prosthetic knowledge
-
The VO-96
A clever remix of the acoustic guitar, now with synth capabilities:
The Vo-96 Acoustic Synthesizer creates dazzling new sounds on the acoustic guitar through precise harmonic control of string vibration.
… The experience wakens an intense sense of entering the unknown. You hold a familiar instrument yet it sounds and feels very different. Play and you are rewarded with fascinating, idea-generating sounds. Like Tyler found, you just want to keep playing and playing. You find sounds that go with music you already perform. You start to get ideas for new music and you try those. Soon there is no question: you definitely want one!
More about the instrument can be found on it’s Kickstarter page here
-
Glockentar
Hacked together music instrument mash-up combining a guitar and a glockenspiel, with added projection-mapped lighting on the strings (ssing Arduino, openFrameworks, and MadMapper) - by Aaron Sherwood (video embedded below):
Glockentar from Aaron Sherwood on Vimeo.
The Glockentar combines a glockenspiel with a guitar.
Each time a string is plucked a glockenspiel bell is struck with a solenoid, and a beam of light is projected across the length of the string.
More at Aaron’s blog here
-
Pianocade
Chiptune musical instrument with piano keys made of arcade videogame buttons and joystick - video below:
The Pianocade is a synthesizer designed to sound, look, and feel like vintage arcade games. It’s easy for people who want to dive right in, powerful and feature-rich for people who want to tinker, and fun to play for everyone.
More info at Pianocade here
-
KORG KAOSSILATOR 2 Dynamic Phrase Synthesizer
Handheld synth instrument that will make you look like you are texting:
Introducing the KAOSSILATOR 2; the palm-size phrase synthesizer that can be played by anyone, at any place, and at any time.
Boasting a powered-up sound generator, KAOSSILATOR 2 delivers synth and drum sounds spanning a wide range of genres, plus dramatically expanded loop recording. KAOSSILATOR 2 is packed with capabilities that can be enjoyed alone on or together with other people. Use two loops to create DJ-like mixes. Use the internal mic to record guitar, vocal, or other audio source – just as with a looper effect.
More information here
-
Sanka (Song of praise)
Japanese modern classical music played on traditional instrument - witnessing the performance is as pleasurable as the piece of music itself:
Performance by: Sachiko Yoshihara
Composer: Tadao Sawai (1937～1997）
Date: 1978
A song in praise of nature, people and arts. The piece is by famous koto player Tadao Sawai, also renowned as a composer. Along with leaving behind a large number of pieces making use of modern playing technique, he also strove to foster the development of younger musicians.
Via sen-no-rikyu / mescalitozen / theantidote
-
ZX Plectrum
iOS app turns familiar 8-Bit computer loading sounds into playable musical instrument.
Available from the Apple App Store
-
Multi-Touch Piano Keyboard
Tech demonstration adding layer to piano keys with capacitive touch. This enables playing music with features usually associated with playing a stringed instrument, such as bending to alter pitch:
This video demonstrates a set of capacitive touch sensing piano key tops which mount on top of any existing piano or MIDI keyboard. The key tops sense up to three touches each by position and contact area, letting the performer continuously and polyphonically shape every note in multiple dimensions. The system connects to a computer by USB and uses OSC for flexible communication with a wide variety of synthesis software.
-
New Sound Toy From Japan Creates Music With Gestures (via DigInfo)
At the 2012 Takara Tomy Group New Year Convention, Takara Tomy Arts presented Utamin, the second product in its music toy series.Utamin makes a sound when you put your hand near it. An infrared sensor on the top detects how close your hand is, enabling you to make music by varying the sound.This toy has three modes, and they can each be enjoyed in different ways.
Would be great to see what hackers would do with this.
-
Room Sized Electric Guitar (via Design Boom)
A fully working guitar in an enclosed space with 8 8-meter long strings:
architect marcelo ertorteguy and sara valente collaborated with takahiro fukuda to create ‘cargoguitar’, a room sized electric guitar. eight strings start from a vertical media column stretching eight meters to another horizontal media spine resulting in a hyperbolic paraboloid. each peg is tuned to a different note, achieving varied sound scales to be captured by the transducers. two amplifiers allow the vibrations to be felt in the room. a glow in the dark coat is applied to the strings, allowing visitors to not just hear the sound but to see it as it as well. the inhabitable instrument is on show at the kobe biennale 2011.
More can be found at Design Boom, with more photographs (including that of its development) and video / sound examples.
-
A Mind-Controlled Musical Instrument via PSFK
Robert Schneider, frontman of the indie rock band Apples in Stereo, has modded an EEG sensor-based Mattel MindFlex toy to make a device that plays an analog synth entirely through a user’s brain activity. The Teletron, as he calls it, is a DIY gadget (Schneider has uploaded a ‘how to make your own Teletron at home’ video on the web) that plays on a high or low pitch depending upon the intensity of the user’s thoughts.
[Link]
-
VTech KidiJamz Keyboard
Stop what you are doing, because this is too important to miss - the biggest musical instrument for our generation ….
FAR OUT!!! :D
-
Bassoforte by Diego Stocco
Probably the best creative thing you are likely to witness right this second … an electro-acoustic musical instrument made from a dismantled piano and other parts … pure genius
Few days ago I started thinking about how I could re-purpose the keyboard of the dismantled piano I keep in the garden, so I thought to build a new instrument by combining it with some other parts I had laying around. I ended up with this mechanical hybrid thing I thought to call “Bassoforte” (bass + pianoforte).
The neck is from a broken electric bass, as a bridge I used a cabinet handle, the pickups are from a guitar, and the part at the top where the strings are attached is a chimney cap, which works as resonator as well as percussive sound.
The track I created is a tribute to my Dad who is a big fan of Western comic books and “spaghetti western” films, and because of him I am too.
I hope you’ll like it!
The track is available also at my Bandcamp page: diegostocco.bandcamp.com/track/bassoforte
Here you can see a gallery with pictures and more detailed descriptions: behance.net/gallery/Bassoforte/535175More here at Create Digital Music
-
Japanese Koto Music (via fuckyeahsound)
-
-
Part of the Thru You Project, where YouTube instrumentalism is remixed to create something new.
