A while back I was given the book Handmade Music Factory by Mike Orr. It's full of interesting pictures and info relating to DIY instruments. Trying to build some of the projects has been on my 'to do' list for a while.
After playing with the Diddley Bows made by Andrew Cooke I decided to have a go at making something quick and dirty.
A three-legged table fell apart in my yard recently: I discarded the rotten wood and salvaged a few pieces. The legs seemed in fairly good condition, one was used for this build. Other parts, such as the pick-up and tuning peg were from an old bass guitar. The jack socket was new, but fitted to the plate from an old strat-copy. The nut is weathered glass from Helen's Bay beach. The bridge; an found off-cut of conduit pipe. The tail-piece is an old bracket from some furniture.
Here's a demo video of the first notes played through one of my recently built "Smokey" amps:
The amp uses two recycled VHS boxes for the enclosure. The speaker is from an old keyboard, the capacitors and jacks were from an old mixer. More upcycling to follow.
In this workshop
participants are shown how to build a simple 9v battery-powered
synthesizer similar to the ”Atari Punk Console”. It is aimed at those
interested in creative audio technology, techno, and noise. Knowledge of
physics and maths is not necessary.
*Membership of the Digital Arts Studios is only £30 a year and entitles
you to the cheaper rates all year round as well as reduced costs on all
other services including equipment hire.
Here's one I made earlier:
Unpredictable oscillations from a trio of primitive square wave generators = inspiration/agitation in a hand-held box. Learn some basic electronics and simple soldering. Leave with a functioning circuit.
