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Company: Infection Music Limited
Project: Phaedra MIDI Sequencer
Dates: Mar 2007 to Apr 2008
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How did the project start?
Our project began in 2002, when we felt that there was a gap in the marketplace for a professional, stand-alone, digital music sequencer. The instruments of the day were either unstable and unreliable antiques or poorly specified, bug-ridden dead-ends. Our market research demonstrated that there was a real demand for an instrument that would offer the performance advantages of the early 'analogue' machines coupled with the benefits of modern, digital technology.
Drawing from our market research, we invited our potential customer base to expand on our initial specification and, very quickly, the machine grew in both scope and complexity. We put together a business plan based upon what we felt were reasonable sales and presented the plan to advisors at the Business Innovation Centre in Sunderland, who felt that the idea was sound.
Realising that this machine - dubbed Phaedra - would be expensive and difficult to develop from scratch, we began to envisage a smaller instrument with a reduced functionality and at a lower price point, which would be significantly easier to develop. We christened this machine ZEIT and our initial aim was to bring the instrument to market quickly so that sales would generate income, which could, in turn be used to finance the development of Phaedra.
We have spent the last 5 years developing ZEIT to the point where it is now an established production level instrument in use in a number of studios worldwide. We have also produced a desktop version of the original rack-mounting product and an entry level machine called ATEM. We are currently developing Phaedra as the logical successor to ZEIT.
This link shows an early promotional video of the rack-mounting ZEIT Step Sequencer.
http://www.infectionmusic.com/images/somethingwicked.mov
What options did you consider?
First of all, we looked at developing the instrument using an existing hardware platform, for example a PC running Windows 2000. However, our customer base made it very clear that the proposed machine had to be stand-alone and completely free of all third party operating systems.
Next, we looked around for an existing OEM microcontroller although none were available that met our criteria in terms of speed, memory and the number of i/o lines we needed. We then approached a professional electronics designer to see if a suitable device could be developed for us although his fees made the project financially non-viable. Hence, we decided to design our own microcontroller.
We then constructed a prototype instrument and, with that up and running, began looking for a subcontractor who could manufacture the finished product for us. Sadly, none of those we approached were interested in the relatively low volumes we anticipated. Hence, we decided to build the finished product ourselves, subcontracting the enclosures and printed circuit board to local companies.
What help and expertise did you receive?
One North East provided initial guidance, suggesting sources of funding and highlighting potential problem areas such as EMC Testing.
The Business Innovation Centre in Sunderland provided considerable help and advice in the form of business training courses and also technical help with respect to European EMC Directives.
The BIC also recommended that we enter our web site, infectionmusic.com, into the Start-up category of the North-East E-Commerce Awards 2003, which we subsequently won. We used the endorsement to launch a new company, Infection Media, which creates web pages and multimedia for a small number of local companies.
Staff at both Northumbria University and Newcastle University were extremely helpful when we began examining the electrical safety requirements of our pilot instrument, providing both technical expertise and testing strategies for the critical electronics. When a problem was found, they were able to analyse the cause and provide a manufacturing solution in a cost-effective and timely fashion.
Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?
Our first major challenge came when we attempted to apply the manufacturer's laboratory-derived specifications to real-world, production-level situations and some considerable effort was required to make the control systems behave in a manner that was reliable and consistent across many different systems.
Our customer base, many of whom had contributed funds to the development of the instrument, insisted that the finished product had to be free of all 3rd Party software. This meant that we had to design our own microcontroller, which in turn meant that we had to learn how to use a CAD/CAM design package to produce the electronic schematics and layout the final printed circuit boards. We also had to incorporate all European EMC directives into the final design to ensure that the finished product was suitable for use in all consumer environments.
Much the same was true of the enclosures, which had to be manufactured to very high tolerances in order to satisfy the EMC Directives. The enclosures also had to be rugged enough to withstand life on the road with a gigging musician, where equipment is rarely, if ever, treated with the respect it deserves.
The most important lesson we learned was that, with any project, you should first develop a plan, a budget and a schedule and, when you're happy with the figures and ready to start, simply double all of your initial estimates to arrives at a more realistic timescale and/or budget.
The second most important lesson we've learned is that you are never truly alone with the internet. If you have a problem or you need a service or a piece of equipment stops working for no apparent reason then you can ask for help and 99 times out of 100, someone, somewhere on the planet can help. We're truly proud to be a tiny company using technology to give us a global footprint.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
We have taken the bare bones of an idea and developed a family of musical instruments which are, in the words of our customers, world leaders in terms of ease-of-use, reliability and musicality, enabling them to create music quickly and effectively, often under very difficult, very stressful concert conditions.
Critically, we now have enough orders to ensure the company's future for at least a year.
We've also used our products to create music that has been played right around the world, especially in the United States where the sequencer demonstration album, Future Forever was syndicated over 150 radio stations via the Echoes network. Future Forever also reached number 4 in the Magnatune.com download chart and was voted one of the best downloadable albums of 2007 by the members of the electroambientspace.com group.
In December 2007, instrument designer David Hughes participated in the "Music and Machines" Symposium organised by Newcastle University's "Culture Lab", talking about the software and hardware techniques used to develop performance-oriented, real-time musical instruments, capping off his lecture with a live fully improvised performance based around the ZEIT sequencer. Further collaborations are anticipated.
What are your plans for the future?
Through the process of developing the mid-range instruments, ZEIT-R, ZEIT-D and ATEM, we know that Phaedra is viable and that the project goals can be achieved. We have already developed Phaedra to the point where we are ready to build the first prototype. Customer demand for this instrument is strong, in particular with a small number of household names who are active in the field of electronic music.
We intend to develop our customer base into areas usually ignored by mainstream manufacturers, particularly with visually impaired musicians. We are currently working with members of Newcastle upon Tyne's Blind Group, arranging demonstrations and hands-on sessions to see how we can adapt our instruments to better match their needs.
We also intend to extend our product range into synthesiser design, exploring and expanding upon those techniques and technologies abandoned by the mainstream producers. The first prototype instrument, AZTEK, is currently at the alpha-testing stage.
Finally, we're expanding our activities into the emerging virtual worlds of Second Life and EVE, working alongside musicians such as Susan Baird (Dreamaiden) and Kirsty Hawkshaw (Loverush) as well as organisations such as NASA CoLab and Magnatune to create new media as well as sales and performance opportunities.
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