Discontinued as of 05/2019.
Out of all my projects I attempted to complete, Muse was probably the closest I got to something actually tangible. The idea for Muse (inspired by the Greek mythical god of music 😀) was to be a device where a novice songwriter could use it as an audio interface to both record and save their music — but also be completely automated, with audio production editing tools built in. That way the user would only need to worry about the creative process of making a song and let the device handle all the technicals of audio production, so it could be deployed on a music hosting platform sounding professionally processed.
I took this through an initial concept phase — making valid electrical circuit schematics and device design drafts — and took it as far as trying to build a simple speaker using off-the-shelf components with basic volume and equalizer ability. Unfortunately that's where the story ends for now. I'd pick it up for a month, drop it, pick it up for a week a year later, then drop it again. I don't see it as a drawback though — I still had my takeaways, and it was a fun little project. The only one where I tried to make a two-foot-tall wooden speaker box in my one-bedroom apartment with a jigsaw... I'm sure my neighbors loved me for that one. 😅
Background
Around this time I was really into music. I'd recently completed a college elective on audio production and would occasionally write a little song on my keyboard or guitar. The inspiration came from doodling on my guitar and running into a mental block — because I was thinking about all the small steps of setting up my mics and audio gear that I'd just get lazy and not want to record. And that's pretty much it: just being lazy, think of a robot, and boom — million dollar idea. 😂