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.
MAKE photo pool member Shufflehacks writes “I built my own radio-transmitter for my Shuffle, I nicknamed it “iMouse”. It works quite easy, there is a power switch on the bottom to turn it on. Just press play on the Shuffle and tune your radio to the right frequency. The range is about 100 to 150 meters.(500 feet) Now I can enjoy my Shuffle on my car stereo.” Link. It’s made out of an old mouse, excellent.
Justin Frankel (Winamp & Ninjam creator) has a new multitrack recording software called REAPER. This is a pretty good PC program to try out, small, fast, looks like it can tap in to your system sound for recording Skype or other VoIPs too, that could be useful for podcasts, etc. Don’t fear the Reaper, it’s free, for now. [via] Link.
“A laser harp is basically a big frame resembling a real harp. There are no strings. Instead, beams of laser light are projected from the bottom of the harp. These beams strike light sensors at the top of the frame. When something (a hand, foot, etc.) blocks the beam, a note is triggered on a synthesizer or some type of tone generator. Theoretically the harp could control anything but I’m interested in its musical possibilities.” Here’s how to make one! [via] Link.
“BURN STATION is a mobile copying station which – as it travels through suburban spaces – supports the free distribution music and audio. It is software as well as a local network. But above all BURN STATION is a social event which congregates people together to listen, select and copy net label and net radio audio files with a Copyleft Licence.” [via] Link to project and link to downloads to build your own.
Pat writes in about his PEZ MP3 players, they’re almost gone! “There is still a chance to get a PEZ MP3 player in time for Christmas. I have several hundred of the little fellas in stock and ready to ship. After the recent appearance on Regis and Kelly they are selling quickly. So, if you haven’t bought one yet and you want to get in on this limited-run, first-edition, hop over to pezmp3.com. Once this batch sells out, I am not making any more of this version.” Link. See our review here.
Here’s an excellent “open” hardware project for controlling lighting/effects systems – you can build your own, buy an assembled kit or improve the design and modify source code – “This DMX USB interface is based on the FTDI 232BM chip, it’s a USB to serial converter. Using a simple application on a PC you can send and receive DMX512.” Thanks Ladyada! Link.
This is a great, use an old Palm to control your PC’s music. JT writes “After using several mp3 player thin-clients and other Palm-based Winamp interfaces, I decided to write my own. Basic requirements: Must not require using (and losing) a stylus – Edits playlist order with a single touch/drag – Direct searching Winamp media library and server directory browsing.” Link.
