Looking for a fun, functional, low-cost project to knock out during the holidays? Check out this clever repurposing piece from the pages of MAKE Volume 10, offered up by David Battino with help from George ‘the Fat Man’ Sanger. The Sweet Sound of Particleboard Beef up the tone of open-back amps with a little thrift […]
Inspired by the CGI video series Animusic, Stefan “g000ze” of Lets Make Robots and his sons built this Marblephone. Using a bunch of marbles, some solenoids, and bars from a xylophone, he built an electromechanical instrument to play out tunes by dropping marbles onto the xylophone bars.
This video of Dia de los Muertos happening in the streets of San Francisco’s Mission district, posted by YouTube user documentdocument, is an otherworldly creation. To me, it embodies so many wonderful things about the art and craft of life and death. The participants of the event are an almost overwhelming subject. The face paint […]
A demo on how to create an 11-piece MIDI drum kit using Rock Band and Guitar Hero drum sets together. It includes velocity-sensitive triggers and a high-hat open/close pedal. Create a full MIDI Drumset with Guitar Hero and Rock Band Drums
Cigar boxes are great containers for loads of things. I had a bunch on hand after going to the local wine shops and asking for donated cigar boxes. Inspired by the Rock and Roll Speakers project in Fashioning Technology, it seemed like a good idea to have my students build their own music player embedded in a cigar box. This is a major project, taking several weeks, though it probably could be done by an individual in an afternoon without introducing many of the concepts we’ve worked on.
Thiago Teixeira made this Coin Sequencer, which allows you to lay down tracks using spare change. It’s an older project (from before 2005?), but is new to me.
MAKE subscriber John Kelbley was doing some expansion/improvements on his kids’ “fort” and wanted to deliver music to the (unpowered) space. His solution was to use the rechargeable powerpack from an an old 12 volt Ryobi drill and use the drill body as a stand for two outdoor speakers he found on clearance. Amplification is […]
