Interactive Tools
- Interactive Pan Player – Click notes on a steel pan to hear them. Includes sequence playback and 4 visualization modes.
- Sound Designer – Design steel pan sounds with real-time synthesis, 14 parameter controls, and 5 presets.
- Google Colab Notebook – Run the synthesizer in the cloud with no installation.
Project Overview
This project creates 3D printable note pads for a tenor steel pan. Each of the 29 notes can be individually printed and mounted, allowing for:
- Replacement of damaged notes
- Experimentation with materials and tuning
- Educational exploration of steel pan acoustics
- Custom pan configurations
The note pads are extracted from a 3D scanned tenor pan model and converted into printable solids with integrated mounting hardware.
Tenor Pan Layout
The tenor pan has 29 note pads in three concentric rings:
| Ring | Notes | Interval | Octave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outer | 12 | 4ths | 4 |
| Central | 12 | 5ths | 5 |
| Inner | 5 | 6ths | 6 |
Mount System
Each note pad has a three-part mounting system designed for 3D printing:
- Note Pad – Extracted from a 3D scanned model, thickened to 1.5mm with an integrated threaded mounting cylinder
- Mount Base – Screws onto the note pad, includes PCB mounting bosses (M2 holes) for electronics
- Outer Sleeve – Protective housing with 12 grip ridges and cable routing
All threads use a push-fit ring groove design (2mm pitch, 1mm depth, 0.3mm clearance) optimized for FDM printing.
Sound Design
The synthesizer generates realistic steel pan tones using additive synthesis with 14 adjustable parameters:
| Group | Parameters |
|---|---|
| Envelope | Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release |
| Harmonics | Fundamental, 2nd/3rd/4th Harmonic, Sub Bass |
| Character | Detune, Filter Cutoff, Brightness |
| Output | Duration, Volume |
Five built-in presets: Default, Bright, Mellow, Bell, and Pluck.
Command-Line Tools
# Generate all sound samples
python generate_sounds.py
# Use a preset
python generate_sounds.py --preset bright
# Play a melody
./deepPanPlay "C4 E4 G4 C5"
# Analyze a WAV file to extract parameters
python analyze_audio.py sample.wav --output params.json
Source
View the full source and documentation on GitHub.