One thought for improving the controller: it seems natural the ring should be wireless. Indeed, Remignanti says, wireless is in the works and will be offered as a plug-in module for the effects unit with an accompanying rechargeable ring. "We wanted to get to market with the product as quickly as possible, and getting the wireless interface right was going to take some time. We wanted to get the company out there and be recognized," he explains.
Remignanti says there were other design challenges in getting their first product ready for market: "Initially, we got instant gratification when we hooked up the accelerometer to the bandpass filter and heard it move back and forth. But it took us a while to get the accelerometer to trigger something really useful—and to get the sounds right. Not every sound translated to this format. And then there was a lot of work in terms of designing the controls for the box: the first prototype had a lot more knobs and switches, and we had to condense that down to a useable set. We had to find the right balance of a product that was easy to use but still powerful enough to keep people interested," he says.
Still, there was plenty of good help on the project, since it wasn't difficult to recruit musicians interested in lending their expertise. "Most of us are musicians, so we had lots of contacts," says Remignanti, noting jam band Deep Banana Blackout's guitarist Fuzz was a key contributor.
Going forward, Source Audio will initially focus on launching additional effects with modulation driven by hand motion, starting with phase shifting and flanging. Also on the drawing board: MIDI interface and a full range of digital effects. The team's core development concept, says Remignanti, is to allow musicians new freedoms and techniques in effects control while "getting sensing into the mainstream."