Joshua Maruska and Adam Kumpf from Teague Labs created an interesting Arduino-based musical instrument called Muze, which synthesizes evolving melodies. According to their site, they’ve “educated Muze with a palette of notes that it can in-turn interpret and compose into various rhythms and phrases that are strung together to form something musical.” The user is […]
Continue Reading
Sung Kim’s father gave him his first skil saw when he was just seven years old. His mother provided him with modeling clay as a safer alternative not long after that. Sung’s grandfather-in-law, ship builder Dean Stevens, left him a coveted collection of hand tools decades later. These influences shaped his abilities as a woodworker, but his desire to create sound formed him into a Maker.
Sung Kim, his collection of instruments, and a very ambitious secret project will be at Maker Faire Bay Area, May 21 & 22. There you can hear Sung perform and bask in the intricate structures of his Sympathetic Cannon, The Si-Tarzan, and the Ox.
Continue Reading
This remarkably beautiful video, uploaded to YouTube one day before the T?hoku earthquake and tsunami, turns out to be an ad for Sharp’s SH-08C handset. It is, nonetheless, entirely worth watching: in a tranquil forest, a single wooden ball rolls down a stepped wooden ramp, continuously, for two minutes. At each step, it falls and strikes a wooden bar tuned to play a single note of the 10th movement of Bach’s Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, commonly known by its English title, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. Wait till you see how they handle the sustained notes. [Thanks, Rachel!]
Continue Reading
I’m indebted to a commenter on yesterday’s Kinect + Tesla Coils post for pointing me to the website of artist, engineer, and interaction designer Gerry Chu. Among the many treasures in Gerry’s online portfolio is this short video showing his use of a hacked Kinect to instantaneously correlate a dramatic gesture with a dramatic sound. He calls it Motion Emotions. [Thanks, Josh Kopel!]
Continue Reading
One of my favorite drummers, Brian Viglione of Dresden Dolls, posted this brief video tour on his Facebook page of a drum kit he built from junk. He was kind enough to post it to YouTube so that I could share it here on Make:. This was the kit that he used on the tracks […]
Continue ReadingHandmade music has been a big component of Maker Faire every year. This year’s Maker Faire Bay Area, the world’s largest DIY festival, will take place at the San Mateo Fairgrounds on May 22nd and 23rd. And one of the musical makers present will be Andy Graham. The amazing thing about handmade music is that […]
Continue Reading
