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.
One of my favorite projects of Maker Faire this May was Store Front Music, a wonderful interactive installation that L.A. hackerspace CRASH Space created for the Take On The Machine challenge of 2010 (watch these vidoes for more information: part one and part two). Store Front Music consists of solenoids triggered by ultrasonic sensors, allowing […]
I first wrote about Denver puzzlemaker Kagen Schaefer’s gorgeous purpleheart butcherblock benchtop two years ago, and now Kagen’s knocked me out again with this nigh-unbelievable desk. It features eight working wooden organ pipes that play notes when when you push in the various drawers, and also a pneumatic computer that records the sequence of notes and, when the right melody is played, opens a secret compartment. The pneumatic lock can be reprogrammed to recognize any melody. Holy smokes.
Check out this intriguing video which demonstrates a Kinect hack, essentially turning the DJ’s body gestures into pitch controls. Developed by programmer Ryan Challinor, he has videos of other Kinect hacks on his YouTube channel, as well as a detailed 12-minute walkthrough on how to get the Synapse-Kinect-Ableton patch up and running.
Matthew Davidson’s brother built him an enclosure for his modular synthesizer. It looks very slick! ‘ve been slowly building my modular over the last 10 years or so. It started with a 6U Doepfer Basic System I bought used from Germany, with the details of the transaction hashed out via bablefish. Back then, the euro […]
Instructables user rog8811 set out to build a functional replica of an old-timey manual boating foghorn. He shows you how to build the basic horn by cutting apart a PVC sink trap and hacking it on to a off-the-shelf air pump. Then he does something I’d like to see more of in my own and others’ project tutorials…
Do you like electronic music? Ever want to build your own sound generator? The Atari Punk Console Kit from the Maker Shed is just what you need. By manipulating the two knobs, you can unleash amazing sounds from the 556 timer IC.
Founded in Japan in 1962 by a nightclub owner and an accordionist, Korg has been designing, manufacturing, and selling electronic musical instruments since the beginning. Their products have introduced ground-breaking features into keyboards and synthesizers and many of their older models are considered “classics.”
