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.
Russ built this vintage DIY beauty 25 years ago to demonstrate the abilities of a now classic/rare chip – Handmade SN94281-based synth I made back in 1983. The device won the Grand Champion prize at the York County Science and Engineering fair — I was 12 years old at the time. Last year at this […]
From the MAKE Flickr pool Andrew’s neglected subwoofer found new life as a mini guitar amp – So I made the $5 Cracker box amplifier (makezine.com/09/crackerboxamp) almost a year ago, and the box I had put it in was falling apart, even though I had reinforced it with more cardboard. Anyway, I was looking at […]
Breeze is an incredible marquetry artist. A few years ago, he stayed with us while showing his work at the Duxbury Art Association. My mother saw his work and commissioned a custom designed table inspired by her photos of Costa Rica. T. Breeze VerDant…started his woodworking experience by building a log cabin from his own […]
I’ve always been fascinated by the pocket gramophones of the 20s and 30s. I discovered there’s a bunch of them on YouTube. The top one here is a Mikiphone, from 1926. The second one is a Peter Pan gramophone, from 1930. Some models of the Peter Pan even had a clock built into the carrying […]
It seems at least one member of Toronto’s HackLab collective may have actually grown tired of laser-cutting. Jed wrote up some code turning those high-end onboard servos into sound synthesizers. I guess it’s true – you really can make just about anything with a laser cutter, even the Super Mario theme =P
Nick sent word of his digitally squarewave take on the legendary theremin instrument – hmmm, a Squaremin perhaps? This battery powered electronic musical instrument is a descendant of the theremin and can be played without contact from the musician. This small instrument contains two infared (IR) sensors, one controlling the note, with the other controlling […]
Adrian Mann has built what’s being called the world’s largest piano, measuring in at over 18.5 feet long! He began work on the project at the age of 16 and continued construction in a local barn over the next four years. It seems all his hard work was worth it considering the instruments commanding voice. […]
