The Haxophone is an open source MIDI saxophone project that has achieved some popularity. It’s caught the attention of [Shieladixon] not because she is a saxophonist but because she plays the recorder and is dissatisfied with existing MIDI recorder peripherals. She’s set about modifying the device to produce the Haxocorder, a better MIDI recorder. The […]
The guitarist Jimi Hendrix had a unique sound which has influenced countless musicians over the decades. He achieved it through mastery not only of his instrument, but of the complex feedback relationship between amplifier, environment, and guitar — coupled with a series of effects pedals including some then-unique ones made for him. Musical commentators have […]
The Yamaha DX7 is one of the most iconic synthesizers that emerged in the early 1980s, and is still very popular today. That said, with even the newest of these having left the factory back in 1989, the average DX7 can use a bit of tender love and care. In particular the battered DX7 that […]
When you’re livestreaming, it can be tempting to fire off all kinds of wacky sound effects like you’re a morning radio DJ back in the heady days of 1995. If that’s who you want to be, you might like this soundboard project from [Biker Glen]. The build is based around an RP2040 microcontroller. It’s paired […]
[James]’ Mechanical Organ of Dutch origin has been around longer than he has, but thanks to being rebuilt over the years and lovingly cared for, it delivers its unique performances just as well as it did back in the day. Even better, we’re treated to a good look at how it works. The organ produces […]
If you purchased an E-mu Audity 2000 ROMpler back in 1998, you almost certainly got a rig with the 1.00 firmware. It was fine, if a little limited, particularly where upgradability was concerned. E-mu would later offer firmware upgrades over MIDI with the 2.00 firmware, but to get the 2.00 firmware, you needed to ship the […]
The Colmi R02 is one of the cheapest smart rings on the market. It costs about $20, and is remarkably easy to hack. [Floyd Steinberg] took advantage of this to turn it into a rather unique MIDI controller. What makes the Colmi R02 somewhat unique is that the manufacturer did not try to lock out […]
The Roland SP-404 Mk2 is a popular groovebox that can deliver a great beat if you know how to use it. If you’re seeking greater control than is available out of the box, though, you might like to try a custom pedal built by [Romain Dereu]. The concept is simple enough—[Romain] whipped up a bespoke […]
We live in a golden age for MIDI controllers. [rheslip]’s contribution to the milieu is a twisty take on the format, in that it’s covered in an array of knobs. Thus the name—Twisty 2. The controller can be built using the Raspberry Pi Pico or Pico 2. It’s set up to read a 4×4 array […]
You can hear sound, of course, but what if you could see it with a laser? That’s what [Goosetopherson] thought about, and thus a new project that you can see in the video below was born. The heart of the project is an I2S chip and an ESP32. Sound energy deforms a plastic film that […]