Make: Online: Portable Audio and Video Archives

Archive: Portable Audio and Video

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March 6, 2009

"Kids" played on iPhone/iTouch

Phil Clandillon sends this music video of The Mentalists playing Kids, originally by MGMT.

The Mentalists are an all female act based here in London. They've done this unusual cover of MGMT's "Kids" played entirely on their iPhones and iPod Touches, using apps from the application store.

What kinds of great music can you play on your iPhone, iTouch or Android phone? What other interactive applications work great on smart phones? Have you made a holder for your phone so its easier to play? Add your thoughts to the conversation in the comments, and please contribute your photos and videos to the MAKE Flickr pool.

February 6, 2009

Audio recording tips with Jack Black

After plenty of hours logged in front of the lens (and boom), Jack Black shares some basic audio-for-video recording tips.

Sure, if available, a boom mic is always a smart choice but the direct-to-mic backup track may be a bit of a challenge to dub later on. For an intentionally campy feel, I recommend overdubbing audio at the edit stage. It can be easier than one might imagine (and fun)

[via Califaudio]

December 27, 2008

This kid can solder, can you?

Brad sends this about his son's gift project:

For Christmas this year, Lucas made his grandmom a battery powered amp for her guitar. This was a big project - first time with a soldering iron. Worked out well with only one minor burn. He did 80% of the soldering and drilled all the holes for the pots and LED. He turns 6 in Jan - seemed he should learn one last skill while he was still 5.

Great project! Parts to love: scrounging parts out of otherwise dead or useless devices...teaching new skills to kids...making something that couldn't be bought...online documentation...photos...

What have you made lately? Did it work right the first time? Did you catch some pictures/video/audio of the process? What is your experience teaching kids about electricity, electronics, soldering, programming, hacking? What should people do or not do when they venture out into projects with kids? What workspace, tools or materials would you suggest? Show us your stuff! Add your comments and park your photos and video in the Make Flickr pool.

December 3, 2008

Digitize your bedtime stories

Do you have an extra mp3 player or four in the house? Do your kids like to hear your bedtime stories? How about archiving them and setting up your kid with an audio player that will allow him or her to play them back at any time? With a couple of computer speakers, or a DIY audiobear, your child can hear your voice telling your best stories at any time, night or day. After making the recordings, you may find that you have an heirloom audio session that can be passed down for generations.

There are plenty of ways to customize your Storybear, plush knobs, speakers, remote control, and you could make the doll yourself.

Minneapolis Art on Wheels - MAKE: television

Each episode of MAKE: television includes in-depth profiles of prominent Makers. Here's a quick preview of an upcoming profile of Minneapolis Art on Wheels. Ali Momeni and his fleet of mobile video projectors transform public spaces into real-time sound and light shows on a massive scale.

View the clip above, get the M4V and/or subscribe in iTunes. Don't forget to leave a comment; we want to know your thoughts.

To find out broadcast times and dates in your city, call your local public television station and request "Viewer Services." Or just log on to www.makezine.tv, where we'll stream full episodes in January.

Check out the group Minneapolis Art on Wheels

November 24, 2008

Resurrect your records

Justin and Michael come from vinyl listening parents. At some point in the last decade or so, they were pressed into dragging their folks' record collection into the digital age. Between them, they have translated hundreds of records into computer friendly formats. Here are their tips on converting music.

Justin is a great guitar player, and his father Dan has the largest record collection of any person I know. I met Dan a long time ago at a party just after he returned from a trip to Africa where he had a hand in creating a documentary recording of Radio Freedom, the communications arm of the Anti Aparthied movement.

At that time I worked at the local college radio station, which was then using the call letters WUSM, we then have an outlet for world music, so I passed it on to the reggae guys at the Roots Radical Connection. The station has since changed its call letters twice and frequency once, but still has an enormous collection of vinyl. Reggae is still on Saturdays. Dan now spins at WRIU in Rhode Island.

Anyway, enough about Justin's Father. Justin is an accomplished musician, and student at Hampshire College. They have many neat media resources and projects. He has been particularly involved with the Hampedia (Hampshire-Wikipedia) project.

A few years ago while visiting, Justin was making digital copies of records in the collection. After making a recording, he was using a database to find the name of the album, titles of the songs and all kinds of stuff that would take a lot of time to enter by hand.

Justin says:

The most important part is the interface part. The one my dad uses is a cheap, puck-sized 1/8inch -> USB interface called an iMic (Griffin Tech.) which acts as a bare-bones digital preamp, boosting and translating the signal so that the computer can hear and read it. While it still functions, it's pretty archaic, and I'm sure there are some better, still cheap options out there, as well as much more expensive and complex ones.

Software wise, my dad uses Analog Ripper, which is a pretty solid Mac editor with a Track Hunter (for automatically dicing tracks by looking for spaces of silence) and decent iTunes integration. It was a little buggy at first, but it's good with updates. $20 shareware. Again, not a lot of thought went into the purchase, I went for cheap functionality and an easy system for a not-so-computer-literate baby boomer. But it's worth a look.

You can get pretty crazy with vinyl rips. Many audiophiles rip at 24 bit / 96 kHz, above the capabilities of most motherboards / sound cards, to make sure everything is captured. There's also ClickRepair software, which I believe is Windows-only. I haven't delved too deeply, as the 320kbps MP3s my dad rips sound good enough (at half CD quality) and fit on my iPod.

The database system I was using to automatically fill in track info is an Applescript (Mac only) which can grab CDDB info from a Safari page and translate it into iTunes. CDDB is a good resource for most albums although they don't have many rare or obscure LPs, so I do have to enter some info on most of my dad's rarities. Many scripts on that site are very cool, although they are Mac-only.

And the word from Michael:

Ok, here are the requirements:

1) You have to really really really want the digitized copy of that vinyl, because by doing this you are about to open a black hole that will consume hours upon hours and spit out an mp3 or two.

2) Get a turntable and attach that to the best (hopefully tube) amplifier that you can find.
3) Using a 3.5mm stereo (headphone connector) to RCA (red and white) cable, connect the tape output (or whatever the output is on the amplifier) to the line in jack of your computer (usually labeled blue).

If you have to, you can use the mic in line, but that will give you grosser results, because it is usually pre-amplified.

4) Download Audacity
5) Start recording.
6) You will probably want to save to mp3 (download the LAME Mp3 codec package for audacity)
8) Add fade in's and fade out's to the beginning and end of the track.
7) At this point you have already dropped a chunk of time recording the tracks, but you will want to dump in some more time, cleaning up the pops and ticks imparted by the vinyl.

NOTES: From my experience many computers will add a really annoying background chatter to your recording.
Noise Abatement:
Grounding the heck out of everything usually helps
Find the computer with the best sound card possible
Sometimes older computers will have much nicer background noise properties (I do all of my recording on a PII HP pavilion, circa 1998) Just record on the old computer, and do the editing stuff on your super fast computer. This will allow you to multi task, with out the risk of destroying the song you are actively recording.

The time thing is the biggest problem, but definitely figure out how to do everything. The challenge of setting up a decent recording setup and dealing with noise is a really fun issue, and you will learn a lot in the process. Then when you know how to do everything move on to the next project.

P.S. If you buy the cable you are a pansy!! Make the cable yourself from dump-score components. (and shield the heck out of it while you are at it. I.e. wrap it in conductive material, and ground that to everything else)

I hope this helps,
Michael

So, have you got a bunch of black gold sitting in custom built cabinets in your parents house like I do? Are they getting eager to have your old record collection moved along so they can change their address to a place with fewer stairs and simpler upkeep? Did you work in college radio during the good old days of punk, new wave, techno or grunge when we could put a needle down on the record at the last second and still have it sound like we weren't winging it? Want to hear your old 45's or bootlegs? Digitize up your stuff and tell of your techniques in the comments!

August 12, 2008

DIY: Stand clamp for portable recorder

I really like this project for its simplicity. The design can be adapted for a bunch of other things too. Maybe it could be adapted for a camera, or studio lights? Just don't forget to paint the clamp, since it looks so much better in black!

When I shoot concerts, I often record audio off camera with a portable recorder. I needed a way to attach the recorder to the stand when I use a mic on top of a light stand. This bracket is made out of PVC pipe fitting, and will clamp onto the stand. If I extend the stand to get the mic 6' up, the recorder can still be lower so I can check settings easily.

Read more about the DIY: Stand clamp for portable recorder

June 13, 2008

7 in 7: Day 4

The fourth day of 7 in 7 at ITP revealed Seasonal Salad Dress, Spammed!, Face the Web and "Cheating" Book Cover. Click on a picture to read about each one-day project in the 7 in 7 blog.

Days: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

June 1, 2008

HOW TO - iPod speakers in your scooter

Instructables user avik writes:

I got my first Vespa about a year ago and have loved tooling around New York on it. From day one though I wanted to be able to listen to my iPod as I zip around but the idea of riding with headphones on in all that trafiic seems crazy. When I read on a Vespa forum that there is a secret compartment behind the two knee pads that are above the glove box I saw the opportunity to do a really cool mod to my scooter.

This instructable covers circuit design, custom 3D modeling, and modding existing components, all in order to tote some tunes on your ride.

May 19, 2008

Hallmark "boom" box

Well, it won't win any awards for high-fidelity (or even middle-fidelity), but this Instructable, which turns a Hallmark audio greeting card and a mini cereal box into an iPod speaker, might be a fun kids project.

Make an iPod Speaker from a Hallmark Music Card

May 10, 2008

iPhone controlling surveillance camera

This would be a great tool for security people that are on the move. Theoretically they would be able to control camera via their iPhone from any location. Imagine being able to instantly look into rooms prior to entering.

Adding a mobile interface to systems that traditionally required a user to be sitting at their desk will open up many new opportunities. The new touch screen interface will also change how we interact with those systems, creating all new ways to use technology.

As an example, traditional surveillance systems use a joystick or mouse to control camera positioning. With the iPhone, the user has the potential of a much more intuitive interface to drag the camera around and zoom in on things by pinching the picture.

via - tuaw - iPhone controlling surveillance equipment

May 5, 2008

Radio shows what your friends are listening to

This prototype digital radio, called "Olinda" uses modular hardware that is customizable for each user. The interesting aspect of the project is that it has social networking built in, showing exactly what your friends are listening to, similar to the way that iChat on the Mac lets you put your current iTunes song into your status line.

Olinda Construction, [via]

April 28, 2008

75 things to do with an old iPod

Packing up for Maker Faire, I was debating whether to bring my old iPod as a back-up to my iPhone. That got me thinking about ways I might make use of my iPod besides just insuring music and address book redundancy. On TravelHacker, I found this round-up of 75+ tutorials on everything from turning it into a guitar tuner to using it as a universal remote, to an ebook reader, to turning it into money (ah, as in selling it...).

How to: Turn Your iPod Into Anything (75+ Tutorials)

March 30, 2008

New audio for Soviet aviation helmet

In this Instructable, the author shows how he put modern haedphones into a Soviet-era SHZ-84 flight helmet.

Hacking a SHZ-84 Soviet aviation helmet

March 24, 2008

Buddha machine

Buddhamachine Colors

Finally on-the-go zen for today's busy traveller, the Buddha Machine from FM3 plays nine different drones successively, with lengths ranging from 2 - 42 seconds long -

The machine has its own built-in speaker, in case one would like to fill a room with the drones, but there is also a headphone jack for more personal meditative experiences. There's a switch on the side that allows for traversal of the tracks, and a DC jack (though an adapter is not included) for those who would like the Buddha Machine experience be truly endless.

Sorry, no plans for a video-capable version as of yet.

Related:

Buddha statue made from pills

Phone book Buddha

February 25, 2008

Touchkeyer on Altoids-based HF radio

Check out this nifty touchkeyer (for CW or "continuous wave" Morse code) ham operator Jonathan Haynes ( KC7FYS) built into his Altoids-housed ATS-3b high-frequency CW radio transceiver:

I put whiteboard marker on my fingers and pressed them on a piece of paper to get this footprint. The idea of sculpting them from PCB material came to me when I was trying to sleep. Ha ha. Next time I'll use thicker copper with a thicker substrate.

Nice work on the whole project. The labels and green metalflake are swanky.

Touchkeyer Ergometrics - Link

February 21, 2008

Vintage headphone mod

Over at the Steampunk Workshop, Jake inaugurates a new Guest Artist Project feature with the wonderful Molly "Porkshanks" Friedrich as the first artist in residence. Molly shows how to update an antique Cannonball Empire headset with modern headphone innards.

Porkshank's Dieselpunk Headphone Mod - Link

Related:

The Ambiance Enhancer (retro MP3 player) - Link

February 7, 2008

Hack a $20 DVD player into an NTSC display

Here's a quick how-to on creating a composite video display from a cheap Cyberhome DVD player. There's even instructions on where to tap the circuit for audio playback. [via]-Link

Too bad some of the PCB images are so blurry - if only the author hacked his camera into taking macro shots . . .

DIY macro lens
Do-It-Yourself Macro lens -Link

February 5, 2008

HOW TO - Use full-size CD-Rs on a VideoNow

This video tutorial shows you how to modify the case on a Tiger Electronics VideoNow kid vid player (which normally uses a special 4" CD) so that it can play back regulation CDs.

VideoNow Color Mod Uncut Cdr [Thanks, Craniac!] - Link

January 30, 2008

Pocket amp circuit

This serene little pocket amp circuit was submitted by MAKE Flickr pool member Abie Ringman.
The Mint-Tin/CMoy headphone amplifier costs around $20 to make and therefore is a very attractive alternative to similar commercial amps which can run upwards of $100. Get more info on this popular project in MAKE Volume 4.

Pocket amp circuit on Flickr - Link

From the pages of MAKE:

Mint-Tin Amp MAKE 04 - page 141. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition or get MAKE 04 @ the Maker store.