When we first launched the Maker’s Notebook, we couldn’t get some of the aspects of the production just how we wanted, like the rounded corners, included pocket, and attached fabric elastic band closure. My favorite improvement has been the inclusion of the lay-flat binding, which makes it easy to reference your sketches as you work. […]
By Vanessa Coppola The holidays are here, presents are bought (unless you are a procrastinator like me), and now the wrapping begins. I personally love taking the time to make the outside of a gift look just as great as what is inside. Tossing your gift into a store-bought bag is fine but hardly does […]
Inspired by the CGI video series Animusic, Stefan “g000ze” of Lets Make Robots and his sons built this Marblephone. Using a bunch of marbles, some solenoids, and bars from a xylophone, he built an electromechanical instrument to play out tunes by dropping marbles onto the xylophone bars.
In my previous SPARK post, I created a program that sends serial port commands via an XBee transceiver to control lights plugged into a modified power strip. It was nice to see this level of functionality, but since this is my last SPARK post, I wanted to add a little pizzazz to the project. The […]
Hannah of While They Sleep shares a brilliant refashion for transforming a pair of maternity jeans into cute jeans for your toddler. I especially love the embroidery on the back pockets – adorable!
Gareth @ MAKE posted about this papercraft walker inspired by Dutch kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen’s “Strandbeest” walker.
First up is Dan Hemingson’s “ambisonic” (Wikipedia) recording work. Shown above is the tetrahedral microphone array Dan uses to record his soundscapes, three of which he played back on the ACTlab’s surround-sound system. The tetrahedral microphone arrangement makes it possible to mathematically derive any number or spatial arrangement of surround-sound channels from the raw audio. Professional ambisonic microphones cost thousands of dollars; Dan put his together for nine bucks. He played amazing recordings of a babbling river, a clowder of feeding cats, and a pipe organ recital at UT’s Bass Concert Hall, while the audience milled about the room to experience the spatial simulation of sound. The realism was absolutely uncanny.
