Xylosaurus

Xylosaurus

Mar ’22 – WORK IN PROGRESS

Fabrication, Prototyping, Woodworking, User Research

Unlike any wooden, instrumental dinosaur you’ve ever seen, the Xylosaurus can be completely disassembled and reassembled to create wide variety of unique musical combinations. When struck with the mallet, each block spins on it’s axis, and the louder it’s played the more it spins. When taken apart, the dinosaur ends come together to form an adorable brontosaurus.

This project started as an instrument that would, under typical circumstances, not fall apart, but after observing the tendency of children to take things apart and (occasionally) put them back together, I chose to pursue the task of creating a toy where every part could be disassembled and put back together in a number of ways. Like many of my projects, this one evolved with user research.

To determine the correct size for each note, I started by fully completing two blocks with identical width and depth but variable length. Using an electronic tuner and some sandpaper to make minor adjustments, I tuned the blocks to their closest interval (a perfect fourth). I then interpolated between and extrapolated beyond these blocks to determine the length required to achieve the second, third, and fifth intervals.

With the musical components completed, I held a brainstorming session with my peers to develop concepts for the supporting components. We came up with a number of ideas, but ultimately decided on the dinosaur supports since the instrument loosely resembles a rib cage. Due to projects with higher priority, this portion is still is progress but nearing completion.