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 subscriber Mike Cook built a Monome-style controller interface from only spare parts! (granted he seems to have some very nice spare parts lying around) Behold the Econo Monome – The official Monomes have always had a nod towards eco friendliness by incorporating renewable wood in their construction. Well I wanted to go at least […]
Gijs Gieskes introduces another intriguing musical machine, the opto-sensing multi-armed Servo Seq – The frequency circles speed can be set with a pot on the controller. The arms can be sequenced with the three buttons on the controller, in combination with the joystick.. If the joystick is moved up, the volume will go up for […]
Tarver’s instrument is unique to say the least. I recently spent some time with him to witness his invention first-hand and was taken aback. High above his loft, entangled into the foundation, sits his creation. It is a beautiful expression of do-it-yourself ingenuity that is one part concrete and two parts found objects. The interlocking […]
Randy Sarafan writes: Standard fuzz pedals were just not fuzzy enough for me. Only the fuzziest fuzz pedal was going to be suitable for my musical endeavors. I searched high and low for the fuzziest fuzz pedal in the land, but I couldn’t find it. Finally, I resolved that if I wanted a fuzzy fuzz […]
Michael put some stepper motors to work playing back MIDI tracks by way of Arduino – The data for the music is taken from a MIDI file I made. The code for interpreting the data and moving the motors was written by me over the course of a few days. The sound you’re hearing is […]
Denise Nicole Francis, who’s usually making jewelry, wanted a guitar birthday cake. So her friend Kristen Fowler and her sister Shalisa Francis helped her create this beauty! She writes: As you all know I love and play guitar. Naturally I wanted the most creative birthday cake, so I decided to make a guitar cake! I […]
After adding MIDI control via Arduino + DAC, MrBook cased up the added circuitry, creating a much needed wooden back panel in the process. The upgraded kit can be seen above getting along nicely with Ableton Live – good to see the lil’ Gakken synth get the pro-style treatment. Check out his blog entry for […]
