DIY Guitar Fuzz Pedal

July 9, 2011 by Mike Nathan 20 Comments

diy_fuzz_pedal

Instructables user and Community Manager [Randy Sarafan] recently put together a tutorial on how to build an ages-old musical standard, the “Fuzz Pedal”. He says that the secret to rocking out is fuzz, so if you can handle both a soldering iron and a guitar, this project is for you.

When you take a close look, the pedal’s components are actually quite simple. The distortion is created by a pair of transistors, which in his case are vanilla NPNs from RadioShack. We have covered other distortion pedal builds before, and they have used germanium transistors to obtain a ‘creamier’ sound – you should be able to swap these cheap ones for uprated models with little trouble.

The handful of components were soldered neatly to a piece of perf board, and placed into a sturdy metal case that looks like it can withstand even the harshest abuse. He’s got schematics and a BOM in his writeup, so all that’s keeping you from a rocking weekend is a little bit of time and a soldering iron – what are you waiting for?

Stick around to see a quick video of [Randy’s] fuzz pedal being built.

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Mini IR Theremin

July 8, 2011 by Brian Benchoff 6 Comments

[Chris] at PyroElectro sent in a great 8-part write-up of a miniature infrared theremin.

The theremin is based on a PIC microcontroller and an infrared distance sensor. The build log goes through the theory of operations for the IR sensor and tone generation. [Chris] definitely does a great job showing the math that went into the design.

Although this project isn’t a true theremin because it operates on light like a few other projects we’ve covered in the past, it’s easier to play because of the hard-coded notes. The build does show some promise though – he could likely expand it to use more accurate ultrasonic sensors or use, “two proximity sensors, one for treble and one for bass like an accordion.”

The theremin is usually played with both hands providing a continuous pitch and volume. This project features hard-coded, discrete notes, so we’re wondering about the possibility of implementing MIDI on this IR theremin. The original MIDIbox was based on the same microcontroller as this project, so it’s definitely a possibility.

Check out the video of the theremin in action below.

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UPDATE: Playing Piano With Optical Sensors

July 7, 2011 by Mike Szczys 7 Comments

[Sebastian Steppeler] has been hard at work on his optical sensors for an electric piano. When we looked in on the project back in October he was testing reflective sensors to increase responsiveness and MIDI data resolution for his electric keyboard. Since then he’s finalized the sensor circuits and produced enough boards to monitor all 88 keys on this full keyboard. You can see the string of PCBs just above the ivories, waiting to be installed. Not only are then in, but he also added sensors for the pedals.

Because the boards were installed by hand, there are some variances in the physical placement. This can have a rather dramatic effect on the readings from the reflective sensors so he has been working out a method of balancing the calibration. Part of this is already being taken care of by the C# interface that he wrote for a PC. Take a few minutes to check out all of his blog posts, then jump down after the break and hear how great it sounds.

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FPGA MIDI Interface

June 28, 2011 by Jeremy Cook 11 Comments

Hacking and digital music seem to be very much related arts. This very well built hack goes through the process of creating a MIDI synthesizer using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and several other components.

A laptop is used as the MIDI interface which runs through a filter and then to the FPGA. This translated signal then goes through a digital to analog converter and finally to the amplifier and speakers. The FPGA is especially interesting as this chip is an array of logic gates that can be programmed however one wants. In this case, the wavetable principle is used to generate sound.

Although this is no Kaossilator yet, this device is a great start and very functional. If you’ve ever wanted to build your own electronic instrument, check out this hack. Also, check out the video after the break! Continue reading “FPGA MIDI Interface” →

Behold, The Oomphalapompatronium!

June 27, 2011 by Mike Nathan 15 Comments

Oomphalapompatronium

For over 25 years, [Len Solomon] has been performing a one-man variety show that features crazy-looking, hand-made musical instruments that operate on air. Some of his more famous instruments include a callioforte he constructed, as well as his Majestic Bellowphone, both powered by some form of bellows, of course.

His most recent musical creation is something [Len] likes to call the “Oomphalopompatronium” (try saying that five times fast). The bellows-driven Willy Wonka-esque organ looks to be built from just about anything and everything he could get his hands on. We spied a few plastic and glass bottles, plenty of PVC pipe, and a few tin cans before we stopped looking and just listened.

At first glance you might think that the Oomphalopompatronium will produce some cacophonous excuse for music, but once [Len] stepped up to the keyboard we were pleasantly surprised. The sound is that of a small scale Oompah band, much like the name implies.

We think it’s a fantastic creation – we’re just bummed that it we can’t check it out in person.

Stick around to see a video of the Oomphalopompatronium in action.

[Thanks, BoKu]

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PVC Boombox Is Not A Potato Cannon

June 16, 2011 by Brian Benchoff 14 Comments

After [Luke] built a suitcase mini-ITX rig for LAN parties he was left with one problem: he didn’t have any speakers and he didn’t want to use headphones. Not wanting to do something boring like a USB-powered speaker setup, he built a PVC Boombox.

Built around 3 inch PVC pipe, the boombox houses an off the shelf 15 W amplifier, bluetooth receiver, and charge controller. [Luke] found a deal on a dozen 1400mAh lithium ion batteries and despite the standard, “if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t use lithium” trope commonly given as advice, he forged ahead anyway. [Luke] picked up a power converter that charges the batteries and provides some protection. The batteries are charged though wall power with a transformer and a huge cap scrounged from an ATX power supply.

[Luke] is pretty pleased with his boombox. Not only does it put out some decent quality sound, the battery life should be tremendous. It’s not a ground-up build, but we think it’s a pretty nice project. [Luke] will be taking the ‘boomtube’ to the Detroit Maker Faire next month, so if you see him make sure to say hi.

An Instrument That Plays Along With You

June 15, 2011 by Mike Nathan 16 Comments

muse

The crew over at Teague Labs was talking about musical instruments and how digital music creation seems to get bogged down under user interfaces littered with increasing numbers of buttons, knobs, and sliders. They decided to build a musical device that has its own musical inclinations and personality, while also allowing for two-way interaction with the user.

The resulting creation is Muze, a simple musical instrument with only a single user input. Muze has been programmed with a palette of notes that it can combine and remix into a nearly infinite number of musical combinations. Muze is perfectly happy composing on its own, and will create music that evolves over time, if left alone long enough.

As with all musicians, not every tune is a hit, so Muze can be gently nudged away from cacophonous melodies with a simple twist of a knob. Each of the device’s knobs represent a blend of functions, which are used to influence Muze when placed on the board. The interaction does not send Muze flying into a completely different direction, rather it tells Muze to shake things up a little bit, much like you would ask your guitarist to pick up the tempo during a jam session.

It’s a neat little instrument, and we can imagine it would be a big hit with kids and adults alike. Keep reading to see a video demonstration of Muze in action.

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