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.
Back in MAKE Volume 22, I had the chance to interview musician, engineer, and fabricator Tristan Shone, the one-man industrial doom and drone metal band Author & Punisher. Tristan custom fabricates his Drone/Dub Machines from raw materials and uses open source circuitry. His machines are essentially beautiful MIDI controllers, drawing from the clean, polished lines […]
For me, one of the pleasant side-effects to circuit bending with mono-speaker toys is the ability to leave the original speaker embedded in the device, while still having the option to amplify the device when you’re ready to rock out on stage or for an art installation. This means I can always hear the toy when I want to, without needing a full PA or powered speaker setup.
If you’re in San Francisco this Friday and are looking for some makerly entertainment, consider checking out the Thingamajigs Fundraiser Concert at Meridian Gallery. Proceeds from the event go to help artists attend the 14th Annual Music for People & Thingamajigs Festival in September.
You had to know it wouldn’t be long before we dove into the wonderful world of circuit bending for our Weekend Projects series, brought to you by Radio Shack. For our third project, Add Volume, Jack, we’ll learn how to install an audio output jack and a volume knob onto any mono speaker toy circuit.
If you haven’t yet signed up for our Weekend Projects Newsletter, then you’re missing out on some seriously fun, beginner-friendly electronics projects. We’ve already built a Floating Glow Display, and hacked together a USB Webcam Microscope – both in just a few hours over a weekend.
Axel Boman’s video highlights the Radioactive Orchestra, a project that assigns musical tones to reactive isotopes, making some seriously cool music along the way. [Thanks, Kristoffer!]
Yesterday while walking around the DIY music section of Maker Faire Detroit, I heard a very familiar voice, though what the voice was saying was absolute nonsense. “People vote community achieve promise and hope together strength.” I followed the sound to find Ashley Lewis standing behind a keyboard telling a group of visitors about her […]
