Custom Order: Bar Set, Cardboard Keyboard and Cardboard Amp / Part Two...

This is the second post concerning the bar set order, we decided to throw in some little extras, a cardboard keyboard and a cardboard amp.

The keyboard is a simple enough affair as it is based on a simple circuit that involves a 555 timer chip to produce a square wave. The casing was created by laminating lots of layers of cardboard together using glue and wood screws. In the video below we are playing the keyboard into the ring modulator of one of our earlier instruments, Fotosis No. 003. The resulting sound is the effect of the square wave noise section from Fotosis No.003 being fed into the carrier input of the units ring mod. and keyboard on the main input.



The amplifier is actually three amps and three speakers in one box. The amps are LM386 chips providing 2.5 Watts each. This set up allows us to play three separate devices into the amp where each device will have its own input, volume control, amp and speaker.

Part one of this post can be viewed here.

- J

Custom Order: Fotosis No. 006, Bar Set, Optical Sequencer, Egg Beater Theremin / Part One...

Connie here. We've been working on a custom order set the last 4 weeks for someone I am very close to. If anything, I wouldn't think anyone else would be capable of supporting 'fotosis' like he has with this one project. In the infancy of our little 'business', it's the friends and loved ones who help us get through the days of uncertainty; the ones who understand our simple dream and allow us to feel that for everything we make, they truly want to be a part of our growing passion and humble expertise. (FYI - I thank all our friends at the end of our blog and also through regular posts)

This set will be showcased in a local popular bar downtown that is known for weekly live music. The requirements were in keeping with our love for recycled materials and parts, as the need for the instruments to be durable to withstand euphoric drunken customers and also the respect of a handmade retro aesthetic including Meccano pieces & salvaged vintage connectors.

We really enjoyed designing and creating this interactive ensemble, something that anyone passing by would want to touch (very important) and an experienced musician could properly plug and play with.


Here is John with the specs;

The optical sequencer contains two oscillators one generating a sine wave the other a square wave. These oscillators are set up as optical theremins, their frequency being determined by three LDR's mounted on the front or the unit.

There are also a number of patch leads, permanently connected at one end to the outputs of a micro-controller. These leads can be connected to banana jacks on the front panel allowing the micro-controller to send trigger pulses to opto-couplers that reroute the frequency determining components connected to the oscillators. The time between trigger pulses is set by a value read from another five LDR's that are connected to the analog inputs of the micro-controller.



Both sound producing sections of the unit are then fed into and mixed by a passive ring modulator before amplification. The resulting noise is a random series of beeps blips and noise that you can interact with by applying lights or shadows to the eight LDR's on the control panel.

The sound producing chips I used for this build were the XR2206 (Sine Wave) and a 40106 (Square Wave).

As this unit is for public use it was important to make the controls as simple as possible so the pots are all dual pots. Example the volume also controls intensity and the filter is also square wave frequency.

The matching theremin with the Egg Beater for an aerial is a solid state unit based on a modified schematic we found online a while back.

All of the materials used to manufacture the casings were found objects like Meccano, random collected screws, bits of metal and wood also a strange French industrial on/off switch.

The whole setup runs off a single boss PSA 230, 9v DC supply.

Part two of this post can be viewed here.

Custom Order: Recycled Portable Theremin

Another artist and musician ordered a portable theremin a couple of weeks ago. I just recently made this one that allowed for an interchangeable aerial which means you can connect the clip to a spoon or a guitar, or say, a drum set while you're touring with your band (right leftoverking?). This handmade theremin would be similar to that one. LOK and I agreed on using a recycled theme and he wanted something durable, which is the idea - portability, ease of storage and tough.


The case is made out of recycled wood, newspaper, cracker packaging and bits of steel & aluminum and has 2 vintage knobs. John made the crocodile clip. It's a unique little instrument that I hope the new owner will enjoy experimenting with.




- C

My previous posts on theremins:
Portable Theremin
Saw Theremin

Yuri Landman: Experimental Luthier

I came across Yuri Landman several months ago while doing some online research into alternative guitar construction. At the time I thought information on Yuri was limited to a wiki entry on him as I somehow missed his official website hypercustom. So I was thrilled today to find a link on the musicthing blog to a pitchfork article all about this very interesting artist. The article describes the reasoning behind many of his guitars features and the logic he has applied to his instruments tuning and the materials he likes to use.

He has recently been creating unique guitars for a number of bands including one of my all time favorite groups Sonic Youth.

His guitars look amazing, I cant wait to hear the sounds these wonderful instruments produce. I love to read about other people exploring new possibilities in the realm of electro acoustic music as it makes me feel more positive about my own experiments in this area.

-J

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

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

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

Making A Simple Theremin / Testing & Planning / Design & Realisation

Back in March, we decided to build our first simple theremin. The process took an on/off time period of a few months, not rushed because it was a hobby project.

The excerpts below are from previous blog posts I have made about the process, the fun of making it and the final outcome.

"As some of you already know, I like to create things from recycled materials with John. We laboured over an awkward website to get our parts last week and John finally had the time to assemble a test this evening. The sample we used for this make is from the 'Minimum Theremin' by Harrison Instruments.

First off is the construction and testing on the breadboard. After all is working right, the time is for the physical testing. We used several metal objects including a lid, coat hanger and bread knife.

The approximate cost of this project is 15 Euros. So How Does It Sound? See for yourself and download the video here and let me know what you think.

It all seems to function and now we have to decide on a design for the casing and look. We look around and choose an empty metal case from a Smallstone Phaser with very cool Russian trademark and an old rusty saw I’ve had dying on my balcony for 5 years."

The first part of finding a suitable schematic, parts and materials was invaluable. The second proved to be even more rewarding because of the hands on nature of the work.

"We selected a rusty saw as the aerial and recycled the casing from an old Russian Smallstone phaser box. This is the work involved to finish it (though for anyone who makes things will know, you’re never really finished)."

"We started off getting rid of the rust and the hardened paint on both objects by soaking, scrubbing (and suffering major inhalation problems) with a load of white spirits. The ‘guts’ of the theremin was completed in about 3 hours prior so this proved to be the hardest part.

24 hours later we started sanding. We took out J.’s Dremel and worked on softening the saw’s edges for safety. We continued sanding the phaser case.

By early evening, we managed to clean the two objects and with an extra 13-14 Euro purchased an anti-rust varnish. We coated and waited…

By night, we polished the saw and selected the knob controls and other remaining aesthetic needs. The theremin was finally put together as J. used some foam to attach the prototyping board, guts and all!"

The theremin wasn't the most sophisticated but we lost no opportunity to enjoy the conception of it or discover the many nuances and improvements we could alter with common distortion. Mostly, we just had a great time playing with it and showing it to friends.

I am planning to complete a matching optical theremin sometime soon.



More pictures.




- C