Maggie Orth and collaborators Emily Copper, Rehmi Post, Joshua Smith, and Joshua Strickon created The Musical Jacket in 1998. The Musical Jacket is a wearable MIDI synthesiser using capacitive sensing and touch to create a musical event. The materials used in the jacket are machine embroidered resistive yarns, metallic silk organza power and data bus, custom sensing electronics, speakers, custom MIDI synthesizer, and batteries. 

I like the aesthetic presentation of The Musical Jacket, the repurposing of a denim jacket as a sustainable material shows the adaptability of E-Textiles as a future thinking practice. The embroidery suits the denim material well, machine embroidery of conductive thread allows for neat and uniform controls, similar to those in typical electronic instruments. The visibility of the data bus adds interest as well as transparency of purpose, it reminds me of a futuristic broach. The speakers are behind fabric pannels at the bottom of the jacket (darkest blue material).

Capacitive sensing is used in this instrument to recognise touch which is then processed through a fabric bus and then to the MIDI synthesiser. “A basic capacitive sensor is anything metal or a conductor and detects anything that is conductive or has a dielectric constant different from air” (Wang, 3) Capacitive sensing is definitely something I want to experiment with in my work, touch as the means for instrumentation creates accessible instruments that are fun to play and interact with.

References:

Wang, D. (2014) Basics of Capacitive Sensing and Applications. rep. Available at: https://www.ti.com/lit/an/snoa927a/snoa927a.pdf.

Orth, M. (2009) Musical Jacket, 1998, Firefly dress. Available at: http://www.maggieorth.com/art_Jacket.html (Accessed: 03 November 2024).