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.

Hopworks Beer Bike

Hopworks Beer Bike

The Hopworks Beer Bike is a perfect storm. It’s the colmination of a love of craft and a deep respect for producing a quality product. Designed and built by Phillip Ross and Jamie Nichols of Metrofiets Cargo Bikes for Christian Ettinger of Hopworks Urban Brewery, the dual keg toting pub-on-wheels sports an aluminum pan with fifty feet of draft coil, two custom taps, inlaid old-growth woodwork bar with a split top for easy access to the kegs, an MP3 sound system modeled after a motorcycle’s hard pannier bag, and a back rack capable of holding three large pizzas for the unavoidable crowd that forms every time the bike stops.

Industrial Sound Controllers

Tristan Shone rolled out the ‘big guns’ for Maker Faire Bay Area 2010. His Industrial Sound Controllers are a musical force to be reckoned with and their sheer size and weight demand considerable attention upon seeing them firsthand. Tristan took a few moments out from setting up to speak with Becky Stern and myself before […]

Modified wind instrument controller

Modified wind instrument controller

Remember Tomas Henriques’ Double Slide Controller? The Meta-EWI is a sort of ancestor to that device. Based around an Akai EWI breath controller, the Meta adds four force-sensitive resistors, an accelerometer, joystick and 16 tactile switches. The add-on structure is also removable and can be used as a standalone interface. More pics and a deeper […]