MP3 Hand Grenade

September 21, 2009 by Mike Szczys 30 Comments

hand_grenade_mp3

One man’s useless machine is another man’s treasure… or something. [Matt] shared a link to his MP3 gr3nade in the comments of our useless machines post. The project took a decomissioned hand grenade and shoehorned an MP3 player into it. His decision to locate the headphone jack where the safety pin goes is a nice touch.

This reminds us of the boss from a previous job who had a chrome plated hand grenade on his desk. Now that was a useless object (and a useless boss). This project actually does something, but are you really going to ride around on the subway rockin’ out to the Bee Gees while holding a hand grenade?

Head Bangers Beware: Motion Sensing Headphones

September 14, 2009 by Mike Szczys 9 Comments

tiltphones

The iPhone doesn’t have the market cornered on the use of accelerometers. The tiltphone project incorporates a three axis accelerometer into a set of headphones transforming them into a remote control for an iPod. A PIC16F690 reads in data from the analog sensor, translates specific movements into commands, and like the Arduino iPod Remote from last week, relays them to an iPod via the Apple Accessory Protocol. A quick nod left or right skips tracks, holding a sideways nod controls the volume, and setting the headphones down pauses.

This project is a bit older but we’re glad [anon] tipped us off as we hadn’t seen it before. There doesn’t seem to be any code or schematics available but because the Apple Accessory Protocol is known, it’s only a matter of working out how to interpret the sensor data. There is video after the break and if you pull off this hack yourself be sure to send in details for a followup.

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Classy Hard Drive Speaker Set

September 14, 2009 by Matt Schulz 17 Comments

hdd_speakers

Hard drive speakers aren’t anything new, but they have yet to be done very professionally. Most hard drive speaker hacks are awesome, but aren’t meant to be a showpiece. [Oliver] took the opportunity to put together a set of 20GB drives and a custom-built acrylic case with a horizontal VU meter up front. The project is well-photographed and documented and can be recreated without the use of laser cutters or other expensive tools. The only thing it’s missing is an iPod dock!

Related: Giant bulb VU meter

Monome Mainstream: Performance On Letterman

September 8, 2009 by Mike Szczys 20 Comments

monome_played_on_letterman

The monome was spotted being used in a performance by Imogen Heap on Late Night with David Letterman. Imogen uses the monome 256 model connected to a laptop sitting on the piano. In her performance she uses a combination of live samples and pre-recorded loops proving how great this product is in the hands of an accomplished artist.

Although not identified by name (or function), Letterman does notice the monome at the end of the performance. To see this kind of exposure for an innovative open source product is wonderful. Check out the Letterman clip as well as a monome bonus after the break. Continue reading “Monome Mainstream: Performance On Letterman” →

Repurpose An Unused Portable CD Player

September 2, 2009 by Mike Szczys 7 Comments

diy_wall_mounted_cd_player

[Ariel] liked the look of the Muji wall mounted CD player. He set out to build his own, posting a how-to that documents his project. The custom paperboard case contains a portable CD player, two portable speakers with amplifier, and a pull-string switch to turn it on and off. With mp3 players sending portable CD players the way of the dodo, and with the proliferation of powered mini-speakers this is a thrift-store build waiting to happen.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Circuit Board Instrument

September 1, 2009 by Jakob Griffith 9 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8UzSVFUIc0]

[Moldover] decided to change up the way CDs are packaged for his album release. Yes, you still get a CD with some pretty sweet music, but the case can also play sounds. He custom printed a circuit board containing some LEDs, buttons, photoresistors, and what looks to be a piezo transducer which all combine to produce a strange whine like noise. But with the included headphone jack, he shows it can be used to produce some very interesting music – reminds us of circuit bending.

[Thanks Ferdinand]

Gameboy Foot Controller

August 31, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 12 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQdqudTzyBs]

[Joey] sent us a link to the newest version of his Gameboy foot controller. In the video above, you can see how he uses it to control the loops in the background while he plays his guitar through an 8-bit filter. That is an old video, using the previous version. He tells us that several gameboys were used in the construction. At one point, he had to replace the guts because the music was so loud it knocked his equipment over and destroyed it. We can’t help but feel just a tiny bit of excitement as memories of renting a NES cartridge for the weekend fill our heads when we hear these riffs. His music isn’t too bad either. There is a growing crowd of people that support “chip music”. You can see what looks like a decent sized gathering enjoying a show with a little bit of a history lesson after the break.

[This video, and the original version of the controler were posted about a year ago, good catch commenters]

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