Some Things I'm Currently Working On

Programming/Electronics   |   Music   |   Visual Arts

I like to have a few different things on the go at once, then I don't feel like I'm forcing myself to do anything. I can't stand it when something starts feeling like a chore. These are the main things I'm working on at the moment.

Programming/Electronics | Arduino Starter Kit

I asked lots of different people where the best place to start learning to code is. It's quite a head spin when you're weighing up which language to use, which IDE to use, where you want to put things (programs, apps, webpages, embedded...). A lot of the time I got the same answer when asking where to start; "Get a Project!".

I'd spent quite a few hours on Codecademy and Khan Academy picking up the basics. It took me a while to learn about what different languages are, and what they're used for. As I work with a  lot of Software Developers, I thought I'd ask them for a bit of help learning things. With a lot of assistance, I had a few goes in Visual Studio with C++ and SDL, a fiddle around with Processing, and a look at C in Vim. 

Unfortunately, I felt like a lot of it went over my head. I have noticed that when someone knows a lot about a subject, they find it very difficult to keep things basic. I think the Developers found it difficult to imagine what it's like to not understand any of it at all. There seems to be quite a big disconnect between learning on Codecademy, to actually writing out code in an IDE. Also, I'm not very brushed up on my maths which makes me a bit slow. I suppose it's like learning words and phrases in another language and then trying to put that into a conversation. I knew it was going to be difficult to learn to code, but this felt like trying to do parkour for the first time whilst wearing a blindfold. 

I've been coming at it from different angles for ages but I never had anything to focus it into, a project. As with most subjects, it's very difficult to learn information without having something to apply it to. I sat and had a really good think about what I actually want out of being able to program. To make interactive art and music pieces.

I've decided to use an Arduino and Processing. A few weeks ago, I got an Arduino starter kit.

I'm particularly excited about learning electronics alongside. I've been combing my way through the book, writing out notes, drawing diagrams and testing myself on everything. I feel like you could go through the exercises quickly, just copying the book, and not learn anything. It probably takes me twice as long to work my way through the book as I've been looking up loads of extra stuff along the way. 

Above you can see my notes about how to use a multimeter, and below are my notes about resistors and LEDs. I keep all my notes in GoodNotes as I believe that writing things down helps you learn them better (which is apparently backed up by science). When I've completed the Arduino kit, I'll put my notebook up as a post.

Programming | Processing

As I mentioned above, I'm gonna learn enough Processing to link up to an Arduino and do some exciting things. I started learning it a while back but just didn't seem to get into it enough. I think hooking it up to external hardware is just the carrot I needed. I didn't make notes last time so I've forgotten where I got to in my learning. I'll start again using GoodNotes to help me remember.

I've got a selection of tutorial books (there are some good ones listed here) but I'll mostly be working my way through 'Processing - A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists' and 'Programming Interactivity'.

Music | Ableton

I've had difficulty getting the ball rolling (or the metronome ticking). I think the main reason is I'm aware I can spend an entire day in Ableton and not come out with a song. I managed to lock myself into this idea that I had to spend multiple days, slogging it out to achieve a finished track, or not do it at all. 

Thankfully, now I have this online sketchbook, I can track the progress of all my little noodles and get that satisfaction of having achieved something. The guilt of not opening Ableton for ages was overwhelming me so I decided to have a little noodle around last weekend. I spent about an hour watching this video, and making my own drum and bass beats. I've always skipped over drums, I use samples or presets and I've always wanted to be better with them. I also learned you can split the timeline in triplets which I'd never done before, handy!

Visual Arts | Graphic Novel

My mum gave me this concertina book years ago, it's so nice, I think it's a Seawhite of Brighton book. It was sitting on my shelf for a few years before I dared to touch it. I had that classic thing of having a notebook that was so nice, I got anxious trying to imagine what would go in it (this Poorly Drawn Lines comic strip springs to mind). 

One day, when I was feeling particularly emotional, the start of a graphic novel came out. Occasionally, I'll pick it up and draw a few more pages. I've just been drawing what I feel like, when I feel like it, rather than having any kind of plan. Some days I love it, other days I don't. I don't know when it will be finished, might take years doing it like this. And currently, the pictures are just pencilled in, I haven't decided on what materials I'll use to complete the images, or whether it will be in colour. Well, I'll go into more detail about that in a future post too, show you some snippets and talk about comic books. I really want to read 'Understanding Comics' by Scott McCloud, I have a digital copy so I will get round to it eventually.