Small microphones

I've been thinking these small tie clip style microphones are probably the best option for placement in the tea cups. I'll need four, each connected to the small mixer and then to the computer. I think the fact the they will be inside ceramic tea cups will color the sound interestingly and add to the sonic experience for the user.

The use of contact microphones instead of standard clip type mics is something I've been thinking about. This would certainly have a massive effect on the sounds being played/spoken into each cup but might detract from the users understanding if the sounds were changed beyond recognition. I'm going to purchase a cheap, small, contact microphone this afternoon to experiment with how it colors the sound I make into one of the tea cups.

A new box, thats big enough!

Unfortunately the first box I bought didn't fit the Mac Mini inside it, which makes it pretty much useless. This is a sewing box I've just bought from a flea market and which is definitely big enough to house all the necessary things, and leave enough space to keep all the electronics cool. I've been thinking about ways to use the rotation of the tea cups as something which might control a parameter of the audio playback, but this is something thats going to take a bit of consideration. Perhaps rotation could effect playback speed or pitch with the amount the lid is lifted effecting something different.