In last week’s installment, we showed how to get started with Csound.  This week we take it to the next step by constructing a homemade MIDI controller circuit and use the new device to control Csound in real time.

What you will need:
a computer on which you have Csound up and running
a MIDI adapter for your computer (usb to midi adapters are the norm here)
a microcontroller / breadboard / microcontroller programmer (in this example we will show some BX24 sample code)
a MIDI female connector (either a cable or circuit board mount type, also known as 5 pin din)
a 2N2222 NPN transistor
some resistors (10Kohm and 220ohm)
some sort of sensor or button or potentiometer or any combination of the above

Continue reading “How-To Control Csound With A Custom Midi Controller: Hardware (2 Of 2)” →

Never forget your power supply when you’ve got a 60 mile round trip to go get it.

It was grilled cheese day all day over at Slashfood. I tried googling for a hacker method, but I didn’t find what I wanted. The closest I came was cooking grilled cheese with an iron. I recommend wrapping it in tinfoil so you don’t have to decheese your iron.

Following Xeni’s lead, you can add me as a friend on Facebook.

[pete] sent in the wooden case he built. If you missed it in the comments [zapwizard] pointed out Mr.Red’s 2nd generation wooden laptop.

There is a generic OSX86 generic install DVD patcher in the wild. READ_ME_FIRST [Jim] said it worked fine for him.

[Patrick] decided to make his 4GB PSP adapter a little more secure.

Wayfar hacks NES cartridges so that you can take full control of the sound chip with a midi device, it does visualization based on the input too. [ceedub]

We’ve linked to starting fire with an ice lens before, but you can also pull it off with a bag of water.

[C-S-B] sent in his buddy’s carputer over at mp3car.

Thanks for the love.

UPDATE: Facebook link should be fixed

Continue reading “Hackaday Links Late Night” →

Here is everything you should have gotten last night. I do use the Session Saver extension and it has saved me a lot of frustration in the past, but it didn’t save what I was typing in the web form.

If you’ve got a project that you want to show off like Seth and Doug did, feel free to drop us a line with a description. If we like it we’ll ask you to submit the story as plain text with markers where the images should go. All images should be reduced to 425px wide; we can link to larger ones if needed.

Some modchip developers have gotten their hands on an XBox 360 dev-kit and posted a ton of hardware pictures.

USAToday article on why we should have the “freedom to tinker” [via Techdirt]

Wooden laptop, far less serious than that last one [Mr. President]

[will] wrote up how to setup a secure SOCKS proxy using SSH. I am definitely doing this.

More abuse of free shipping boxes: cardboard boat. [The Sponge]

Controlling an RC Car with a computer, he describes the project in a video. [jaguarrrr]

PDF How-to remove a laptop LCD [Imanuel votteler]

[slash fury] decides to go big and cram a micro-ATX into an XBox.

I mentioned Session Saver above. I also include Spellbound and Greasemonkey on my short list of essential Firefox extensions. Anybody else have a favorite they can’t live without?

As usual, we’re looking for the hook-up.

Continue reading “Hackaday Links Resurrection” →

I quit my day job. How was your day today? Not really I’ve still got two more weeks.

[Phil Jern] Is working on a hack to digitize his slides, not the way you’re thinking.

Web app to recover your forgotten FTP password from Dreamweaver. [Cruz]

People have been playing around with Google Talk. Yay command line options. There is also a debug menu screenshot. [BlasterX]

[Darkprinc] Sent in this great guide to making cheap baby bottles and here I thought [www51]’s comment was going to bring on the pr0n.

Here is an NES controller midi game project… or something, it’s buried in the Flash. Look for “the res” [annie_linux]

People are still hacking away at the CVS Camcorder. How about double record time or double resolution?

[Paul b] Built something like our usb battery v2, but wasn’t able to charge his 4G iPod. After a little reverse engineering he came up with this solution.

This to That (Glue Advice), bondage done right. [via Lifehacker]

We linked to a proxy list the other day. [Janitha] pointed out that you can always set up your own.

Keep up the good work.

Continue reading “Hackaday Links” →

On Monday I asked for synthesizer link submissions in honor of Robert Moog.

I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR last night and they replayed an interview with Moog from 2000. He plays a couple samples on the Minimoog [synthmuseum]. Switched-On Bach was also mentioned. I’ll have to look around the house for that; it was the first 8-track my dad bought.

In highschool Moog was building Theremins. Plans can be found in English, in Engrish, in German, and in legaleese. [Tim Lu]

Now for some synth links:
Sound Lab Mini-Synth [macaba]
1 Bit Groove Box [humpback whale]
Principles of synthesis [stuart]
Lots of DIY synth links [joelanders]

Continue reading “Synth Link Roundup” →

This post originally started out as a “week in reverse” post back in July, but it was around the time that our FTP server was on the fritz, so it never got finished. I got curious today and discovered  that all of the links are working now.  So, enjoy some fine Hack-A-Day wallpaper.

[Caramelzappa]

Continue reading “The Lost Post” →