Maker: Jessie Salas
Project background: Supported through a CITRIS Invention Lab fellowship and created in the CITRIS Invention Lab and in Jacobs Hall, spring 2016
Liberato is the result of a semester-long independent project exploring applications of 3D printing for rapid prototyping of musical instruments. The project was focused on creating 3D models of existing musical instruments and instrument parts, as well as exploring new modifications to standard instrument designs, and open-sourcing these outputs. The first iteration of models includes a clarinet bell, several alto saxophone mouthpieces, a keyless soprano saxophone, and a duduk / clarinet hybrid.
Liberato aims to leverage 3D printing — which decreases the gap between concept generation and prototype creation — to broaden access to instrument production and use. Musicians typically don’t have access to the tools that allow them to experiment with the manufacture of their own instruments, so creativity in this domain is left to the craftspeople employed by companies. With the creation of several publicly available models for designs of parts and instruments, a hope for the impact of the project is that it will enable others to modify and make their own instruments — a step in the direction of distributing the power of instrument creation to musicians themselves.
