Design: Fotosis No. 005

Fotosis instrument No. oo5 will be a hybrid guitar / synth, but not 80's keytar style. Actually it will have everything our previous instruments had with a special sort of experimental guitar added to the control panel. That means square wave noise maker section, optical theremin, passive ring modulator and a weird stringed instrument all in one. The picture on the left is my first drawing of the proposed device. I suppose it'll look and play a bit like a lap steel guitar.

The guitar has two rails running parallel to and just below the strings. These allow the player to insert a third bridge at any location they like or place a platform / fretboard under the strings on which the can mount objects to play the instrument as a prepared guitar. There will be two handmade high output pickups (similar to the ones I made for this instrument) located at both bridges. Each pickup will have independent volume control and its own 1/4" mono output to increase the experimentation potential of the device. The instrument can be played into the ring modulator and made to sound nothing like a guitar at all.

We will be starting construction in the next week or so after we catch up on our current orders and will post images of the design and construction process here.

The sound clip below was a test I did a while ago to determine what sounds would be produced by such a device. I simply plucked the strings with one hand and adjusted the controls on the square wave section of Fotosis No. 002 with the other. The embed is a bit slow give it a few seconds to get working but the file can be downloaded here if you still have trouble.



This picture is of the setup used to produce those sounds, notice the chop stick rammed under the strings. This acts as the third bridge.


-J

Arduino Launches Blog

Great news! This bit of info from the Make Magazine blog.

"The Arduino blog is a place for thoughts, news, and discussion with the Arduino team. We thought it was important to provide a higher-profile platform for discussion to complement the more practical Arduino forum, the publicly-editable Arduino playground wiki, and the technically-focused developers mailing list. We hope the blog will be a place for more general discussion about the Arduino project, its goals and development. We’d also like to encourage conversation with people who may not be users of Arduino or members of the forum. Plus, we’ve got a lot of exciting announcements coming soon and wanted to make sure they were easy to spot.

That said, welcome to the Arduino blog! We hope you enjoy it."

Arduino site
Arduino blog
Make blog link

- C

For Sale: DIY Electric Guitar

Just listed my much cherished homemade electric guitar on on Ebay. You can find the listing here.(This item is now available for purchase at our Etsy Shop)

You might be wondering why we made this and why it is on this site that deals mostly with the electronic synthesis of sound but I assure you there is a good reason. You see I used to play guitar quite a bit, I used to be pretty good. But I found that as I got older I had less time to play and more exotic sounding devices started to appeal more to me.

Before I came to Lyon I built a guitar from scrap, just for the hell of it one weekend. To my surprise it sounded pretty good and people seemed to like its quirky design. So my initial plan was to build guitars for a living here in France from reclaimed materials. I built the one that is currently for sale but events conspired, one thing lead to another and we ended up with the Fotosis line of electronic instruments.

But my dream of building electro acoustic instruments isn't over. I plan to take aspects of my guitar building past and apply them to future Fotosis style instruments. They will be a fusion of guitar and synth, but not in that cheesy 80's guitar synth way, they will be very very different:-)

-J

Handmade Electric Guitar

Just finished building and setting up this electric guitar. The body is a solid block of Indian Teak which was once part of a DIY boat project that was abandoned in the 60's, the wood had been sitting in a shed in Ireland until my dad rescued it and I then took it to my workshop in France. We found the sheet of aluminum that is the rear cover outside our flat late one night on the way home from the brasserie. The neck was an Ebay find, all the other little bit and pieces were scavenged from here and there.

The really interesting thing about this project is that I made the pickups from scratch. The bobbins were hand carved from the same wood as the body and wound with the same type of wire originally used by Fender. Each of the two scatter wound single coil pickups have six high quality AlNiCo magnets in them and the wire was wound to 5.5k on the bridge pickup and 6.7k on the neck pickup resulting in a very warm and powerful vintage sound that distorts extremely cleanly.

I really enjoyed making this instrument and will be very sad to see it go.



You can see a slide show of the instrument at various stages of construction if you follow this link.

This instrument is going up for sale tomorrow evening (my time France) on Ebay, if anyone is interested in buying it before then, contact me.

-J

Circuit Bending / Glitchmachines / Interview via GetLoFi

I am enjoying the fresh news from Rodney Clark of GetLoFi. Although the site has always been very well done, it's nice to have more frequent content updates.

Rodney just interviewed creator Ivo Ivanov from Glitchmachines. His circuit bent designs are sleek, artistic and fun.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

"Q: If you had to have a favorite bend what would it be and what makes it number one in your book?

There are so many great bends out there that are all characteristically unique, but I’m particularly fond of Casio keyboards in general. The Casio MT-140 is a great unit with a wealth of possibilities for all kinds of interesting bends. The Casio MT-500 is a very interesting bend, but also one of the more difficult for me to build, as I incorporate industrial grade arcade joysticks which are very tedious to mount into the speaker ports."

"Q: Does the love for bending wear off, having to bend so much for so many other people?

I would never do this if I didn’t love it completely. More often than not, I am so eager to implement a new design idea that I can hardly wait to get back to my work bench. Of course, there are certainly moments where I get frustrated, but I always try to implement new ideas to keep things fresh. When you are going to school full time and coming home to 5 projects that all need to be finished and shipped as soon as possible, it can sometimes be a little much."

"Q: Do you ever make your secrets known…and lend advice on bends when contacted for help?

I do, but I treat situations like that on an individual basis. Sometimes if I answer a question with too much enthusiasm, it can lead to a full on tutorial, which is time consuming and often under appreciated. I try to guide people in the right direction without spelling things out completely. After all, circuit bending is all about exploration and I think it’s cheap to just use someone else’s methods without putting any effort into making your own discoveries."

It's always interesting to read an interview with someone who is doing something that is similar to what we do. We can certainly relate to his thoughts on helping others make something or designing something new (John is constantly coming up with new ideas!), or simply just geeking out on the same aural delights. It's not easy to sustain this type of business or lifestyle but it is so much more rewarding if you love it and can share that with others. Ivanov's insight into his work remains candid and humble despite his success. I admire anyone who pursues what they believe in passionately.

Links:

Interview with GetLoFi
Glitchmachines Myspace

- C

Vote: The Best of the DIY Web via Wired Blogs

Compiler / Wired Blogs has posted a vote for the best DIY Web. The winner will be featured on their How To Wiki Site. There is also a submit button if you want to add a DIY project and some Wired goodies are up for grabs. So far, I'm betting on the flashlight laser.

"We'd like to ask you to nominate the best how to projects on the web. Vote for your favorite resources below or submit your own to the list. What are the destinations that really inspire you to roll up your sleeves, grease your elbows and get your hands dirty? Once the votes have been counted, we'll contact the winning author and send them some tchotchkes -- and we'll feature their tutorial on the front page of the Wired How To Wiki site."

Link

- C

Experimenting with Binaural Beats / Does It Work?

First off, I want to thank everyone who has linked to us over the last few weeks. Don't be surprised if I make a visit because I am collecting screenshots for our personal photo archive of sites that discover or feature something we've made. I really enjoy it as our readership is getting more international by the day and we are discovering some great sites in the process. Really, thanks.

So tonight we decided to experiment with binaural beats. I realise that the company i-doser has gotten lots of publicity the last few months but the findings of this scientific discovery has been around since 1839.

Here's the basics:

"Binaural beats or binaural tones are auditory processing artifacts, that is apparent sounds, the perception of which arises in the brain independent of physical stimuli. This effect was discovered in 1839 by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove.

In nature, two sounds that are similar but slightly shifted in frequency will beat to produce two new frequencies which are the sum and the difference of the original two sounds. For example, a 400 Hz tone and a 410 Hz tone will form a ~405 Hz tone pulsating 10 times per second.

The brain produces a similar phenomenon internally, resulting in low-frequency pulsations in the loudness of a perceived sound when two tones at slightly different frequencies are presented separately, one to each of a subject's ears, using stereo headphones. A beating tone will be perceived, as if the two tones mixed naturally, out of the brain. The frequency of the tones must be below about 1,000 to 1,500 hertz for the beating to be heard. The difference between the two frequencies must be small (below about 30 Hz) for the effect to occur; otherwise the two tones will be heard separately and no beat will be perceived.

Interest in binaural beats can be classified into two categories. First, they are of interest to neurophysiologists investigating the sense of hearing. Second, some protoscientists believe that binaural beats may influence the brain in more subtle ways through the entrainment of brainwaves and can be used to produce relaxation and other health benefits." - Wiki

It all sounds a little heavy and new age but being sensitive to motion, light and sound I was really interested in trying this, as was John.

We decided to stop whatever we were doing and try 'one dose'. The lights were dimmed and we each put on our respective headphones. The track was 30 minutes long. I was sure that both of us would have a different experience - I believed John would enjoy the experience more readily but wouldn't have the same lasting effect as on myself. In fact I was sure he would go to bed while I stayed up all night with untapped energy. The conclusion was, I was right. The length also had us on different sides. He felt the 'song' lasted ten minutes, I felt like it was timeless with several conscious wake-ups although I woke up right before the file ended, knowing it was about to end.

This kind of experiment is surely based on your own desire to see it through. We both had no psychedelic notions but we were certainly open to discovering the sounds that would be presented to us and how that would effect us. This element is the most natural for people like us, we both are enormously sensitive to noise and stimuli around us in everyday life.

The after effect was in one word euphoric. We discussed our experience and concluded that indeed something happened and that the sound sample had some great variations. All in all, this is something I think we both want to explore because the sounds we heard tonight were actually very well orchestrated and layered, well thought out. In hindsight, it really wasn't far off from our usual experimentation with music but I wish I could go to sleep!

Links:

Binaural Beat Brain Wave Experimenter's Lab
Binaural Beats via Wiki

- C

Looks Like An Art School Project / Octopulse via Music Thing

Links: Octopulse, Music Thing

Making Your Own Cardboard Synthesizer / Using Recycled Materials

We've had quite alot of interest in our simple saw theremin! That makes me very happy because it is so simple and anyone can do it.

We often think of things to create for fun and it makes use of things lying around the flat which is another philosophy (for lack of a better word) we live by.

Another similar project is the ‘Your First Synth’ shown here via Music From Outer Space that John found for me in March. This is the perfect weekend project and not very expensive to make. Below is what I've written about previously on my other blogs.

"A wonderful little project that John and I did while both sick. It took us only a few evenings, a couple bottles of wine and lots of eye squinting soldering.

The total price is only (approx.) 30 Euros to make. We used recycled cardboard for the case, a makeup compact mirror, paint, glue and leftover foam to mount the proto board securely. The case is secured by Velcro strips in case I want anything changed or want to re-use any parts."

We then had to test for sound. For such a simple build, it sounded pretty good.


"The sound is fantastic and very solid, versatile. Once we hooked up some of John’s other pedals and micro synthesizer, we could make really intense and varied beats and rhythms."

We fortified the panel with a spray vinyl normally used for acrylic and oil paints, this seems to work fine with wood surfaces too. This finish is semi-glossy , whereas you have matte, glossy and grainy textures you can add. This all can be found in any art store.

"Added a final paint job under the mirror with some collage and scratches to finish the synth. John added an LED light for the power on/off for me and fixed the left side switches because they were placed in reverse." I also found a very tasteful nude which I embedded on the front panel, using the compact mirror to obscure the naked bits. ;-)

I think cardboard is a wonderful material to work with and still want to make another more complicated version in cardboard casing. It's cheap, versatile and easy to store or transport. We're big fans of cardboard furniture or anything using recycled materials. Here are some additional photos of design projects using recycled materials, that I took at a design biennale, so you can see for yourself.

Related Links:
'Your First Synth' via Music From Outer Space
More Photos of Our Cardboard Synth
Our Simple Saw Theremin
Building With Cardboard via BuzzFeed

-C

Documentation: Fotosis Information

We have reached a point where it is necessary to supply some documentation with our products. In the left hand column there is a .PDF document, just click on the link to view or download.

This document contains general information regarding our base model and describes the function and purpose of each control and jack. There are also sections like getting started, hacks, additional options, contact information and pricing.

When you read this document you will see references to switches labeled S1 through S10, potentiometers K1 to K10 and jacks J1 to J5. To make sense of these keys you must download the appropriate Fotosis No. XXX drawing. At this stage the only difference between models will be the control panel layout and jack location and a drawing will be provided with each purchased instrument and will be available for download here for evermore.

We have added a note to the right hand side column of our blog concerning our starting price for instruments. The base model will always be identical in function to Fotosis No. 002 but the look in terms of colour, layout and approximate size can vary depending on the buyers preferences. These instruments will be priced at 250 Euro and several modifications are available on request, the options are detailed in our documentation.

If you wish to purchase an instrument from us just send us an email and we will get back to you to discuss just what it is you are looking for and how it can be customized you suit your likes and needs.

More options will become available in the future, we will post them on this blog and update the documentation accordingly.

Modifications and options being developed now include:

Circuit Bending controller accessible via a 25 Way D type connector located on the rear of our devices. This will be a microprocessor based system that will allow you to control one or more circuit bent devices using our instrument. It will consist of a number of electronic switches (between 5 and 10) that you can tap into through the 25 way connector. The switches will act just like toggles but will be turned on and off by the microprocessor in a variety of useful ways, allowing you to interact with your circuit bent equipment in a whole new way. The methods of interaction that will trigger the electronic switches will include theremin like control using an LDR and also control of all glitches using a single pot. Settings will include, cycle through all glitches with variable speed, random glitch generator and the ability to skip up and down through the switches with the turn of a single pot.

Built in third bridge guitar. This will require the Fotosis instrument to be a little longer but it should look super cool. There will be a six sting, two handmade pickups, short scale length guitar with a moveable / removable center bridge built into the control panel just above the knobs and toggles. It can be played sort or like a lap steel guitar with a slide or plucked with both hands like a harp. Platforms will be mounted below the strings so you can prepare it using household objects like springs and small electric motors etc. to expand the range of experimentation possibilities.

Modifying the existing square wave noise maker to it has an even greater range of sounds.

More to come, will post pictures of the development and testing of these options as they near completion, the picture above was our first foray into pickup design and building these should become a feature on future Fotosis products, hint built in guitar.

-J

Video: DIY Instruments Japanese Style

We have no idea if this is for real...but it's totally cool. The longer you watch, the better it gets.

- J&C



UPDATE: Looks like Audio Lemon has the scoop on these two, great! - C

Audio Samples: Variations on the Fotosis Sound

We have been experimenting with different effect processors in the last couple of weeks. With a Digitech Whammy pedal and the Electro Harmonix Micro Synth, a whole new range of sounds and filtering capabilities can be realised with our Fotosis instrument. We love it!

Here are 3 samples:

By The Sea - We set the Fotosis to a modulated drone. Then with the Micro Synth and Whammy produced a series of simulated bowed sounds which were very clear and precise.


We Shall - A sequence of two notes John produced. The frequencies were alternated up and down every four modulation cycles. The blips and beeps were created using the momentary kill switch bypass.


Connie's Wigout - Like the title but with my preferred Whammy pedal used as an instrument with reverb pedal.

- J&C

Making Of: The Joys of DIY Instrument Building

These are from a series of 'making of' photos I have taken over the last months. I've accumulated hundreds of photos over the years primarily because this is the magical element of what making things brings to a person, the creation of something from nothing. Secondly, it's just great to see what is inside an electronic object.

The most difficult part (for me) with DIY building has been the wait for parts/materials which, thanks to various local/international outlets online and offline, is still relatively painless. Ironically, we are now waiting for parts.

Our preferred resources for components/parts include:

Bendables Store EBay
Farnell
Arduino
Banzai Effects

Don't forget your local mom & pop shops, they usually have great personal service and are a lifesaver for last minute needs. Enjoy the pics!

-C