Grain Prism: Hieroglyphic Interface for Granular Sampling

This paper introduces the Grain Prism, a hybrid of a granular synthesizer and sampler that, through a capacitive sensing interface presented in obscure glyphs, invites users to create experimental sound textures with their own recorded voice. The capacitive sensing system, activated through skin contact over single glyphs or a combination of them, instigates the user to decipher the hidden sonic messages. The mysterious interface open space to aleatoricism in the act of conjuring sound, and therefore new discoveries. The users, when forced to abandon preconceived ways of playing a synthesizer, look at themselves in a different light, as their voice is the source material.