Results for instruments

Some interesting things I found recently:

# A Deal You Can’t Refuse | ryangruss.com

Ryan is about to release Volume II of his subscription based drum loops service, so in the next few days you can get over 200 loops for only $9.95.

As I’m putting the finishing touches on Gruss Loops Volume II, I realized I should make you painfully aware of the sweet deal that currently lays before you. You see, since I’m offering the loop packs as a subscription service, there will be over 200 loops available over the course of the next two days. That’s right. You could sign up now, grab Volume I right now AND Volume II in another 24 hours…. all for the rock bottom price of $9.95. You can even cancel after you nab both of the packs. See if I care (you cheap bastard). I know you’ll be back for more.

# SX-150 synth mod instructions, schematics and code

MrBook did a lovely Arduino hack on the Gakken SX-150, adding MIDI and audio out.

Many people have asked about the instructions and code for the SX-150 mod I did to add MIDI and Audio out, therefore I’m posting the plans for everyone to try. By using the Arduino as the brains of the operation, a lot of other options are available for the mod, really the sky is the limit. If you do any cool hacks to it, by all means, please let me know.

# OTTO

OTTO by Luca de Rosso is an electronic musical instrument for realtime manual beat slicing of audio samples.

OTTO provides a tangible user interface designed with the aim of giving the user the feel of having the sample in his hands. The musician can manipulate an audio sample in real time through the use of a restricted number of simple physical buttons and switches.

Link via CDM

# little-scale: Low-Bit Gamelan Compilation [2009] Chipmusic inspired by Indonesian Gamelan.

Sebastian writes:

The Low-Bit Gamelan Compilation – a release of five original tracks with a strong influence from the beautiful music of Indonesian gamelan! Thanks to all who submitted tracks – I’m very happy with this compilation.

Track Listing

1. Derris-Kharlan: Sarin
2. little-scale: Monsoon
3. Baron Knoxbury: Pilo Hau Gamelan
4. Red Robin: Pemanasair
5. The Listrix: Rock the Gamelan

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Blushing Boy Peacock

We have been working in a concept for a different type of music instrument. Putting together some feminist theory of music, some love for strange sounding animals, a laser engraver, a bunch of sliders, some orange LEDs and a lot of patience, we created the Peacock.

The Peacock is an instrument for live performace or personal exploration of both live and digitized sounds. You can get sound from an SD card or record it through its mic-in. The sound will be looped and affected in different ways by different effects and digital filters.

# * Casper Electronics » Drone Lab

The Drone Lab is an analog sound module specially designed for making dense, rich drones.

Peter Edwards writes:

I wanted to design something that could fit in your hand but still deliver some heavy sound.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# The Stretta Procedure: obo

Matthew writes:

There was a recent request on the monome forums for an application that does what the popular tonematrix does, which itself is inspired by the tenori-on. I took some parts out of my residue application for the monome (it's full of techno! DD103!) and added a simple four voice internal sine wave synth.

If you like tonematrix, but would prefer something standalone, with MIDI output, sync and tweakable note assignments, you can download this standalone application for MacOS X. It is free! Enjoy!

Then, maybe at some point I'll get around to adapting it to the monome.

# FL Studio’s FPC, room for improvement?

FL Studio user Survei petitions for a better FPC (FL Pad Controller).

Simply put, compared to the layering sound design possibilities in the Step Sequencer, the FPC is extremely limited, because it doesn’t have many layer-specific controls. For instance, it doesn’t have any envelopes for the LAYERS within the pads. But the FPC would be awesome and fill a void in my production if the individual waveforms were like Sampler Channels, in that you can click on EACH and EVERY individual waveform and have a Sampler Settings window come up for every waveform. This would be an easy solution to the FPC’s problem of not having much control over the sounds of the layers. It is common in today’s production to make custom drum sounds by combining multiple drum sounds. The waveforms are our clay from which we sculpt our sounds from using tools that are in the Sampler Channels.

# Sarien.net – Instant adventure gaming – Do you have fond memories of playing Sierra’s adventure games? You can now play them online!

Welcome to Sarien.net, the portal for reliving the classic Sierra On-Line adventure games. With its focus on instant fun and a unique multiplayer experience, Sarien.net hopes to win new gamers' hearts and promote the adventure game genre.

Currently available: King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel, Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter, Space Quest II: Vohaul’s Revenge, The Black Cauldron.

# •· hypetape – Hypetape is the illegitimate lovechild of Hype Machine and Muxtape, where you can create and share playlists containing tracks other people have been talking about from around the internet.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Arduinocaster shreds in MIDI

Mike Cook takes the keytar to the next level.

Arduinocaster is a an Arduino based MIDI instrument modelled on a guitar sometimes called a keytar. It uses switches and LEDs to control six "strings" which are held down in guitar like chords. Triggering the strings is through an opto reflective switch for a continuous repeating strum and four touch sensitive switches for a one off sequence. There are three banks of four picking / strumming / arpeggio styles and a three octave capo. Voice change information can also be sent.

# Dinosaurs and Robots: The Clubhouse Strummer

Mark Frauenfelder writes:

My goal was to make an electric string instrument that uses drone tuning. I don't know anything about music theory, but drone tuning is a way to tune an instrument that makes it sound good no matter what you do with your fret fingers. Sitars, some dulcimers, and bagpipes use drone tuning. The clubhouse strummer uses GDG tuning (the Gs are one octave apart). I copied the fret layout from a strumstick, but I could have used this handy mountain dulcimer fret calculator to figure out the fret spacing.

# Synth1 random preset generator
Christophe Roussy created a utility to generate random presets for Synth 1.

Synth1 is my favorite free software synthesizer to this date. There are a lot of preset banks available on the web. I had a look at the preset format and thought it would be easy to generate random presets if I could figure out how the values are stored. I decided to write a small Java application that can generate random presets.

# little-scale: Drum Machine Compilation

Kezziebeat writes:

"Due to a song I created just a couple of days ago, I became inspired to start this compo. I want to make a compilation of songs using only kick drums and noise. Yes, only drums. No leads, no melodies, no arps (even slutty ones). I want to see what people can create when they only have a beat to work with.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# First look at the Zoom H4N digital audio recorder

Brad Linder takes a look at the Zoom H4N, a digital pocket recorder.

I got a chance to stop by the Samson booth at CES yesterday and check out the new Zoom H4N digital audio recorder. This flash recorder is an upgraded version of the Zoom H4, but Zoom and Samson don't plan to phase out the older model. Rather, they'll now offer flash recorders in three price ranges, $199 for the Zoom H2, $249 to $299 for the Zoom H4, and $349 for the zoom H4N, which is a bit closer to being a pro audio device. The new recorder should begin shipping in February.

# Stanwood craftsman puts human touch on factory-made pianos – Darrell Fandrich is a micromaker of pianos, importing instruments from China and parts from Europe and the U.S. and rebuilding them as Fandrich & Sons pianos. A craftsman in an assembly-line world, Fandrich hopes that human touch can turn back the clock on pianos built by conveyor belt.

# Interview With Smule’s Dr. Ge Wang (Maker of iPhone Ocarina)

Mark Mosher interviews Dr. Ge Wang, CTO and Co-founder of Smule.com.

Smule are the makers of extremely popular and innovative iPhone applications such as Sonic Lighter and Ocarina. Dr. Wang is also an assistant professor at Stanford University, at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University and a BS in Computer Science from Duke University. Ge is the creator and chief architect of the ChucK audio programming language, and the founding director of the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk).

I asked a wide variety of questions in this interview – so – whether you are a musician, a developer, an iPhone user, or an entrepreneur, I hope you find this interview interesting and enlightening.

The interview is available in YouTube and mp3 formats.

# Music Thing: The end of Music Thing, for now. – I’m sure you’ve heard the news… Thanks Music Thing for all the great posts over the years.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Call for Works, Mark Your Calendar: Handmade Music, 1/15 in Brooklyn, Beyond – The regular series of DIY music tech parties continues in 2009.

Peter Kirn writes:

Handmade Music is now a monthly affair at the wonderful 3rd Ward in Brooklyn, and increasingly, I want to work on adding an online, virtual component for the rest of the world to share. That means we’ll be looking for new works to share. The setup is this: for people in-person, we’re looking for installations, short performances, or projects you’d like to show off informally, science fair-style. Projects don’t have to be completed finished – in fact, this is a great way to get feedback on something you’re working on (and we certainly welcome repeat presentations as you make more progress, especially now that we’re monthly). We also welcome visual and audiovisual projects; we’ll have a projector onsite. (You’ll need to share if you can’t bring your own projector, but we can give you at least a few minutes of projection time.)

# MIDImplant – MIDImplant is the smallest MIDI to Control Voltage (MIDI2CV) converter ever made, and it's dual channel…

# Making Simple PVC Flutes

Instructables user Jnkyrdguy shows you how to make your own PCV flutes.

This flute design is a common one on the net, and for good reason. Not only is it simple to build, it's also relatively simple to learn and rewarding to play. It only took a month of on and of playing to be relatively proficient (meaning I could get a clean sound from the first two octaves without difficulty.) The flutes are keyed instruments and only play in one scale (without more complex fingerings) which is actually a plus when just noodling around since you can't easily hit a note outside of the major scale of that flutes key.