What is in the shell - Radio

What is in the shell

This project comprises of two seashells that one can listen to. The first seashell synthesizes underwater ocean ambient sounds depending on the shell’s tilt. The second seashell streams several distorted radio channels.

This description concerns the radio shell.

Check for more info on the exhibition page!

Inspiration

It was a month ago that I finally learned what the noise in the seashell actually is. Stripped of another myth that it is the sound of blood coursing through my body, I found out that the shell resonates the surrounding ambient sound. This renders a dimension that is more personal, my relatioship with what is ambient. How do I go from a quiet childhood, spent in the serenity of my imagination, to a world that wants me to react to every relationship problem, solve every economic crisis, mourn every coronavirus death.

Code

I used the ESP8266Audio library for connecting the TinyPico to two radio HTTP streams, buffering and mixing them.

For the TinyPico to work with the aforementioned library, I incorporated this solution to the source code and changed the hardcoded pins numbers in the AudioOutputI2S class according to the wiring.

bclkPin = 19;
wclkPin = 27;
doutPin = 18;

Hardware

All the electronic parts are placed inside the cavity of the shell. Small battery provides the wireless power to the circuit. The charging is done using the USB-C in the TinyPico. The battery lasts for approximately 1 hour, but the testing was imprecise due to the internet connection failures. The I2S amplifier is used to amplify the electronic signal from the board to the transducer. The audio exciter is placed on the surface of the shell and its buzzing resonates with the shell producing the sound.

The wiring of the TinyPico and the amplifier was inspired by Chris Greening's Walkie Talkie project.