Getting Started with Arduino

Patching

I have always been fascinated by modularity and the ability to build complex systems by connecting together simple devices. This process is very well represented by Robert Moog and his analogue synthesizers. Musicians constructed sounds, trying endless combinations by "patching together" different modules with cables. This approach made the synthesizer look like an old telephone switch, but combined with the numerous knobs, that was the perfect platform for tinkering with sound and innovating music. Moog described it as a process between "witnessing and discovering". I'm sure most musicians at first didn't know what all those hundreds of knobs did, but they tried and tried, refining their own style with no interruptions in the flow.

Reducing the number of interruptions to the flow is very important for creativity—the more seamless the process, the more tinkering happens.

This technique has been translated into the world of software by "visual programming" environments like Max, Pure Data, or VVVV. These tools can be visualised as "boxes" for the different functionalities that they provide, letting the user build "patches" by connecting these boxes together. These environments let the user experiment with programming without the constant interruption typical of the usual cycle: "type program, compile, damn—there is an error, fix error, compile, run". If you are more visually minded, I recommend that you try them out.