Audio Visual Art....FOTC Style

This instructable is based on one I previously posted, Speaker Art and was made for my wife and as a tribute to the best folk parody duo, The Flight of the Conchords. If you have never heard of FOTC, please check them out below. I will show you how to integrate lighting and music into a personal painting. The theme is up to you, but I hope you enjoy this tutorial, and maybe become a fan of the Conchords, enjoy.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Speaker-Art/

http://www.myspace.com/conchords

Step 1 Tools and Materials

The tools and materials for this instructable are straight forward, and you can improvise and substitute where needed.

Materials:

Deep Canvas
Paint (acrylic, oil, water, etc) I used acrylic
Variety of brushes
MP3 Player
Slim portable speakers (I got mine for $10)
Coat hanger
PVA and Hot Glue
Electrical wire
LED(I used 5mm blue)
Resistors
On/Off Switch
Power Supply (9v Battery)
4 small srews

Tools

Utility Knife
Pliers
Wire Cutters
Soldering Iron
Solder
Screwdriver
Ruler
A little artistic talent and patience

Comments

[mayan guitarist]

is there any way to make templates without photoshop

[UberNoober]

Look into some photoshop alternatives. GIMP is completely free and very similar to PS, but it's in French. Paint.NET is a program that's not nearly as powerful, but also free and has every function you'll need for this.

[rattyrain]

Well, there are some free programs out there such as Acorn (I think it's only for Mac OSX), or you could try the Pirate Bay.

[kathrynmichelle]

I made this last December. I bought my LEDs on Ebay. like Christmas lights. So I just wrapped them around the inside of the canvas a few times. It worked pretty well.

I left out the music part though, just ran out of time.

[roobz]

Hey was inspired by yours, a friend having a bday soon, so thought i would share my attempt!! my mate loves the blues brothers so here goes......!!

[roobz]

[julpwel]

HEy! I sent a comment earlier but I can't see it posted....soooo TAKE 2!
I think your project is really awesome! Im a FOTC fan so im totally gonna make one for myself! I was wondering if you could send the pic you used (the photoshoped one)!??! It would be awesome!
THanks a lot!

[julpwel]

WoW!! This is just great! Im a big fan of FOTC and Im totally gonna make one for myself! But please! Can you send the picture that you used? The photoshoped one? That would be awesome!!! Please!?!

[KahlZun]

That is a -nice- effect!

[samanella]

this is awesome! I'm going to try making it for my brother as a Christmas present

[Pythous]

"Just gets into this ridiculous Russian doll situation"

[106058]

wow, that looks awesome. well doe.
i really like it

[neverknowingwhy]

flight of the conchords are the 4th best folk parody duo lol

[UOS]

 Love it! Gonna make for my livingroom ASAP! :)

[dickiejoe]

you could also use the rubber screw in feet as well that way the walldoesnt get tore up if someone were to bump in to it

[mach594]

im also pretty much finished with my painting. it took about 2 weeks for me go figure haha. great instructable! mine is a painting of kanye west

[DEKAY_007]

man this is a awesome Instructable......2 thumbs up to u.....i got really inspired so i am making one for a friend of mine will post pictures soon

[homedogalex]

I cant believe how good your cradle is, i am having so much trouble with it and so far it looks like it has been run over or something its so wonky!

[scooter76]

Do you have a vice? I just bent it around the vice with a pair of pliers.

[homedogalex]

Pretty much finished my painting, took a lot longer than 2 hours though, more like a whole day whilst watching countless films! If you cant tell its Mohammed Ali vs Joe Frasier

[scooter76]

Dude, this rocks. freak'n sweet. well done

[homedogalex]

Cheers man, im just waiting on my speakers and leds to arrive. Also, where on earth can i find electrical wire? I live in the UK so theres no radioshack for me to go to, so my easiest option is online. What should i be searching for. And last thing, would it be possible to solder in lots of different colour leds and making them slowly change between the colours?

[scooter76]

Hey, I'm in the uk as well. If I am making large orders, I use Maplin.co.uk for parts, and the wire they sell is really cheap., I do salvage as much as I can, as its free. All the LED's in this project were from little flashlights people had thrown away. Colour changing LEDS would be cool, and I thought of this, but with the blue/black and white colouring of the painting, I stuck with just the blue LED's. I have never really wired colour changing LEDs, but there are instructable on how to do it. Also, ebay is great for large orders of LEDs. Good Luck

[homedogalex]

with electrical wire, what max amps would i need for like a average use.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=6197 is 3A enough, or do i need something more like this

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=9910

[scooter76]

3A will be enough for this project. The large the core the lest resistance. So if you are buying more thicker core is better, but for LED and simmilar projects this will be fine.

[kristina_fatale]

oh man i got inspired. i wan thinking about doing a piece like this but with the humans are dead.

[scooter76]

Thanks, Post some pics when you are done. 00010011001100001110000

[BoxOfAshes]

Wow, it's beautiful!

[defenestr8or]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/defenestr8or/3575737875/in/photostream/

I loved this so much I used part of your pic as an inspiration for this clock for my friend's birthday. Thanks!

[barry_allen7]

This is so cool! I love FOTC! This is my friends favorite song. Maybe I'll make him one. Nice job and keep it up!

[topherishel]

does anybody know how to make a lasagna? for one!!!!

[Clayton H.]

FOTC's rocks! Right now I'm trying to score a Casio DG-20 Electric Guitar. ^{set to electric mandolin, some drums, Yeah.}

_{If confused with last sentence plese check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT5AQIlmM0I}

[arias]

That's my favorite part of the song =))
Wish Bret uses his Casio DG 20 Electric Guitar more often though :D

[Clayton H.]

BOOM, BOOM! I'm The Boom King!

[arias]

"There's a little bit of dust in my eye that's from the path that you made when you said your goodbye. I'm not weeping cause you won't be here to hold my hand, for your information there's an inflammation in my tear gland."

One of my favorite FotC songs and great work! When I have enough money, I'll make one... I just don't know what to paint =))

[darinlwebb]

This is awesome, I'd really like to do something like this, but I have some questions. What I want is a black acrylic on white canvas, like yours, with backlighting to tint the blank canvas. How would I get a more even color distribution throughout the canvas? I don't want speakers, or the spacers to make a glow, just backlighting. The foil idea might work, but I'm terribly newbish, so any suggestions would be great!

[Kcole93]

Here is my rendition, a valentine's day gift for my girlfriend

[cklehe]

Nice! Are you going to put some Leds... Red ones will really scream valentine!

[Kcole93]

Thanks! Yeah I put three red led's in the back but they aren't bright enough to capture in a picture. Also i've added a "Sansa Slotmusic player" which I found at best buy for $30 and $14 for a "slot music cd" which is preloaded with an album. I've added a paylist which essentially chronicles our relationship using songs we listened to at certain times. All that is left is finding some small but loud speakers!

[cklehe]

I am sure she's going to love it! For speakers i am quite happy with some basic ipod foldable speaker that i found for around 20$. As when they unfold they are quite flat and straight. They stand perfectly on the bottom frame of the painting and deliver a clear sound. You'll see the result is pretty cool as you don't see where the sound is coming from; it really looks like the whole painting is a speaker.