Hi guys,

I'm very happy about how things evolve, and I've realized that the software can do a lot more than its original purpose. In order to make my explanations simpler, let me use the following figure as an introduction to my future plans (these plans include my participation to the Hackaday Prize, and the creation of a new project). The figure itself just shows you a simplified version of how the software works right now:

The following list describes how the data flows from the sensors to the soundcard:

1. It all start from the sensors (Sensor class) that read the data from the physical sensors (accelerometers at the moment), and transmit it to the their associated triggers (Trigger class).
2. Those triggers are used as signal conditioners. They process the sensors data in order to give some useful information (Trigger states) to their associated instrument (Instrument class).
3. Each instrument converts the information given by its trigger(s) into a sound (Sound class).
4. The (drum) module controls everything. It can hold an unlimited number of instruments, and receives sounds from them. It also communicates with the sound mixer (Mixer class), that mixes all the sounds, and sends them as buffers to the soundcard (Alsa class).

So, in short, from the sensors raw data, and through more or less complex operations, the software is able to produce a variety of sounds. Although the sensors can be accelerometers, they can also be buttons, non-physical devices, such as regions of interest on a touchscreen, etc. Since the Sensor class is an interface, it doesn't really matter. And that's exactly the same for the triggers and the instruments, which means that eXaDrums cannot only be used a drum kit. It can actually be used as any musical instrument you want.

Here are a few ideas:

• A piano that uses buttons as sensors.
• A pure software-based piano that uses regions of interest of a touchscreen as keys (a bit like the smartphones applications).
• Since I like percussion, I also thought about a xylophone. That's almost a combination of a piano and a drum after all...

Basically, anyone can use the software library to make any musical instrument. It's just a matter of writing the right classes for the sensors, triggers, and instruments .I guess that I wasn't wrong when I've chosen the prefix eXa to name the software after all! I really think it finally has a big potential.

Even if right now I'll keep working on eXaDrums, at some point, when it'll be robust, and rigorously tested, it'll change its name and become eXaMusic (as you can see, I already created the project page, and added a logo) and it will be possible to use it as any musical instrument.

With such a potential, I think that this software can really make a difference, and I'll work towards that. That justifies my participation to the Hackaday Prize! Howerver, as I'm prioritizing eXaDrums at the moment, only eXaDrums will compete for the Hackaday Prize. I don't intend to win, but I hope that I can get some feedback, and provide a useful software for some people.

That's it for this week, more news coming soon, especially about the Hackaday Prize!

Cheers.