Context
modHaus is a playful instrument for exploring tech house. I designed it to make rhythm-building intuitive for people with little production experience.
- Percussion: kick, snare, hat, clap
- Secondary percussion: toms, shakers, textures
- Synth parts: basslines and melodies
- FX: atmosphere, buildups, and vocal cuts
Approach
MVP specs
- Turn sample on when something is touched
- Turn sample off when something is released
- Provide visual feedback after touch/release
- Provide auditory feedback after touch/release
supplies
- Soldering iron, solder, flush cutters
- Solid core wire + wire strippers
- Button pad 4x4 + button pad PCB
- Arduino Mega or Uno
- (x4) phillips head screws (1/2", 4-40)
- (x4) nylon standoffs (3/8", 4-40)
- (x16) LED - RGB clear (common cathode)
- (x16) small signal diodes (1N4148)
Making
- Prepared PCB — Soldered diodes and LEDs, then wired buttons and light matrix.
- Tested matrix — Ran a simple Arduino sweep to verify all 16 LEDs and color states.
- Designed housing — Built and printed a compact enclosure in Fusion 360.
- Programmed controller — Mapped button input to serial messages and LED feedback states.
- Built Ableton plugin — Expanded a basic serial prototype into multi-track sample control.
Outcome
Reflection
challenges
- Function over vision — I over-indexed on working code and underinvested in the expressive form I originally imagined.
- PureData / M4L troubleshooting — Documentation gaps made debugging slower than expected.
- Quantization tradeoff — Moved from 1/32 to 1/8 timing to absorb serial latency and keep rhythms tight.
The UX researcher in me wants to pick apart every hesitation, fumbled button stroke, and furrowed brow… but the music lover in me just wants to hear what they'll create.because who doesn't love four on the floor?
I hit most of my learning goals and loved watching people improvise with it for the first time.