Making sound (noise) machines

 by madshobye
Featured
DSC_0353.jpg
As a part of being an artist in residence at Instructables, I took it upon myself to build of couple of noise machines / music boxes. My interest lies in designing objects that would enable people to explore the world of sound synthesis and for me to get a better understanding on how the different interfaces enables different interactions and sound qualities. 

It has been an intense experience. Trying to build as many interfaces as possible within one month. I have tried to make all of them stand-out as finished, while still being hackable pieces. Everything I have done is published here on Instructables for others to experiment with.

All of the projects consists of a few basic components: An interface and sometimes a screen or a led matrix. The basis sound component is either a Gameduino or a synth based on the following instructable.

Most of these machines would have been simpler to make as software programs on a computer or even as multitouch applications on a smartphone, but I wanted to have an aesthetic criteria as a frame for my experiments: I wanted to create simple tangible interfaces that would inspire curiosity. The objects themselves should welcome the user to try out and explore their interfaces. Lastly I wanted each experiment to be self contained. Instead of them becoming interfaces for a laptop they should be the ones who created the music. 

All of the projects are remixes of earlier experiments and inspirational sources found on the internet. Therefore each project should be considered my own interpretations and evolvements of other inspirational projects. I have done my best to credit my sources in each project.

The software for each experiment is still a little crude and leaves many possibilities open for new people to experiment with. I will update the software as I go along.


I made the following machines:
 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1: Singing Plant: Make your plant sing with an arduino.

DSC_0372.jpg
DSC_0271.jpg
DSC_0263.jpg
Making a plant sing has been a trick since the Theremin was invented.  Here I am going to teach you how to do this with and Arduino board, a gameduino shield and the touch shield from my previous instructable. With the introduction of the touché frequency principle by Disney Research lab and we can now make a really stable solution that can run entirely on the Arduino platform. The Touché works on a similar principle as a normal Theremin, but does a frequency sweep instead. By hooking the touché up to the plant we can measure the capacitative interaction and convert it into sound.

You can find the Instructable here.
Wareneutron says: Oct 6, 2012. 2:17 AM
I'm tying to find the video to preview your work, but I didn't find any. Disappointed.
madshobye (author) in reply to WareneutronOct 6, 2012. 7:04 AM
I am sorry to disappoint ;)

All of the instructables have video now. I should probably have waited with publishing until I had managed to upload the videos.
Wareneutron in reply to madshobyeNov 10, 2012. 12:02 AM
ok thank you!
AJMansfield says: Oct 7, 2012. 11:43 AM
You should make some devices that you can chain together for even more awesome effects! Imagine, a box that uses another box's output to decide some sort of frequency filter for a third box output. Or a box that splits apart its input to two different outputs. Or even just one that combines two other boxes' outputs together.
madshobye (author) in reply to AJMansfieldOct 10, 2012. 2:20 AM
Jep I agree :)
nthomas12 says: Oct 8, 2012. 8:37 PM
These are beautiful little objects, love them. Do you have any audio samples of what they sound like? Thanks!!
madshobye (author) in reply to nthomas12Oct 10, 2012. 2:20 AM
Video on each individual projects. Click the links.
Lakes57 says: Oct 8, 2012. 2:22 AM
Link to the boxes?, they are great for projects!
madshobye (author) in reply to Lakes57Oct 8, 2012. 3:06 AM
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10023938&N=&Nao=100&Ntt=wood
meanpc says: Oct 7, 2012. 8:27 PM
Every now and then I'm reminded how important the packaging and presentation of a project are. These boxes are so awesome looking, I'm thinking your projects are incredible before I even know what they do. Very impressed.
inkfzz says: Oct 7, 2012. 6:58 AM
beautifully executed!
UOS says: Oct 5, 2012. 5:03 AM
Very good Instructable! Thanks! Btw, those boxes are looking amazing! :)
madshobye (author) in reply to UOSOct 7, 2012. 6:42 AM
Thanks a lot!
Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

PDF Downloads
As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format. You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.

Upgrade to Pro today!