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.
Follow up! I love this! Greg writes – I run a robot rock band in New Zealand called the Trons. They have been going about 3 years now and have played over 80 live shows, mainly in NZ but also including two trips to Europe. All the songs are original and all instruments are played […]
From the MAKE Flickr pool: This slick synth built inside an Atari game paddle, one of many cool synths Michael Rucci has created. This is a square-wave generator with a pulsing effect, hand built into an Atari paddle controller. When you press the trigger it plays the pitch controlled by the large original knob. When […]
Collin does a little hacking to get his USB-based MIDI keyboard to talk to his Arduino.
Ãœbermaker Simon Jansen of Auckland, New Zealand, wrote in to share his Arduino-controlled, steampunk (literally!) turntable. This is my steam powered record player built to play a Sex Pistols LP. Yes, it is true steampunk. The engine was made mainly from bits and pieces I had lying about in my junk box. The boiler was […]
Polish maker Jakub Koźniewski wrote in to share a project he and Piotr Barszczewski designed for the Culture 2.0 conference. Given the main topic of Culture 2.0 event – “culture resources/recycled culture” we’ve chosen old Polish hit by Piotr Szczepanik “GoniÄ…c Kormorany” ( Chasing Cormorans ) and engraved it on a custom vinyl plate. Then […]
Hey, you want to make some chunky 8-bit music? In a recipe box? With Atari paddles? Using a Dremel tool? We thought you might. The “Atari Punk Con- sole” is the name given to the wonderfully retro- sounding stepped tone generator, designed by hobby electronics pioneer Forrest M. Mims III. It is a 556-based timer circuit oscillator that generates a square wave. More importantly, it sounds like Atari 2600 music and is fun to build into a cool enclosure.
