Take your creations beyond the workshop and onto the stage with diy music instruments! Let us show you how these creations range from simple, basic setups that produce beautiful sounds to more complex projects that require a greater level of engineering knowledge. With these tutorials and examples, we’ll guide you on this journey to make your own musical instrument for experimental, artistic or everyday use – so whether you’re starting out new or a seasoned sound creator, come explore the wonderful world of making your own music.
Mike Rotondo created an instrument using an Arduino, Max/MSP and some sensors for a Physical Interaction Design workshop at Stanford’s CCRMA. As he puts it: “When the guitar is too sexy and the piano makes too much sense, it’s time to stick a bunch of sensors to your body with electrical tape and plug it […]
Here’s a low-tech way to share some holiday joy. Jared Lyon used a bunch of dominoes and some strategically placed bells to play the song ‘Carol of the Bells’ as the dominoes fell down.
By way of Alden Hart at HacDC comes this amazing computer-controlled analog piano that speaks, *almost* comprehensible English, when a frequency spectrum of a child reading the text of the Proclamation of the European Environmental Criminal Court is transferred to robot fingers that press the piano’s keys. Creepy. Cool. [Thanks, Alden!] Speaking Piano – Now […]
Because of its classic sounds & serial-controllability, the Commodore 64’s Sound Interface Device (SID) chip is much sought after by many synth DIYers. Instead of plucking one from a vintage piece of computing history, Christoph recreated the SID’s functionality in firmware using an ATMega8 chip. The resulting emulator can be controlled via serial protocol – […]
Instructables user brainparts built this acoustically-isolated microphone mounting ring for his kick drum using bungee cords and a short slice of 6″ aluminum pipe, all for about $20. He says if he were to do it again, he’d just use PVC pipe for the ring.
Make, mod, hack, and bend your own analog noise monster with the new Thingamagoop 2 kit from the Maker Shed! Great for beginners with it’s detailed instructions and photos of each step. Advanced users can taking advantage of the Arduino integration, control voltage in and out, or just bend it like crazy!
Thessia Machado‘s Interference – an interactive sculpture/instrument made with harvested electronic parts. You can modulate both the sounds and the images by shading the light on the photocells. The lcd screen (from a discarded pda) is excited directly by the voltage output from the oscillator. [via Califaudio]
