Make:

Don't forget - you can also make your own slide cylinder for those twangy solos -Link

Related:

Make a 3 string slide guitar out of junk -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 8, 2008 01:00 PM
DIY Projects, Music | Permalink | Comments (4)

Teapotus Noisus

From the MAKE Flickr pool

Care for a cup of BZZZZZT? Witness the "Teapotus Noisus", another good one from pool member Whereisthecavern:

Noise, lights and tea. I need nothing more. It has a pickup installed and you can plug it into an amp and hit it and it makes all sounds of noises. It also has leds that flash in sequence that you can make flash faster or slower with the knob.

Related:

Atari punk console inside a old Ericsson telephone-Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 8, 2008 05:00 AM
DIY Projects, Music | Permalink | Comments (1)

Building a musical ensemble out of car parts

Peter writes -

I got a chance to talk to sound designer Bill Milbrodt, who led the team that created musical instruments from parts of a Ford Focus. He talked about how his Car Music Project has constructed new instruments out of first an Accord (quintet) and now a 31-piece orchestra made from a Ford. Interestingly, some people doubted the sounds in the ad were coming from these instruments, but in a follow up Bill explained that, yes, they really are.

Most interesting, though, is the way in which the 22-person fabrication team had to find a balance between what was unique in the car and some of the timbres that come from conventional, classical instruments -- and thus had to tackle the challenge of making everything sound right in tune!

More:

• The Car Music Project - Link.
• Milbrodt Music, Bill’s page - Link.
• Yes, Virginia, There Really is a Ford Car Part Musical Ensemble - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Feb 8, 2008 04:30 AM
Arts, Music | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 7, 2008

Bronome - A RGB monome-like project

There seems to be a few people doing RGB monome-like projects, Brian writes in with his...

The Bronome project has been designed to address some of my personal performance audio needs. I saw a need for something more than just a USB interface something which could also act as a hardware midi controller. In that respect the Bronome is a brother to many other projects such as the Monome, Tonori-on, and MidiBox. It borrows concepts and ideas from all to make a unique interface onto its own. Although the initial facade is very much like the minimalist Monome 40h, the differences are in its use of light to convey meaning. Through visual means the interface of the Bronome can mutate or transform into a multitude of utilities, keyboard, sequencer, or display. The configurations are endless.

Related:

Full-colour RGB monome clone (Trinome?) - Link.

More:

Hackable, playable LED/pad music interface - the monome - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Feb 7, 2008 07:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (2)

Spray paint headphones

These are freaking rad, spray paint headphones - on Etsy for $75 or an inspiration remake to do up on your own - Link.

Related:

Spray paint lamp - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Feb 7, 2008 03:30 AM
Crafts, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

The BrakeDrum

This cool musical instrument is based on the circuit bending 5 toys, and a trigger system made from mouse pads and sheet metal. The website has audio samples, electrical diagrams, and pictures of the whole process. If you want to try this one yourself, be warned, this is not your every day circuit bending. - Link

Related:

Drum Trigger - Link

Posted by Marc de Vinck | Feb 7, 2008 03:00 AM
Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 6, 2008

Custom Harmonica Mic

From the MAKE Flickr pool:
Member Filmosity built this microphone to amplify a blues harp. He also made a minty amp to go with it - cool idea for portable playing.

I made this harmonica mic from scrounged pieces of other items. I got a $20 dynamic mic from Radio Shack and used the element and the windscreen. Also got a potentiometer (volume control) and a mono phono jack. Put them together using the bell from a garden hose sprayer ($8), part of the column from the mic, and a Listerine bottle cap. The mic fits nicely in the hand with a harp in my hand. Not too heavy, not too light. Unfortunately, it seems I wired the potentiometer incorrectly, so it doesn't actually do anything. On version 2.0 I'll wire the pot correctly, and use 2 listerine caps for extra room.

Related:

Build an I-Mic -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 6, 2008 01:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOW TO - Build a USB Guitar

Bill writes -

Why would you want a USB port in an electric guitar? The answer is simple: convenience. By putting a small USB port and audio codec in a guitar, you're adding an extra sound board. So when you record, your guitar is digitized locally and the signal is transmitted to your computer over a USB cable. The guitar retains all its standard analog capabilities but outputs to USB as well. Now you can rock steady until your hard drive is full. Here's how to do it.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Feb 6, 2008 09:30 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

DIY Electronic drum set with controller

Insomartin writes -

Here is a e-drum set just for a game called DTX mania and Drummidi. and a drum controller for FL. i don't want to purchase a module since i'm still starting to play my game and study drums. many play this game but don't have the controller to practice at home. or just PLAY. i really wish everyone could make one it's a great percussion project, it might take you 3 days to construct and make it work. but about a month to configure and make the drum set better and better. it is still a work in progress but it's a playable prototype.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Feb 6, 2008 09:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

Build your own effects pedal

"Build Your Own Clone" has a ton of different DIY guitar FX pedals that are all ready to be soldered up and plugged in. Most of the pedal kit links feature a video so you can see and hear the pedal in action. For those of you out there that are a little fearful of soldering, they even offer a "Confidence Booster" kit for free. Go ahead and give it a try! - Link

Related:

Soldering Tutorial - Make Video Podcast - Link

Posted by Marc de Vinck | Feb 6, 2008 03:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (7)

February 4, 2008

Ardrumo

Just when you thought the Arduino name permutations would stop - they don't!
Enter the "Ardrumo":

This is a software MIDI interface designed to accept serial data from an Arduino board and convert it into MIDI drum data in OS X. The application acts as a bridge between sensors connected to the Arduino board and applications such as GarageBand or Logic without requiring additional MIDI hardware. All data is transferred directly over the USB connection and no additional power source is needed.

Ardumo on Google Code -Link

Related:

Spooky Arduino Projects #4, and Musical Arduino -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 4, 2008 06:45 PM
Arduino, DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (1)

Matchbox Synthesizer

From the MAKE Flickr pool:
Ranjit created this tiny synthesizer for the thing-a-day project. Though only about two inches long, this noisemaker has five sliding switches to augment tone and a pitch control on top. Unfortunately, no schematic was made available - but one book was cited as a source:

Handmade Electronic Music takes a loose and playful approach to the subject of electronic sound. This book bypasses many complexities of electronic theory in favor of inexpensive experimentation and discovery akin to circuit bending with a high-art leaning - Great for getting your feet wet, though it will leave the newcomer with many unanswered questions.

Matchbox Synthesizer on Vimeo -Link

Matchbox Synthesizer on Flickr -Link

Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking -Link

Related:

MAKE NYC & Handmade music night! JAM PACKED!! -Link

TV-to-synth interface in MAKE Vol. 8 page 123 -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 4, 2008 01:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (2)

Make a Stylophone-style synth controller

Here's another great project PCB from MFOS. The Mini-Controller can be used with any synthesizer with a 1-volt-per-octave input. It uses a stylus probe and PCB keyboard contacts similar to the classic Stylophone synth used by David Bowie.
Just to clarify - this is only an interface and doesn't produce any sound on its own, but it's probably the simplest DIY synth controller project out there.

Stylophones are still made today by the Dubreq company. While they're not the prettiest sounding synths, they are retro-cool and a lot of fun to play.

MFOS Mini-Controller -Link

1969: David Bowie and the Stylophone -Link

Original Stylophone by Dubreq -Link

Related:

MIDI Arduinophone -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 4, 2008 05:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music, Retro | Permalink | Comments (1)

February 1, 2008

The Kaossilator

So Why would a web store like ThinkGeek stock a Korg synthesizer? Well, the Kaossilator isn't a regular keyboard synth - in fact it's not a keyboard at all, it's a touchpad;

Move your finger from left to right to change the pitch of the note, and up and down to change the sound. But musical sounds are only the beginning, the Kaossilator can also be used like a drum kit with dozens of built in beats and drum sounds. Plus you get some amazing sound effects from laser blasts to Pac Man. You can put everything to good use with the built-in loop recording feature which lets you layer virtually unlimited tracks to create complex songs combining lead instruments, drum beats and sound effects together.

Korg Kaossilator on ThinkGeek -Link

Related:

Nintendo DS MIDI -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 1, 2008 09:30 PM
Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (2)

Rock Band drums controlling GarageBand

For its price, the Rock Band drum kit is a pretty good set of electronic pads. That is - if you can actually use it out-of-game. Chris shows us how this can be on OS X with only 2 pieces of software and minimal config time.

RockBand Drums Controlling GarageBand -Link

Related:

Rock Band drum dampening tutorial -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 1, 2008 08:00 PM
Gaming, Music | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rock Band string mod

It seems Rock Band's plastic strum bar wasn't good enough for this player. He used some professional quality wood fittings to mount an actual guitar string which triggers a spring-switch mechanism. Notice the lovely wood inlay inhabiting the former home of the strum bar. Looks quite "high end"!

Related:

Fixing a Rock Band strat - Link

Rock Band drum dampening tutorial - Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Feb 1, 2008 04:59 AM
Electronics, Gaming, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

The Owl by David Ellis

David Ellis made this owl instrument, inspired by a player piano. - [via] Link.

Posted by Becky Stern | Jan 31, 2008 07:00 PM
Arts, Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fuzzy logic guitar effects pedal

Here's a unique circuit for guitar effects builders. It uses readily available SIP sockets to allow easy transistor swapping. Experiment with different values for a personalized sound - and change it up on a whim. You can also recreate a bunch of popular pre-existing fuzz distortions with it:

Some of the fuzzes you can make after building this layout are the Basic Fuzz Face (with R.G. Keen Mods, Roger Mayer Mods, Fuller Mods), the Vox Tone Bender 5/67, runoffgroove.com's Sili-Faces, fuzzcentral.com's Axis Face Germanium and Silicon, Joe Gagan's Easy Face, Aron Nelson's Hornet, the Gus Fuzz Face, Tim Escobedo's Many Faces, the Boutique Fuzz, and the Miss Piggy.

Guassmarkov's site has some great tutorials on using op-amps and other basic electronic parts. There's a boat-load of schematics, PCB images, and Eagle CAD files on there as well.

Fuzzy logic effects pedal -Link

Related:

Walkman guitar distortion pedal -Link

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Jan 31, 2008 03:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Music | Permalink | Comments (1)

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