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.
I just love projects like this. Sun Boxes are an environment to enter and exit at will. It’s comprised of twenty speakers operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. There is a different loop set to play a guitar note in each box continuously. These guitar notes collectively make a Bb chord. […]
Today’s items are the brand new Pico Piso and Nebulophone music synthesizers from Bleep Labs. Here is what Make online editor / Author John Baichtal said about them in his review from the guide.
These two new kits from the Maker Shed were designed by Bleep Labs for Handmade Music Austin. Both are featured in our upcoming Ultimate Kit Guide and kits website. The Pico Paso (above) is a perfect beginner soldering / electronic music project based on the Atari punk console. The Nebulophone (above) is an Arduino based synthesizer with a stylus keyboard that can be played through 6 octaves using the shift button. The programmable sequencer function lets you record, play back, and manipulate custom arpeggios for musical awesomeness.
Adrià Navarro created this excellent DIY DJ turntable from a junk pile walkman and PC fan. When you rotate the fan with your fingers, the voltage is read by an Arduino, which smooths and remaps the levels and then uses PWM to control the audio casette player’s motor. For good measure, Adrià added an array of LEDs to show the speed of playback. Inspired by her, I’ll be fishing through my junk pile to see if I can give new life to any dusty old parts.
Beautiful robot xylophone build from reader David Watson. Campanello uses a set of eight bar chimes and resonators from a child’s set, fabricated wooden mallets, and some simple right-angle brackets designed by David and printed through Shapeways.
Turn anything into a drum set with your Arduino and this simple kit. Some makers build custom drum sets from fine hardwoods, while others take the easy route and make practice sets from mouse pads and sheet metal. Instead of building my own, I used the included piezo elements to trick out my Rock Band […]
Gwydion ap Dafydd of Konkreet Labs shoehorned a MeeBlip synthesizer into a copy of that Mary Hahn’s venerable classic Praktisches Kochbuch. Much as I hate to see Mary Hahn’s work used as a means to an end, there’s no denying the cool factor of the hog-butchering diagram with the glowing eye. [Thanks, Gwydion!]
