instrument-a-day 9: MIDI OUT
The simplest possible midi instrument: just jam the speaker cable into the midi out connector.
photoblog
(0)
The simplest possible midi instrument: just jam the speaker cable into the midi out connector.
The simplest possible midi instrument: just jam the speaker cable into the midi out connector.
(0) 
NYCResistor rescued a battered old upright piano that was destined for
the dumpster. There were 6 missing hammers right in the middle, so I
made a quick and dirty set of replacements. Surprisingly, they have a
sound that’s pretty close to the original hammers. The hammers are lasercut from 1/4" poplar, glued together in
pairs to be 1/2" thick and then sanded down to 0.4" to match
the original hammers. The extended slot in the bottom allows me to
glue the hammer onto the old broken shafts instead of replacing them,
and to tilt them to the right to hit the strings at the right angle.
The felt is some wool stuff from a craft drawer. Real hammer heads
are mostly felt, but I made these ones mostly wood because it was
easier. Plans and instructions at www.thingiverse.com/thing:6242
instrument-a-day 8: trash piano replacement hammers
NYCResistor rescued a battered old upright piano that was destined for the dumpster. There were 6 missing hammers right in the middle, so I
made a quick and dirty set of replacements. Surprisingly, they have a
sound that’s pretty close to the original hammers. The hammers are lasercut from 1/4" poplar, glued together in
pairs to be 1/2" thick and then sanded down to 0.4" to match
the original hammers. The extended slot in the bottom allows me to
glue the hammer onto the old broken shafts instead of replacing them,
and to tilt them to the right to hit the strings at the right angle.
The felt is some wool stuff from a craft drawer. Real hammer heads
are mostly felt, but I made these ones mostly wood because it was
easier. Plans and instructions at www.thingiverse.com/thing:6242
(0)
instrument-a-day 7: makerbot
I’ve always loved the sounds made by makerbots as they print out
little plastic gewgaws. Tonight I miked up Jeff’s custom crystal
Thing-o-matic as it printed out a shot glass. Acoustic mic is panned
left, and contact mic is panned right. I know people have programmed their makerbots to play music, but I
like best the sounds they naturally make when they make objects.
little plastic gewgaws. Tonight I miked up Jeff’s custom crystal
Thing-o-matic as it printed out a shot glass. Acoustic mic is panned
left, and contact mic is panned right. I know people have programmed their makerbots to play music, but I
like best the sounds they naturally make when they make objects.
(0)
instrument-a-day 6: humidifier
This humidifier runs next to my bed all night in the winter.
Sometimes its groans and whirs are so interesting that they keep me
awake and I have to turn it off. It plays little cadences, drones,
and repeating beats that constantly change. Or I’m just hallucinating
in my half-asleep state. I’ve been meaning to record it for months. It didn’t do anything
particularly exciting during these 45 seconds, but you can hear it
subtly change even in that time.
Sometimes its groans and whirs are so interesting that they keep me
awake and I have to turn it off. It plays little cadences, drones,
and repeating beats that constantly change. Or I’m just hallucinating
in my half-asleep state. I’ve been meaning to record it for months. It didn’t do anything
particularly exciting during these 45 seconds, but you can hear it
subtly change even in that time.
(2) 
An improvised ocarina design, laser-cut and assembled from
cross-sections. It’s much less ergonomic but easier to assemble than
last year’s laser ocarina. Plans and instructions are on thingiverse: www.thingiverse.com/thing:6182 p.s. I’m teaching a laser whistle workshop this Saturday in Brooklyn!
instrument-a-day 5: roundrect ocarina
An improvised ocarina design, laser-cut and assembled from cross-sections. It’s much less ergonomic but easier to assemble than
last year’s laser ocarina. Plans and instructions are on thingiverse: www.thingiverse.com/thing:6182 p.s. I’m teaching a laser whistle workshop this Saturday in Brooklyn!
(0)
instrument-a-day 4: glass feedback
A piezo microphone and a piezo speaker hooked up to a little amplifier
to create feedback through a sheet of glass. CAUTION: LOUD AND UNPLEASANT NOISE!
to create feedback through a sheet of glass. CAUTION: LOUD AND UNPLEASANT NOISE!
(0)
I believe in multiple-use instruments, so I turned the drumsticks from my Rock Band video game into whistles. Materials: drumsticks, wooden dowels, wood glue.
Plus a bonus sound for today–crunching through snow with a crispy crust of ice:
instrument-a-day 3: drumstick whistles
I believe in multiple-use instruments, so I turned the drumsticks from my Rock Band video game into whistles. Materials: drumsticks, wooden dowels, wood glue.
Plus a bonus sound for today–crunching through snow with a crispy crust of ice:
(2)
instrument-a-day 2: refrigophone
For all four years of the instrument-a-day project, my noisy
refrigerator has plagued me: I have to unplug it whenever I record a
new instrument at home. Well, today I exploited it. Materials: refrigerator noise, filtered by resonant tin cans.
refrigerator has plagued me: I have to unplug it whenever I record a
new instrument at home. Well, today I exploited it. Materials: refrigerator noise, filtered by resonant tin cans.
(1)
To warm up for this year's month of making an instrument a day, and to advertise the junk guitar workshop this saturday: an especially primitive junk guitar. Found wood, guitar strings, zither pins, scrap acrylic bridges, and a weird overhead pickup made of crudely-wound wire and a magnet out of a dead hard drive.
instrument-a-day 1: lumpy guitar
To warm up for this year's month of making an instrument a day, and to advertise the junk guitar workshop this saturday: an especially primitive junk guitar. Found wood, guitar strings, zither pins, scrap acrylic bridges, and a weird overhead pickup made of crudely-wound wire and a magnet out of a dead hard drive.
(0)
artistic mediums ii, opening tomorrow in newton, ma
If you’re in the Boston area, you might like this show about art, technology, and spiritualism. My microradio sound art piece “Songs from the Portuguese” is in it. The opening reception is Friday, Jan 28.
(0)
junk electric guitar workshop – sat feb 5
It’s almost time for instrument-a-day month again, and I’m celebrating by doing a bunch of instrument-making workshops at NYC Resistor in Brooklyn. First up on Saturday February 5 (1-4pm) is Junk Electric Guitars: make a primitive–but loud!–electric guitar. Here’s video from a previous workshop:
Sign up here.
Coming up later in February:
Laser Whistles – Saturday, February 12, from 1-4 PM
Learn how to use the laser cutter by making wooden whistles, recorders, or ocarinas.
Fun with Sensors – Saturday, February 19, from 1-3 PM
Assemble vibration, light, and magnetic sensors and use them to pick up hidden sounds from the environment and to hear objects and musical instruments in a new way.
Handmade Electronic Noise – Saturday, February 26, from 1-4 PM
Make simple synthesizers and sequencers from dirt-cheap integrated circuits.
(0)
the produce scan project continues
I’m still scanning my greenmarket veggies every week. See them all (four hundred and eighty one so far) in the flickr set.
(4)
ebassoon demo
Playing around with the ebassoon, which uses a simple network of dividers to derive a just-intonation scale from a single master tone.
(0)
my favorite 3 seconds…
…from John Cage’s Aria, performed by Paul Hillier & Theatre of Voices:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
[download]
(Paul Hillier & Theatre of Voices)
(2)
Misericordiam at the DUMBO Arts Festival
The lobby at 55 Washington was a perfect setting for the accordion robot, with its brushed steel walls and blue neon.