making your own instrument
June 19, 2010 2:39 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for someone to help build a musical instrument in the DC area. I want to turn vintage organ pedals into an analog bass (no MIDI) and we will most likely have to make a circuit board. Where can i find people that have this knowledge? I can't even think of where to start.
That doesn't sound like an extremely complex project, although it also doesn't sound simple. If you're open to learning at least a little bit on your own, or even if you just want to do some scoping out and maybe meet some people with some know-how, I notice that HacDC, the Washington DC Hackerspace, has just started an Electronics Workshop that claims to be aimed at helping the absolute beginner get started in learning how to understand and build circuits for "everything from amplifiers to light sensors." You missed the first class, which was Wednesday night, but it says they're repeating that class next Wednesday, and they're going to be running every Wednesday through into August. Here's the overview from last year's class. It sounds like that might be just the thing to (a) give you some know-how and an idea of what this project will entail and (b) put you in touch with some people who might have some useful specialty knowledge.
And knowing the general attitude of hackerspaces (which are awesome) I have a feeling that if you just show up with some interest and mention this project to a few of the right people, folks might be not just happy but excited to help you. You never know.
posted by koeselitz at 4:23 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
And knowing the general attitude of hackerspaces (which are awesome) I have a feeling that if you just show up with some interest and mention this project to a few of the right people, folks might be not just happy but excited to help you. You never know.
posted by koeselitz at 4:23 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Analogue Heaven mailing list.
Analogue synth building geniuses found there.
(this sounds like a cool project - I think there is a Moog Taurus kit you can use for your idea, but I'll defer to the real experts on the AH list)
posted by archivist at 5:35 AM on June 19, 2010
Analogue synth building geniuses found there.
(this sounds like a cool project - I think there is a Moog Taurus kit you can use for your idea, but I'll defer to the real experts on the AH list)
posted by archivist at 5:35 AM on June 19, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for the answers! I will investigate and update.
Also to b1tr0t i had the same concerns since i've seen similar projects but accomplished only with midi. I think, however, since we'd have to build a circuit board to recognize notes anyways, i think we might be able to jury rig a program to produce a simple sine wave out, which is all i'm really looking for.
Thanks Mefites!
posted by hiddenknives at 11:23 PM on June 19, 2010
Also to b1tr0t i had the same concerns since i've seen similar projects but accomplished only with midi. I think, however, since we'd have to build a circuit board to recognize notes anyways, i think we might be able to jury rig a program to produce a simple sine wave out, which is all i'm really looking for.
Thanks Mefites!
posted by hiddenknives at 11:23 PM on June 19, 2010
I disagree with b1tr0t. Building full-on analog bass circuits might be slightly more complicated, but it's really easy to make circuits that produce tones when amplified and run through a speaker, and it's easy to modify those tones through circuitry. Since it's really just math - no experimentation really necessary - to determine which notes will be produced by what conductors, someone who knew what they were doing should be able to plan that kind of circuit board in a few minutes, and build it pretty quickly. The controller might be the complicated bit, but I can imagine you've already got some ideas there, and anyhow it's not too difficult.
posted by koeselitz at 11:31 PM on June 19, 2010
posted by koeselitz at 11:31 PM on June 19, 2010
Response by poster: b1tr0t, I completely understand why you're advocating your position, and I thank you for being so thoughtful as to steer me in a direction that would help to create a more versatile instrument.
The idea for this instrument came about when I started recording for my band's demo. Our songs have next to nothing in the low end spectrum, besides the lower toms and the bass drum. My organist starting messing around with the pedals on the organ (a vintage Hammond) and we found that it really helped to fill out the sound while providing a unique touch, which I very much liked. The organ isn't in his possession, so I figured since we only wanted the bass, that i should just get the pedals.
Now from an aesthetic position, I quite like the idea of a minimalist instrument that forces the user to be more creative when composing, and I planned on using a variety of effects pedals such as a rotating speaker emulation (to match the original leslie speaker sound) and distortion pedals to vary the overall timbre of the instrument.
Perhaps in the future I would be interested in expanding the range of this experiment, but for now, I am settling for something more simplistic. If you would like to hear a sample, the song "She Blisters" on our myspace is the first to feature the "Tree Stump" as it has been informally referred to.
posted by hiddenknives at 1:11 AM on June 21, 2010
The idea for this instrument came about when I started recording for my band's demo. Our songs have next to nothing in the low end spectrum, besides the lower toms and the bass drum. My organist starting messing around with the pedals on the organ (a vintage Hammond) and we found that it really helped to fill out the sound while providing a unique touch, which I very much liked. The organ isn't in his possession, so I figured since we only wanted the bass, that i should just get the pedals.
Now from an aesthetic position, I quite like the idea of a minimalist instrument that forces the user to be more creative when composing, and I planned on using a variety of effects pedals such as a rotating speaker emulation (to match the original leslie speaker sound) and distortion pedals to vary the overall timbre of the instrument.
Perhaps in the future I would be interested in expanding the range of this experiment, but for now, I am settling for something more simplistic. If you would like to hear a sample, the song "She Blisters" on our myspace is the first to feature the "Tree Stump" as it has been informally referred to.
posted by hiddenknives at 1:11 AM on June 21, 2010
Response by poster: link didn't post it is www.myspace.com/acidcabin
posted by hiddenknives at 1:11 AM on June 21, 2010
posted by hiddenknives at 1:11 AM on June 21, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:08 AM on June 19, 2010