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I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

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Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#61

Post by neumann »

I think mentioned elsewhere here, https://github.com/MiczFlor/RPi-Jukebox-RFID is great for this. I did something similar with an opp shop Fisher Price[0] record player, with the RFID reader under the turntable and each 'card' is a laminated record cover with the rfid stuck on it. Lots of good photos of different implementations in their issue threads.

We also use it for kids podcasts (autodownloads them weekly). I added a TTS script that generates a friendly audio message from a text file that can be triggered to play from an alarm or for a specific record. This announces the weather with a Dad joke at the end. I tried to automate the last one with various sources (db, LLM, etc - but felt too cold, so I just dictate it to the server from the phone) and usually add a customised message about our family calendar (wear a jacket for rain. cousins are coming today).

[0] https://www.amazon.com.au/Fisher-Price-Classics-Record-Playe...

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#62

Post by hatthew »

dhosek wrote: post #29

I’ve made a conscious decision to not do streaming services. Having all the music is not much different than having no music at all. I don’t even want all of my own music on my phone. Instead, I use a set of smart playlists to give me a changing selection of songs based on ratings, how long it’s been since I last heard a song and how new the music is in my library.

> Having all the music is not much different than having no music at all.

This is an interesting statement; could you clarify what you mean? Taken at face value it seems like a falsism, but I'm assuming you have an interpretation in mind that would make sense to me.

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#63

Post by al_borland »

ks2048 wrote: post #46

Nice job! I wonder what hardware is available today to actually store the music in the card? i.e. how slim and cheap can you store an album of mp3?

Without getting too fancy with the tech, I found a 10 pack of 128MB micro SD cards on Amazon for $15. Those seem like they'd be slim enough for an off-the-shelf option to hack something together for $1.50 per album, if you're not worried about having audiophile quality.

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#64

Post by canpan »

bobthepanda wrote: post #52
vitorbaptistaa wrote: post #33

I love this! I prefer digital stuff (less things to worry about), but I miss the physicality, especially when friends come over. Books or CDs become a conversation. If you'd like to do something similar, but don't want to DIY it, check out Yoto Player [1]. This is a small music speaker and they sell a bunch of NFC cards to "play" them. You can also buy blank cards and use their app to add whatever you want to them (m…

CDs are now actually also joining vinyls in being revived for physical merch purposes. They're no longer needed, but if you want them they are available for purchase.

After years of digital only I started buying CDs and books again. I am much more selective though. Just buy what I will listen to many times or for artist support.

Bought a total of 3 CDs in two years. Movies are more difficult, as I can't stand watching most the second time. Got some Ghibli classics.

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#66

Post by conductr »

When similar topics come up I like to add this tidbit, also encourage them to listen to full albums. In order, no shuffle or playlist, just dedicating an ~hour to sit and listen to an album.

When any Dookie song ends I still automatically start singing or air strumming the next track on the album.

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#67

Post by polynomial »

NFC inlays are paper thin (~0.06mm) and cards are typically 0.2mm (Bicyle) to 0.30mm (M:TG).

We can use NFC tools to write an URI pointing at an audio file link using NDEF.

I believe Android will play the audio file when you tap the card on the your phone. (Apple will need you to confirm in a popup.)

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#68

Post by spunker540 »

hatthew wrote: post #62
dhosek wrote: post #29

I’ve made a conscious decision to not do streaming services. Having all the music is not much different than having no music at all. I don’t even want all of my own music on my phone. Instead, I use a set of smart playlists to give me a changing selection of songs based on ratings, how long it’s been since I last heard a song and how new the music is in my library.

> Having all the music is not much different than having no music at all. This is an interesting statement; could you clarify what you mean? Taken at face value it seems like a falsism, but I'm assuming you have an interpretation in mind that would make sense to me.

Not op, but to me this resonates because none of it is “mine”, none of it exists in the real world. There’s a huge difference between the music I physically collected (from libraries, friends, Best Buy, Christmas gifts, used cd stores) and uploaded into my iPod and lived with for years vs music I searched on a whim, listened to for a month while it was in my “recents” and then eventually forgot about once it was pushed out by something else.

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#69

Post by PokeStick »

jordanf wrote: post #9
nedrylandJP wrote: post #4

Looks like a homebrew Yoto

Yeah, we have a Yoto, and it's great. But their custom cards are pretty expensive. And, let's face it, I wanted a weekend project :)

Your project is super cool and really well executed. Thanks for sharing. I’ve had success with cheap blank NFC cards instead of the official MyYo York cards. I have a quick breakdown in my recent comment history if you’re curious.

Re: I built physical album cards with NFC tags to teach my son music discovery

#70

Post by spunker540 »

I like this idea. While it’s great to have all the music at my fingertips via Alexa + Apple Music (or Spotify etc), it’s actually not very conducive to browsing or recalling all the music and albums I like.

Something physical to browse like this is a pretty fun way to marry the physical world with digital music catalogs.

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