Once I had all the prosthetics in order, I started to test them out and make music with them. I learned so much as I was trying to use them- about myself and the prosthetics. First, I started with the worry prosthetic, which worked pretty much how I expected it to. I ended up using my hip bones a lot with that prosthetic to really activate the sensor. I found it very easy to be expressive with the worry prosthetic and to convey complete musical ideas.

Next, I tried the happy prosthetic, and this one worked completely differently than how I was expecting. Of note, I learned that this prosthetic needs bigger magnets for the sensors and I may explore stabilizing the underwire more. Currently, this prosthetic has a mind of its own, and it was very difficult to trigger sounds when I wanted them to. I found big hip motions to be the most successful for this prosthetic, as well as playful arm motions lifting the petals up and dropping them.

Lastly, I tried the angry prosthetic. This prosthetic, as previously pondered, did hurt a bit to wear. The prisms are so pointy that even with a turtleneck on I still felt my skin getting poked and irritated. In the future I may want to create a leather bodice to go under this prosthetic to protect the skin a bit more. Making music with this prosthetic also went a little differently than I expected. I ended up lining the Flexiforce sensors right on my collarbone to get a hard surface to push off of. I got my best sounds from pushing the prisms into the sensors with my hands and shoulders in the way another prosthetic might interact with me, and less sounds from an individual shoulder shrug. 

Having two prosthetics “talk” with each other was really fun. I only did one video take of this so had to choose which two prosthetics to use. I ended up going with worry and angry- giving the worry prosthetic to my partner, as I now have more skill at how not to pierce myself to death with the sharp points of the angry prosthetic. It was fun to play the prosthetics off of each other!

I also tried performing with a violinist, and that was also fun. String instruments are the closest to the human voice in terms of musical possibility, so it seemed like a great match for my first improvisation session. I can envision all kinds of musical collaborations ahead!

My mind is racing with possible tweaks for these three prosthetics, as well as completely new prosthetic designs in the works. This was a very inspiring project for me and a chance for me to combine several of my skill areas; music, art, design, and technology. Overall, I am very pleased and proud with how these first three prosthetics turned out.