Synthstick

A few years ago, while digging around the web to find plans for simple instruments, I found plans for a VHS ribbon controlled circuit called the Synthstick. I was intrigued, but I had no idea which end of soldering iron was which.

By a blind stroke of luck I went to see my friend Michael Trommer perform at Interaccess, a gallery which promotes the use of technology in art and culture. It turned out that they were running an Introduction to Electronics workshop that weekend. I quickly signed up and learned, among other things, the wonders of the breadboard. From that workshop, I learned how to make a blinking LED circuit, and a bit about telling capacitors from resistors.

Armed with this new knowledge, I began putting together my own synthstick. Here is a picture of the circuit on the breadboard:

I did make the stick, which was a big challenge as I learned the authors weren't kidding when they said that not all VHS tape is conductive! I fried the circuit when I tried to solder it up and haven't been back to fix it.

But I had caught the bug! My next project would be the Music From Outer Space Weird Sound Generator. You can see the stripboard layout lurking under the breadboard in the picture above.

More to come...

Altoids Mini Slide Guitar

Part response to a challenge, part joke. This is the super portable laptop version. One paint stick, one string, one wine cork cut in two. I'll have to dig it up and take its picture.

Altoids Tin Slide Guitar

A gentleman from the Ottawa valley (whose name I have forgotten, unfortunately) was selling these at craft show near Kingston. The sound was amazing!

I was inspired to give it a try. I salvaged a piece of pine from my father's scrap bin, a piece of cherry from my brother-in-law, and we all ate Altoids that weekend. Some wood had to be removed from the headstock to accommodate the tuning keys, requiring some patient chiseling with a little wood-print set I picked up in Japan. I used real Telecaster ferrules to mount the strings. An extravagant expense, but I learned a new word and it was interesting figuring out how to install them.

This little guy really sings.

Cedar Kalimba

I am a bit of a pack rat. Much to my wife's chagrin, I can't bring myself to throw anything away. You never know when it might come in handy to have around. Like the scrap cedar left over from building the fence in the backyard, for instance. Why not make another Kalimba? This time, I used an aluminum bar for the bridge.

Thumb Piano

Here is the thumb piano, or kalimba. I found the plans on Dennis Havlena's website, complete with lengths to cut the tines, so that you can tune the kalimba. It was a fun challenge making the box. Little did I know, however, it would lead me down the slippery slope of home-made instrument making only to land smack dab in the world of DIY electronics. But more on that later.