Turn Drawings Into Sound With the Drawdio Musical Pencil

Technology
Turn Drawings Into Sound With the Drawdio Musical Pencil

wp07_drawdio_circuitGIF_620px

Follow along as we first populate a perfboard with some common components, a low-power TLC555 Integrated Circuit, a speaker, and then mount the circuit on… a pencil! With the “Drawdio” Musical Pencil you, too, become part of the project. Due to the slightly conductive nature of graphite, combined with the conductive nature of the human body, the tones emitted from the speaker vary based on the resistance between those two points. Basically, if you move your finger around on a drawing – or conversely, if you keep your finger still and move the pencil lead around on a drawing – you’ll hear different sounds. Watch the video below to see and hear the project in action.

YouTube player

Of course your drawing must be entirely connected for this to work. That is, you must be able to trace a path from your finger to the tip of the pencil on the drawing. That is because you the human are in fact part of this circuit:

wp07_drawdio_human

You should feel free to experiment with this setting and give us your feedback. Did you find an especially conductive pencil? Did you make a drawing that produces some truly unique sounds?

The Drawdio is already a classic beginner-friendly electronics project, having been previously modded onto a paintbrush and even kitchenware. What other hacks or modifications for the Drawdio will you come up with? Send pictures and a story of your novel build to weekendprojects@makezine.com or leave a note in the comments below!

TIP: We used a carpenter’s pencil because they are easy to grip, easy to wind wire around, and their thick graphite core allows for the thumbtack to be easily inserted into the top. When sharpened correctly they also provide the artist or carpenter with the ability to make either thick or thin lines depending on which way you hold the pencil. Use this technique in your drawings to see how different line types and thicknesses effect the sounds produced.

4 thoughts on “Turn Drawings Into Sound With the Drawdio Musical Pencil

  1. ensonguncelhaber says:

    very interesting. inventor nothing spectacular.

  2. Timo F. says:

    Is it just me or do you guys think there’s something wrong with the schematic? I got it to work with these corrections:
    * Pin 7 (not 8) should be connected to +3V via the 10 kOhm resistor (correct on video)
    * 10 MOhm resistor should go from pin 7 (not 6) to GND

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

I'm an artist & maker. A lifelong biblioholic, and advocate for all-things geekathon. Home is Long Island City, Queens, which I consider the greatest place on Earth. 5-year former Resident of Flux Factory, co-organizer for World Maker Faire (NYC), and blogger all over the net. Howdy!

View more articles by Nick Normal

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK