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 photo pool Dan re-envisioned a guitar as a very original project enclosure – This is my very first electric guitar which was recently re-born to be a weird sound generator (www.musicfromouterspace.com) with a hand-made motherboard pick guard. Also affectionately known as the Fender Bender. Wow – well done and a very […]
This street busker in Bath, England has built a pedal powered machine that plays a guitar while he accompanies it with a violin solo. Pretty simple idea that we applaud for its DIY sensibilities and taking his invention to the streets. Guitar Machine via NeatoRama
These hand puppets by artist Matthew Irvine Brown can be tuned to sing in any scale or specific mode. They consist of basic electronics connected up to Max/MSP and can be used to “help illustrate relatively complex musical theory – such as the differences between blues, chromatic and pentatonic scales.” Check out more pics of […]
Gijs wrote in to tell us about his Acid Machine, a synthesizer instrument with an interesting method for visual display – The circle with the lines that you see on the top of the machine, rotates and displays the note you are playing. When you play a C the lines in the middle circle will […]
Highly Liquid is selling a kit to add MIDI input to one of Casio’s classic keyboards, the VL-1 aka “VL-Toneâ€. Could be a lot fun for owners/benders of the little white instrument. – VL-1-MIDI
This busker from Bath, England built his own bandmate, a mechanical guitar player, strummed and fretted by foot-control. An elegant solution for sure … but who’s gonna take turns driving the van?
Musician Mark Growden plays many instruments, but here he demonstrates a particularly unusual one – bicycle handlebars. Note there are no holes or other modification added to the tube – the voice is controlled simply by hand and mouth. With some dedication to practice, the handlebars could be a choice instrument for the bicycling busker […]
