Music

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.

New in the Maker Shed: Pico Paso and Nebulophone

These two new kits from the Maker Shed were designed by Bleep Labs for Handmade Music Austin. Both are featured in our upcoming Ultimate Kit Guide and kits website. The Pico Paso (above) is a perfect beginner soldering / electronic music project based on the Atari punk console. The Nebulophone (above) is an Arduino based synthesizer with a stylus keyboard that can be played through 6 octaves using the shift button. The programmable sequencer function lets you record, play back, and manipulate custom arpeggios for musical awesomeness.

Continue Reading November 23rd, 2011 Michael Castor

Scratching Analog Audio With a PC Fan

Adrià Navarro created this excellent DIY DJ turntable from a junk pile walkman and PC fan. When you rotate the fan with your fingers, the voltage is read by an Arduino, which smooths and remaps the levels and then uses PWM to control the audio casette player’s motor. For good measure, Adrià added an array of LEDs to show the speed of playback. Inspired by her, I’ll be fishing through my junk pile to see if I can give new life to any dusty old parts.

Continue Reading November 21st, 2011 Matt Richardson

Programmable Diatonic Doorbell Chimes

Beautiful robot xylophone build from reader David Watson. Campanello uses a set of eight bar chimes and resonators from a child’s set, fabricated wooden mallets, and some simple right-angle brackets designed by David and printed through Shapeways.

Continue Reading November 21st, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan2

Drum Kit Kit

Turn anything into a drum set with your Arduino and this simple kit. Some makers build custom drum sets from fine hardwoods, while others take the easy route and make practice sets from mouse pads and sheet metal. Instead of building my own, I used the included piezo elements to trick out my Rock Band […]

Continue Reading November 14th, 2011 Jake Spurlock10

Synth in a Book, With Bonus Devil Pig

Gwydion ap Dafydd of Konkreet Labs shoehorned a MeeBlip synthesizer into a copy of that Mary Hahn’s venerable classic Praktisches Kochbuch. Much as I hate to see Mary Hahn’s work used as a means to an end, there’s no denying the cool factor of the hog-butchering diagram with the glowing eye. [Thanks, Gwydion!]

Continue Reading November 14th, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan2

Saga T-Style Electric Guitar

Love to play the guitar, and want to add something custom to your kit? The Saga Electric Guitar Kit offers a blank canvas for guitar building. You could paint it, stain it, or classically distress it to look like your favorite guitar idol. In addition to the guitar body, the headstock has a paddle shape […]

Continue Reading November 13th, 2011 Jake Spurlock8

Tenor Wolfelele Ukulele

It took me about 45 minutes (not including glue drying time) to put together a service-able ukulele from Wolfelele’s precut wooden components. The well-designed parts fit together in a way that ensured it didn’t end up crooked, and the triangular instrument sounds better than any other $100 ukulele I’ve played. The kit has everything you […]

Continue Reading November 12th, 2011 Mark Frauenfelder