If you’re Jeff Stolet, you design software to take inputs from infrared sensors, convert them to algorithms and then to MIDI note data, then send it to the piano. So, he plays complex piano music—by waving his hands in the air. Here’s the result:
More about his project here.
lamps lamps lamps
neon lamp osc with doorbell keyboard
goes into a 6au6 via depth/drive knob with a neon as a modulator –
inductor on the plate for tone
goes into a second 6au6 via depth/drive knob and neon as modulator
inductor on the plate for tone
6AL7 magic eye on the outputs
each modulator has rate knob and ‘range’ switch – one setting being
a .015 cap across the neons – the other setting being no cap between the neons
some how this works really nicely
you know i couldn’t do it without barbour’s help!!!
dave wright
www.notbreathing.com
“Subharchord” — totally unknown synthesizer from 1960
It was built in an East German acoustics lab, and used in soundtracks for East German movies. It predates any Moog or Buchla synth. You won’t find it mentioned in any textbooks, nor is it listed in the famous 120 Years of Electronic Music website.
The Electric Western THERMATRON
Test of the THERMATRON flame controlled synthesizer by Lorin Edwin Parker from www.electricwestern.com:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58lX3Uu9OOs
Ionized gas, chemicals, heat and applied high voltage conduct through a flame, modulating the impedance across the grid and or plate of vacuum tubes. This applies a control voltage to a Phantastron synthesizer.
DIO…….A new tube synth…….
by Not Breathing……ugliest old radio I ever saw.
Video here, synched with an Akai MPC.
Also of some note: the work by Snyderphonics. Their Manta USB controller looks like a winner. So buy one.
Unearthed Circuits
They build some damn impressive gadgets…..that do something.
And how often do you get to read about Paul Ketoff and his notorious Syn-Ket?
Not to mention its predecessor, the Fonosynth. Yet another great unsung pioneer of music synthesis.
Who is this guy??
Retrosonik is primitive and looks like it was abandoned years ago, some of the links are busted and there isn’t any information in Whois except the name James Phillips. I must say, his projects are amazing, what little we can see of them. (Although his spelling is awful.)
Odds and ends (videos)
First, artist Jake Waldron usually does sculpture;
but he did build a complex noise box, and he circuit-bent a TV set.
Then we have this thing, made of an old SN76477 noisemaker chip.
The guy who built a sequencer out of a Dekatron tube is braver than he realizes–
Dekatrons are erratic and unreliable. Same guy who previously built a modular synth out of tubes.
An experimental analog video synth–very rare to see anyone doing this today.
(Doing it with a VGA monitor simplifies the electronics, because
you don’t have to worry about recombining sync and chroma signals.)
Finally, this defies explanation……
More Dave-Wright-branded insane
It’s got tubes, it’s got transistors, it’s got a CD on a variable speed motor with the coating scratched off and a photo pickup underneath……it’s not on his website. Why does he do things like this?
Want to explore alternate tunings? Now it’s easy.
H-Pi has released a new, updated version of their Tuning Box. It does any arbitrary tuning setup, from Archytas Septimal to Just to Harry Partch’s 43-Tone Chromelodeon Scale to Johnston Enharmonic. You name it, if your MIDI synthesizer accepts pitch bend, this device ($299 is an amazing price) will generate the correct MIDI messages to make any alternate tuning or key reassignment desired. I’ve already ordered one for my own experimentation.
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H-Pi also had something on its website that amused me.
Remember my post about unusual MIDI controllers last March? Well……
The New York Times ran a strangely familiar article four months later…..
The Electronic Peasant strikes again…..with a banjo synthesizer
His new pitch-CV processor and synthesizer was intended for processing the output of a banjo pickup with separate outputs for each string. Based on a Harry Bissell pitch-CV processor. The quality of the Peasant’s construction will embarrass most DIYers. (Not to mention his homebrew modular synth.) If you like to read about alternate controllers, here is a perfect example. How many other banjo players do you know of who build their own synthesizers?
And not only that, he has a lady friend, who is learning to DIY music electronics.
TUIST
Clever fellow made a controller with no keys, strings, or gizmos to trigger. You play it by tilting, rubbing, squeezing, shaking, etc……
Wired magazine article here, Gearwire video here, his website is here. Hope he manages to get it manufactured in some form.
new SubtleNoiseMaker Cacophonator look and video
The Brutal Blinky
A synth made of neon lamps, from Not Breathing.
Videos of the Blinky in action: 1, 2
Quote from the maker:
5 neons in a ring counter type set up with a pot and cap value change for each stage,
a multivibrator modulator w/ 2 neons – rate pot, shape pot – range switch, switch o/off to ring counter.
different one w/out shape pot or range switch – depth pot – switch to power it from b+ or the previous multivibrator and switch on/off to the ring counter.
a third single neon osc as modulator w/ just rate pot, switch from b+ or previous modulator, on/off to ring counter
subosc divider, i grabbed from your vco circuit i believe, w/ a range switch,
and a 12 stage passive low pass filter (the magic part)
“Oceanus”
A great British DIY circuit-bender. A few of his gadgets have been mentioned on Matrix before, but I just want to direct you to his YouTube page. He doesn’t seem to have a regular web page. Unlike most other circuit-benders, Paul takes great care to make his gadgets look good, as well as sound interesting.
advanced Cacophonator
!! SKANKULATOR !!
From the YouTube video:
“6 oscs(cmos), 4 ring mods(cmos), passive vca(diodes), passive vcf(vactrol), decay generator, additional passive low pass filter (via rotary), 2 watt amp – some knobs n crap – a lunetta? the vca modulation is skankulation – i have a lil fet s&h between the 6th osc and the vca – no buffer not so good”
New track, using some circuit bent rhythms
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=51969680
the synt is an sh 201…. if u liked this then more can be found at: www.myspace.com/akraftwerkorange…..
Not Breathing STRIKES AGAIN
I quote the creator:
“ken stone power supply board – caps/regulator/heatsinks/diodes from gutted wersi organ.
ray wilson’s 1v/oct single bus pcb. the keyboard is from a gutted lowrey wandering genie keyboard.
i recycled most of the capacitors in the unit from the genie and a dead tr606
(the rotary switches from 606 and a dead scope)
inside five small protoboards w/ 2 VCOs based on thomas henry’s 3080 vcos
(w/ matched transistor pair/tempco/polystrene caps).
white noise source (based on henry’s PNP noise source) through a Lm386 amp.
passive ring modulator using BAT56 schottky diodes – through their own lm386 amp.
VCF is a CEM 3328 from a dead mirage keyboard following jeff pointus/scott stites schematic – thomas henry 3080 VCA – a 555 based ADSR, two asm-1 lfos.
whew.
each CV section has it’s own modulation matrix rotary switch w/ choice
of lfo 1 tri, lfo 1 squ, lfo2 tri/squ, adsr, noise, gate, vco cross modulation
i didn’t buy anything for this unit.
i used some pretty crappy pots – but used good ones where it counts –
even the wire was from an old medical device
this is my depression era thrifter
the unit has linear FMs to the vcos and voltage controled Q
that are not even available on the front panel 🙂
i also built another lag in the unit – but didn’t need it…
someone can circuit bend it when i’m dead….
used decal paper for the first time to do the panel –
wood was dumpster wood
assembly of a mad man…”
But smarter than most mad men……and not afraid to part out crummy old combo organs. 😉
No doubt, gear makers have horrible nightmares about people like this:
