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.
From the MAKE Flickr pool Ranjit makes the best of a not-so-awesome situation. After receiving his newly purchased tine piano, and noticing the heavy shipping damages. He wired the remaining musical skeleton for automation, seen above performing Philip Glass’s “Modern Love Waltz”. Very cool – and created as part of NYCR’sAwesome August!
I try to set aside a little time each week to build cigar box guitars. They are easy to make and they sound really good. The best place to learn about making cigar box guitars is at Cigar Box Nation, where makers post photos, videos, and plans of their musical creations. Here, you’ll encounter hundreds […]
Instructable member (instructabler?) megatronix documented a simple yet interesting mod for electric guitar – isolating the bridge and neck pickup wiring into 2 seperate channels for stereo seperation. Hmm … the hard-panning could make for some fresh recordings, and if not, using multiple effects chains & amps could be fun. Unfortunately no audio sample as […]
Ever wonder how your computer can sort lists of data that you give it? No? Well, there is a whole field of research dedicated to what are appropriately called sorting algorithms. They can be a pretty dry (but important!) subject to study, but it turns out that they have a better use: making cool music! […]
Behold the earth-shakingly epic introduction to the MIDI-harmonica fusion instrument better known as the Millioniser 2000! The device’s slogan “It comes from tomorrow, but it’s here today” doesn’t seem to hold true nowadays as the Millioniser has become quite rare is since its release back in 1983. All smoke machines and spooky voiceovers aside, it’s […]
This is a pretty simple, clever way of controlling sound by creating these pins wheels with holes in them that spin over light sensors and change frequency and modulation as light levels change. Different wheels can be swapped out. SpinTronic
From the MAKE Flickr pool Flickr member alikins made this eentsy thumb piano that doubles as a pendant – A very small kalimba I made for lintqueen to be worn as a piece of jewelry. It’s about 1.5 inches by 2 inches. It is made out of laser cut purplehear and uses bobby pins for […]
