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.
Very cool how-to, the Maker writes “I first thought electrostatic headphones were a joke. It didn’t sound safe to strap high voltage transducers to your head. But after my work with electrostatic loudspeakers I had the skill and knowledge to try building a pair and listening to them.” [
Happy Birthday, Doppler!
Last week was Doppler’s birthday, Creative Digital Music has a tribute featuring where to learn more about the Doppler effect, and how it applies to astrophysics (but NOT the expansion of the universe), and how to reproduce it in software like Pro Tools. Now if someone can just come up with a good recipe for the Dopplertini. Definitely shaken. Link.
Open source audio editor for Mac/Win/Linux gets big upgrades!
Peter writes “Audacity, the excellent and free waveform editor for Mac, Windows, and Linux, is finally getting a major upgrade. The new beta does real multitracking, helps you transcribe music or interviews with pitch controls, adds better Mac support, and unveils many other improvements. Most promising for podcasters: an FTP upload option.” Link. This is great news for Podcasters!
HOW TO – Build your first synth
Omegas writes in about the DIY Minimoog – “If you want to get started with analog synth building but Minimoog seems too complicated, see the instructions at Music From Outer Space on how to build your first synth. The Weird Sound Generator, as it’s called, familiarizes you with the basics of analog sound generation and creates wicked sounds too.” See previous.
HOW TO – Make a Minimoog
Excellent project – “After playing on many different synths and copying several designs. I decided that I had to have a minimoog… Unfortunately the cost of a second hand minimoog is anything between 1000-2000 Euros depending on age and condition. So the only choice I have is to look at doing my own copy with the aim of keeping the circuits and design as original as possible. Having never played one, or seen one until a few months ago I have managed to amass a reasonable collection of circuits and pictures in order to help me in my quest.” [via] Link.
The Home-Built Effect Processor Express
“What you see before you is an OPEN DSP system. People are currently using it to create some of the most ORIGINAL-SOUNDING EFFECTS and INSTRUMENTS in the world, since its architecture is open. Its users tweak, modify, CUSTOMIZE, improve and develop the software it comes with. It’s inexpensive and can be quite portable. It runs MIDI or connects to your Palm Pilot. Some programs don’t require either to make fun and useful effects.” [via] Link.
“Godfather of DIY synths” John Simonton died today, a pioneer in synthesizer kits and founder of PAiA. His work continues to have a following today, including many wild instrumental creations. He’ll be sorely missed in the music/Maker community.” 
