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.

Robot Band with Gestural Controller

Patrick Flanagan of Minneapolis, MN, wrote in with his excellent robot ‘percussion ensemble’. [I serve] as the token human in cyborg percussion ensemble Jazari, which fuses African rhythms, algorithmic composition, computer music, and electro-mechanics into beat-driven steamfunk. Besides percussion music, Jazari is influenced by funk, house, drum n bass, jazz, academic computer music, and spectral […]

DIY Breakout Desk for iPad 2

DIY Breakout Desk for iPad 2

Reed Ghazala’s breakout desk turns the iPad into a serious music tool. So many cool experimental music apps on the iPad! But what a lousy interface. Dealing with dongles to get audio into and out of the thing is a pain. This desk allows all jacks to be mounted on the aluminum case for easy […]

Playable Lego Ukulele

Playable Lego Ukulele

Ross Crawford’s brick ukulele can be played and its four strings are tuned to C, F, A and D. This model has to be able to withstand the tension of 4 fairly tight strings without exploding. I ended up using a pre-stressed Technic rod up the middle of the neck, which allowed the head to […]