Musical Hacks

1543 Articles

Building A Hammond Organ To Understand How They Work

August 21, 2026 by 23 Comments

The Hammond organ is an early form of electronic– or perhaps electromechanical– musical instrument. It solved the very real problem of organs normally being the sort of thing you built into a cathedral, allowing a similar sound to fit into a piano-like form factor. Their workings are a so simple that it’s hard to wrap your head around it actually working– which is why [Uri Tuchman] built one on YouTube. Also for a gift exchange, but we’re not Santa, here– we’re here to learn, and [Uri] does not disappoint.

[Uri]’s organ is a bit smaller than what the Hammond corporation was putting out back in the day, just one hand-cranked octave– and it lacks the distinct spinning speaker in favour of plugging into any old guitar amp. It’s enough to get the idea across. Each of the twelve keys acts as a simple switch, wired to a pickup made from a coil of wire around a steel rod– much like a magnetic pickup on an electric guitar. The pickup faces the tone wheel, which is the part that feels like magic: the tonewheel spinning past the pickup acts exactly like the steel string vibrating in an electric guitar, its ferroelectric motions inducing a tiny current. The tonewheels smooth teeth are spaced to create sine waves at the frequencies corresponding to each key, so it has to be exact. That’s why while the rest of the brass-and-wood build is [Uri]’s beautiful craftsmanship, the iron tonewheels are CNC’d.

Aside from the amp it is plugged into, there are no electronics here. There’s nothing to double or otherwise alter the frequencies: one key means one tonewheel– twelve for this build– and if the RPMs are off everything is out of tune. Good thing [Uri] made it hand-cranked! Well, it is for a gift exchange. Maybe it’s a white elephant sort of thing, because we can only imagine that making it much harder to play. On the other hand, [Uri] demonstrates some neat effects by varying the RPM at the end of the video, so perhaps that’s a feature.

As nice as [Uri]’s work is, Hammond Organ Company filmed the construction themselves, back in the day if you want to see the true quill. Alternatively, you can get more of [Uri]’s craftsmanship with this square guitar.

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Store Tunes On Paper And Stream Them Over LoRA

August 18, 2026 by 37 Comments

Some projects seem too good to be true until you dig into it and find the secret magic that makes it all work. Take Paper Tunes by [Makestreame], a project which purports to store a song on a single sheet of paper via QR code and transmit the data over LoRA. If it was a MIDI sequence, maybe. But the promise of Paper Tunes is to take any MP3 and give it this treatment, and that just seems like an impossible level of compression at first glance.

The music is heavily compressed, make no doubt about that. There’s samples in the Instructables link above and in the video below, but it sounds far better than it has any right to. The secret is Meta’s EnCodec neural codec, which like you’d guess uses neural nets to squeeze the absolute minimum information needed to reconstruct a sample. With it [Makestreame] is able to get a 2.9 MB MP3 file down to just 21.44 kB.

Of course, that’s still not going to fit in a 3.3 kB QR code. But by simply making eight of them, [Makestreame] is able to fit the song onto the front and back of a piece of paper. Yes, each song has an “A” and a “B” side — and you thought flipping a record halfway through got old fast. Having to scan eight codes to get one song may strike some as a bit silly, but we do enjoy some silly things here.

The same EnCodec compression that gets the song so tiny as to fit in a brace of QR codes is obviously also what enables its transmission over LoRA. While it’s got far lower bandwidth than something like WiFi, 21 kB is well within its limits. It’s often said that LoRA isn’t suitable for audio, but this project is another example that one person’s “unsuitable” is another person’s “challenge accepted”.

We’ve seen other LoRA audio projects before. Speaking of things not suitable for audio, we once featured an entire album crammed onto a floppy disk. Continue reading “Store Tunes On Paper And Stream Them Over LoRA” →

A small, 3D-printed banjo frame that uses a party balloon for the resonating chamber.

May This Balloon Banjo Resonate With You

August 17, 2026 by 8 Comments

Most instruments, with maybe the exception of pianos, have consumable parts. Guitars need string changes, bows need rosin, saxophones need reeds. [Co:Creation Lab]’s balloon banjo requires both fishing line and a party balloon, lest it be semi-silent.

If you want to change the resonance, just increase or decrease the amount of air inside the balloon. Neither the balloon nor the strings need tools to adjust, but we might argue that tuning pegs are tools.

The balloon banjo was the result of a design constraint: a parent should be able to build it with their child. To that end, there are no metal screws, no recurring snap-fits in the assembly, and a single, internal, one-time-use snap fit for the adult’s tactile satisfaction. Instead, the balloon banjo uses 3D-printed screws. A six-year-old can turn them with their fingers, and it’s difficult to over-tighten them and strip the plastic threads.

Be sure to check it out in action after the break. If you would rather use extant plastic to make music, the Bottlephone 2.0 is calling.

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ESP32 Music Sequencer Is Clearly Nailing The Y2K Aesthetic

August 15, 2026 by 2 Comments

Do you remember back when electronics came in clear cases? Back around the turn of the millennium, when translucency was chic. [3DSage] sure does, which is why he went to great lengths to make a clear case for his Clear Retro Music Sequencer.

The sequencer itself is based around an ESP32-S3 module with a built-in display, and a rotary encoder that handles most of the input. Most, because there’s a second button and a stylophone-like array of brass rods on one edge of the custom PCB he made with his fiber laser that can also handle note input. Other notable features include a phono jack with built-in switching so the tunes come out automatically from headphones or the internal speaker, and a AAA battery-lookalike. It’s a small detail, but that 666 mWh 3.7 V lithium cell is the demon’s meow for this project, seeing as it gives the convenience of a modern battery without compromising that Y2K look — remember you can see the battery through the translucent case.

About that translucent case: it’s 3D printed out of PETG, with settings similar to those we’ve reported on before: hot, slow, and don’t cross the streams! Which is to say every layer must line up with the one above. Oh, use filament fresh out of the drier of you live somewhere as humid as [3DSage]. The result is not totally see-through, but an application of clear enamel fills in the surface well enough to read through, giving the vintage look [3DSage] was after. To complete that Y2K feel, he turns the device into a slap bracelet, because why not? For those of you who missed due to the aforementioned federal prison arc, slap-on wristbands were all the rage amongst the kids back in those days.

The wristband is a length of measuring tape at its core, the springy steel having been cold-worked to hold the radius of [3DSage]’s wrist in its relaxed state, encapsulated in clear gorilla tape for comfort. We probably don’t have to tell you that getting slapped with a raw tape measure isn’t the nicest. For the actual operation of the sequencer, check out the video embedded below — the first 9 minutes cover the build, while the rest shows off the product.

Of course you don’t need an ESP32 for this kind of music maker– you can do it with a C64, or even discrete parts and rope-core memory. 

Continue reading “ESP32 Music Sequencer Is Clearly Nailing The Y2K Aesthetic” →

A guitar stands magically on it's end in the foreground of a snowy sunrise. A large 3D-printed robot is attached to the fretboard, and a smaller robot sits over the sound hole.

Twin Guitar-Playing Robots Will Work For Tab

August 14, 2026 by 13 Comments

Remember Animusic? They were these incredible animated music videos with original tunes being played by computer-generated robots. Well, the MegCell Pulse might be the coolest robots-playing-music thing we’ve seen since Animusic.

Built by [Bruce] over six years’ time, this futuristic wonder features two robots working in concert to play acoustic guitar, just like a pair of human hands would. You just feed them digital tablature, and off go the fraternal twins, with one doing the fretting, and the other doing the plucking via six individual plectrum. It’s digital music producing analog sound from a physical instrument.

How does MegCell Pulse work? It’s essentially a system of gears, magnetic actuators, and arms, contained in a 3D-printed structure. The only real limitations are that it can’t traverse the entire fretboard, nor can it slide between frets. That said, you can absolutely buy one for your own guitar via [Bruce]’s modestly-goaled Kickstarter.

The kicker here is that you can’t buy an assembled MegCell Pulse; you must print and build it yourself. Back on the upside, the most expensive supporting tier is a mere $100. For that price, you get the complete digital plans. That includes 3D print files, an assembly guide, the control software, and a parts list. Be sure to check out the demo videos embedded after the break.

We have certainly seen robots playing guitars before, although admittedly, it’s been a minute.

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Only The Hottest Tunes Play On This Fire Organ

August 6, 2026 by 19 Comments

Most musical organs use air as their working fluid, but there’s nothing in the rule book that says they have to. Calliopes have used steam for 150 years now, while [Look Mum No Computer] has opted to go full pyromaniac and pump propane though the summer’s hottest new instrument.

Just like every steam or compressed-air organ we’ve heard, the tuning could use some work — though we have faith [LMNK] will get to that in due time — and just like the circus organs of yore, it sits upon a trailer for easy transport. That may or may not be to flee from fire marshals, because the whole point of the propane organ isn’t to waste flammable gas: it’s to burn it. The fire itself doesn’t make a sound; that’s the propane going through the copper organ pipes. Igniting it is just bonus, and what a bonus it is!

Said ignition is provided by regular spark plugs and ignition coils, like you’d find in any internal combustion engine. An earlier version used pilot lights, but those had an annoying habit of blowing out and were wasteful of propane to boot. This way the same MIDI signal that controls the gas valve can set the ignition off, and provide a light show to go with the sound. The video embedded below deals with building this new ignition setup, but he has other videos on the channel detailing other aspects of the construction. If you’re not so interested in that and just want a performance, jump right to 16:47 for the obligatory Toccata and Fugue.

Perhaps [LMNK] will write a theme tune for his museum of obsolete technology on this organ, with accompaniment from his rope-core drum machine, and effects on his tape delay synth.

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Circuit Bending, But Make It MIDI

August 3, 2026 by 2 Comments

Circuit bending is a chaotic art. At its simplest, it can just involve making connections between random points on a circuit board to create weird sounds in musical hardware. Or, you can complicate things, get really specific with your hookups, and twist them with various sorts of modulation. [Simon the Magpie] has been working on something closer to the latter category, with his neat project to add MIDI to the circuit bending world. 

The concept is straightforward enough. [Simon] has created a device that you place in line with your circuit bent connections, particularly those that create pitch bends with pots thanks to their variable resistance. You can then play your MIDI keyboard, and the device will vary the resistance in the circuit and bend the pitch at your command. [Simon] simply calls the device MIDI TO RESISTANCE, because that’s… precisely what it does, with the aid of a digital potentiometer. He then demonstrates it doing its thing on pitchbent toys, and it sounds pretty radical in use.

If you’re trying to make your circuit bent toys and instruments more musical, this build should serve as a great inspiration. We’ve featured other oddball musical hacks in a similarly creative vein before, too—such as using mixers as a synthesizer in their own right. Have fun out there.

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