NEW!!
the map is not the territoire DIY

the map is not the territoire is now available as a friendly DIY kit! if you are interested in getting one, please get in touch ( aimo [dot] scampa [at] gmail [dot] com ).

but what is it? it's an active USB-powerd magnet matrix capable of handling signals up to modular level.

this version presents few differences worth to mention:

1. it is a DIY version, all the parts are through hole, except for a little smd soldering that is required to fix the headers to the faceplate.

2. THIS VERSION IS CASE-LESS, faceplate and board are sandwiched together, spacers on the corners are used to give more mechanical stability/resistance.

3. the magnetic side is made by sticking some ferrous tape on the back on the panel (rather than soldering a metal plate on the back), although if you want to do the second, your welcome to do that, with a few things to keep in mind (will be described in the build guide, PRESS THE BUTTON).

BEWARE: this is an experimental interface, don’t expect to make clean and cutting edge audio mixes on it.

The simple fact that the faceplate and the magnet surface is not flat to an atomic level means that sometimes the magnet requires to be repositioned to ensure contact with the exposed traces.

The extreme geopolitical borders of the map grid are unstable and not often reliable.

REMEMBER: THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITOIRE

following here some pictures of it:

I AM A BUTTON, PRESS ME TO RECEIVE GUIDANCE

The Map Is Not The Territoire

Starting with LAKE LEE i went into a deep dive into cartography aesthetics, I’ve been obsessed in the way things were simplified and the various techniques to render 3 dimensional information on a 2 dimensional plane. Which brings me to contour lines, for a moment i had the idea of making a theremin, which antenna would have been formed by copper contour lines taken from a map drawing.

Eduard Imhof’s Chomolongma* map, as can be found on the Swiss Atlas, was my go to drawing for making it. After some research though i realised theremin circuits require some hard to find parts such as variable inductors (really hard to find!). A research showed alternative circuits with variable capacitors, an easier part to find. Although the existence of motion and proximity sensors made me realise how come there weren’t many analog alternatives to these two circuits. So i kinda let this thing on the side, till I get better into coding.

*Mt. Everest

But since I really wanted to go forward with the idea of using actual contour lines on a design and wanted to revise LAKE LEE, I went for a new matrix mixer design ( I really like matrixes! ) which could be sold to the public.

There were few things i wanted to change :

AESTHETICALLY:

I wanted to make it look more like a combination of a game board and a map, and I wanted something grid-like shape, which in a way recalled for me both the grid divisions you find on a map AND the game of go grid too (

DUE PICCIONI CON UN FAVA = TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE ).

I found on the internet a beautiful website which

gives you contour lines renderings of EVERY PLACE IN

THE WORLD in .svg format ( what do you want more from

life? ) .

So after spending some time scanning the best places

in the world for contour lines I found out a sweet

spot in LAO’S PEOPLE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC.

This spot will be our play area.

FUNCTIONALLY:

I wasn’t happy with the passive design, so I went for a fully buffered (both ins and outs) matrix design, which is quite simple to implement, as I did on the Instruo lìon matrix design i decided to normalise each outs to the next one from left to right ( with a pattern of inverted-noninverted ) . This means that if you know how to read your map you can have your signal phase inverted!

In terms of power, I didn't want to have to worry about finding a power supply which i’ll needed to supply with the instrument, so I went for what you can find in almost every home in the civilized world, USB . This thanks to a cincon DC-DC power converter, which takes 5v in and puts out + and -12v ( oh yes i didn’t told you, it works up to modular levels! ) .

I wanted a nice clean black steel enclosure enclosure too,

which has been designed by a dear friend ( Andrea Rossi ),

and which I’ve got made in china

( as almost all the the things I get made ) .

On the works some really nice

looking mexican bocote wood sidecheeks .