My Secret Santa really came through. I LOVE my gift. My SS truly took my interests to heart and got me something that is not only very generous and super cool, but it's also perfect timing with what I'm working on right now.

The Arduino is a microcontroller that lets you easily interface the world of analog sensors and input devices with your computer. The musical instrument shield contains many musical instrument sounds that are controllable via the Arduino.

I will be using these gifts right away in building the prototype for a new type of interactive instrument for use in my performance group.

I am very very grateful for this glorious gift. Hooray for Reddit and hooray for people!