Everyone’s heard of the “World’s Smallest Violin,” but we think it’s time for something more upbeat. [Simone Giertz] of Punch Through Design has created a mini electric ukulele using a LightBlue Bean. The Bean is an Arduino-compatible microcontroller that you can wirelessly program using Bluetooth low energy (BLE).
The ukulele’s frame is made of laser-cut plywood. Four 1M ohm resistors are soldered to individual wire strings. A different set of wire strings in the ukulele’s neck are connected to the same ground as the Bean. In order to play this tiny instrument, a finger must be kept on the “ground” strings while the other “tone” strings are touched by a different finger. [Simone] uses Arduino’s Capacitive Sensing Library to determine which string is being touched and what the tone will be (indicated in Hz). A piezo buzzer provides the sound. There is no need to fret when the battery is depleted from using this at an all-night luau: the frame can be unscrewed with easy access to the battery. [Simone] has uploaded the Bean’s code to GitHub.
There’s no shame going solo, but we’d enjoy a show of dueling mini-ukuleles. A duet with the 3D-printed ukulele is always a possibility. Or, play this little guy while running up and down some piano stairs while the kettle fife blows off some steam. It’ll be a musical way to brighten anyone’s day. Check out the video of the mini ukelele after the break. You can also see more of [Simone’s] work at her website.
[via Instructables]
Maybe consider incorporating this: http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/botanicus-interacticus-interactive-plant-technology/ instead of the resistor based sensors so you could determine where you were touching it and therefore play a different set of notes depending on where you were touching the individual strings?
Need to get that and a mini bow so I can play next time someone complains for no reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBzByr4fdv0
if your project already has bluetooth, maybe transmit the “notes” to a pc/android and play some synth?
Having tried something similar before, if you want to actually play an instrument that way, bluetooth sucks. It’s hard to keep the latency low enough that the performer doesn’t get weirded out.
WOW just WOW, you managed to take the most annoying instrument on planet earth and make it sound better… faith in hackers completely restored today