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