In the early years of electrification, when electricity was beginning to shape the modern world, this new technology was being put to use in many more places than turning motors and providing lighting. Some things we can see as obvious missteps like electrified corsets marketed as health tonics or x-ray treatments for eye strain, but […]
The B&W Nautalis is, depending who you ask, either infamous or an icon of modern design. Want the look but don’t have a hundred grand to spare? [Every Project All at Once] has got a Nautalis-inspired design on printables you can run off for pennies. He also provides a tutorial video (embedded below) so you […]
Plenty of consumer goods, from passenger vehicles to toys to electronics, get tossed out prematurely for all kinds of reasons. Repairable damage, market trends, planned obsolescence, and bad design can all lead to an early sunset on something that might still have some useful life in it. This was certainly the case for a sound […]
For all that “should have used a 555” is a bit of a meme around here, there’s some truth to it. The humble 555 is a wonderful tool in the right hands. That’s why it’s wonderful to see this all-analog stylus synth project by EE student [DarcyJ] bringing the 555 out for the new generation. […]
An intriguing mouth-played instrument emerged—and won—at the 2023 Guthman Musical Instrument Contest hosted by Georgia Tech. [Keith Baxter] took notice and reproduced the idea for others to explore. The result is the Zen Flute Mouth Theremin, a hybrid of acoustics, electronics, and expressive performance. At its core lies a forced Helmholtz resonator, a feedback system […]
This little audiobook player is a stellar example of the learning process behind a multifaceted project blending mechanical, electrical, and software design. [Mario] designed this audiobook player, dubbed Boxie, for his 3-year-old son to replace the often-used but flawed Toniebox. The inspiration for Boxie was the Toniebox, a kid-friendly audiobook player. While functional, the Toniebox […]
Sometimes you find a commercial product that is almost, but not exactly perfect for your needs. Your choices become: hack together a DIY replacement, or hack the commercial product to do what you need. [Daniel Epperson] chose door number two when he realized his Yamaha MusicCast smart speaker was perfect for his particular use case, […]
As any Linux chat room or forum will tell you, the most powerful tool to any Linux user is a terminal emulator. Just about every program under the sun has a command line alternative, be it CAD, note taking, or web browsing. Likewise, the digital audio workstation (DAW) is the single most important tool to […]
Modern micro-controllers are absolute marvels, but it isn’t too many projects use one and nothing else. For an example of such simplicity, take a look at [oyama]’s Pi Pico MIDI looper. It uses the PicoW to interface with a synth via MIDI-BLE (which can be anything from pro equipment to an app on your smartphone). […]
Are your Eurorack modules too crowded? Sick of your patch cables making it hard to twiddle your knobs? Then you might be very interested in the new Euroknob, the knob that sports a hidden patch cable jack. Honestly, when we first saw the Euroknob demo board, we thought [Mitxela] had gone a little off the […]