Prometheus/Pandora's Box

Some of you monkeys out there think you can PWN me. You need to be Spanked.
Here is an obfuscated ultraminimalized Monolith for you.
It is enlightening and harmless, except to the devil, who really hates it, because I'm letting you have it (for "free").

You're curious. So Make it, if you have tools.

Step 1 GET PARTS

This is easy.
You need:
-a PIC12C508 or 509 or anything compatible or be able to translate to what you have.
-an assembler and burner for your PIC
-a 78L05 voltage regulator which looks like a small transistor
-a dead 9 volt battery to rip the plus and minus terminals out of
-a new alkaline 9 volts battery
-some 20-ish gauge wire...
-a really stupid antenna which may be made out of the wire and hangers and aluminum foil,
so pretend to pretend you don't know a thing about making an antenna and make something that looks like one.
-A shortwave radio. A guitar amp will also be interesting, but definitely find the radio first.
-The CODE i am giving you to put in the PIC.

sorry this was too easy to make so I show the parts all together. You don't need the blue ship light.

If you don't have the right PIC, recoding just involves choosing different registers and a different port.

Comments

[DramBuoy]

Please don't shoot me but I have to say, making an analogue regarding the sum of all sounds/knowledge/effects. The start of a book which no one understands which has done more for war than hate begins this way.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

please don't change the subject to religion but I find it an interesting resonance

perhaps the lost arc might have similar properties?

[daemonzx66]

nevermind that. I got it working. I hooked it up to a real antenna. I have never been more mystified by anything so simple. It seems like after a certain number of times through the loop that parts of the pattern get "flattened" and its almost like the pattern starts to fall apart for a split second but then it starts up again with a different order of notes. I can only compare this effect to the act of muting strings on a guitar while playing. Is there any notable difference in the output when using an external oscillator? I was just wondering because it seems like the chip's internal osc is limited in its range and I also wonder if that is what causes the flattening or if that is just part of the design. I am very grateful that you shared this instructable as otherwise I never would have known such things were possible.

[VIRON]

By changing the oscillator frequency you probably could tune the chip for better musical note pitch. (If "flatness" meant out of tune) But it affects the radio frequencies very much more than the sound. Also: When tones get very low, they do tick and pop and fade out. It's not by design, nor by mistake, it just happens in the pattern.

[afridave]

gooday excuse my ignorance but i found this and the links very interesting even though i have no idea what this thing is or what it does and have no intention or tools or ability to attempt to build it.
AM i correct in assuming that you have created a type of program that works in a type of repeating sequence into infinity and would or could eventually play every piece of music ever written or ever capable of bieng written?

[daemonzx66]

Yes, by flatness I meant to say out of tune. I had a feeling that it was just a part of the pattern but I wasn't sure. The very fact that a device like this exists, or that it even CAN exist, makes my head spin just to think about. The pattern gets progressively more complex as it goes along, but am I right in thinking that it almost ebbs and flows? It reaches a certain level of complexity and produces a "verse" of polyrhythmic tones in a quite complex form and then will produce another "verse" that is almost "typical" and doesn't stand out, much like some of the early tone combinations. However, it then builds up again, almost like a microcosm of the whole process. But regardless of that, it just keeps chugging along relentlessly, becoming more complicated, as if trying to communicate a message of overall evolution but short term regression along the way. It's funny how the term "intergalacic radio" seems to fit so well. Listening to the sounds, I often imagine that this is some sort of radio broadcast originating from the beginning of time and that it has always been running. Every time I listen to it for an extended period of time it makes me feel like I have always been listening to it and that such a pattern constructing itself is "completely natural." It is also one of those tunes that gets stuck in your head, and I find myself continuing to imagine the sounds it produces even after its been turned off. This isn't bad in any way, actually its almost reassuring, but its just something I thought noteworthy.

[Shadow13!]

I don't know if this is possible but if it is someone should make this and hook it up to a computer and create a website so that even people who don't understand or have the material to make this could stream it over the web.

[LkArio]

Samples hear?

[Nicepolicy16]

Is there a Monolith on Mars ? Take a look at this Instructable :

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-Astronauts-will-Travel-To-Mars/

[Nicepolicy16]

Apes and Monkeys will be the First to reach Mars, but not able to get home .

[travace]

seems to me that this is a big technological project design for a formidable mind. i however fail to comprehend your technological speak and have forgo this project to someone more capable then i. never the less i applauded your machine and you for designing it. i am an expert on the human mind and its comprehension. you my friend are a very intelligent individual and have surpassed most of my colleagues in your thinking. my hat is off to you my friend!

[Pwag]

My head hurts, wtf is this and why did it come up in a search for guitar amp?

[Deeder]

Perhaps you should use the device while on acid to better comprehend it

[socrateez]

I don't have the materials to build this, but i briefly scanned your sites. Very interesting science. Could one in theory recreate or create Genome sequences then? Is this the equivalent of a room full of monkeys attempting to pound out Shakespeare's works on typewriters? Only you've found a minimum number of monkeys required to do so?

[Father Christmas]

"...a room full of monkeys attempting to pound out Shakespeare's works on typewriters?" You must have been in one of my classes to say that.

[Yerboogieman]

is there a way to add a a microphone or anything?

[ScubaSteve]

I have a 50 foot TV areal bt my house. if i hooked it up to that it would be AWESOME!

[Fleder]

can anyone please tell me something what the hell is this thing

[daemonzx66]

well, this does seem like a very interesting device indeed. I've gathered up all the parts needed to make it, although this is my first time using any PIC to speak of. I'm a little confused as to compatibility between certain burners and certain assemblers. Also wondering if I will need a compiler as well or if that's even different from an assembler. I have looked around and there seems to be vast amounts of information on the subject of PIC programming, so much that its hard to process all at once. I have a MCU programmer that's supposed to be 12Cxxx compatible but have not been able to get it working with any freeware PIC assemblers that I've found. Any help would be great, as I would love to find out the capabilities of this thing. (note: this may make a difference or may not, but the burner has a 6-pin rj-11 jack and i'm attempting to access it through a serial adapter)

[Daax]

A few questions: (1) Does the tempo ever change? (2)If such a device were used to posses "the sum of all sounds", how in the world would it ever be efficient to "dial in" or access known music, as discussed elsewhere? Even if one created a divice that would take a song and find it within such an endless source of sound, would it ever be better than analogue? I mean it's all still digital right? The technology is not my field, but the concept is intrigueing. I am, however, still skeptical.

[VIRON]

1.The number strongly suggested in "predictive digital music synthesizer", a closely related instructable, if played, the tempo slows down as the apparent count gets higher order of magnitude. 2a.There are indexing and extracting and spigoting functions, conversion of the indexes to polynomials, power-towers, the nCr (combinatoric) function, and functions that index a unary plane such as Ulam's spiral, and other useful methods. 2b.This is an integer arithmetic system which is completely digital, even streaming raw PCM or PWM data by the bit into a speaker. Can digital ever be better than analogue? Perhaps subjectively, but not theoretically. Digital sound is inherently lossy. Quantization and Compression are losses. The nCr function mentioned above determines the positions of all the 1's (and 0's) in a "file" (binary integer) of any size n, and number of 1's equals r, with an index of the desired combination.

[Daax]

Ok. So it could never play anything rubato. Nor could it play anything with set tempo changes within the song. Is that right? Is it safe to say that in its eternal cycle, one would never hear a song with minor tempo imperfections and some really hip feedback at the beginning? Please tell me if I'm wrong. If I understand (the result is the only thing I really get, I think), this thing would eventually play something that sounded like Row Row Row Your Boat played on a MIDI board if you waited long enough. However, one could also just locate where it would play the song by locating it within the function (via the methods you mentioned that are beyond my understanding in this field)? But no Pay to C*m by Bad Brains at this point (Or might there be?). Still seems inefficient for such use. It feels like carving a house out of a giant block of wood (locating the house's shape within the wood first), instead of just building it. No matter what, I say you should sell the device to Radiohead to use on one of their albums. The thing sounds awesome.

[VIRON]

Although the circuits or code may be extremely minimalized, they can be extended in such a way so that they generate anything that can be stored as a sound file (even other kinds of files). I would describe the technological concept as being capable of generating any particular song in any particular voice in any possible language as if performed with any imaginable level of musical proficiency. Carving a house out of a giant block of wood or stone is possible and practical, and I've seen such houses before. The wooden one was carved out of a sequoia tree. The stone one is called Petra.

[Daax]

That's pretty cool. I figured (and hoped) that such were the case. After all, thats what infinate things do (produce all possibilites). Infinate sound is the concept, and the only limitation is the physical aspect (right?). As for the houses: good point. Bad analogy on my part I guess.

[Daax]

*still skeptical as to the hopefulness of using it in such a way, that is. Sounds beautiful though.

[random squigles]

So if one wiped off all finger prints and tied it to several large helium balloons with a long magnet wire antenna and then let go outside it would... Hmmm chaos perhaps.

[dentsinger]

This sounds right up my alley.

[themasterpyro]

what the hell is this thing supposed to do??? 0_o

[mortaldoom780]

What IS this??

[VIRON]

It appears that all of my demo files have been removed. I assume that the files "expired" since I do have and did create the originals.

[VIRON]

For some reason this page is not allowing me to upload a PIC-less equivalent function schematic here now.

[VIRON]

Here it is. On sequel page 10.
No-program Logic chip equivalent circuit.

[VIRON]

now a sequel
Pandora's Music Box #2

[janesbigdream]

After reading all of this, I still don't get what this is. I don't understand most of it... and after the list of things you'll need I feel really dumb. But I know these things aren't beyond me, I've just got to learn... and I am willing to learn. So, can you reference a book or an explaination.

[VIRON]

This (device in this instructable) is a unique invention.
The only existing similar or relevant science reference that I'm aware of is:
A NEW KIND OF SCIENCE
The author independently decided to use it to make music out of nothing.
This instructable is about making a simple version of my music maker.
more info:
Val Smith predicts Wolfram Tones
The All-Music-Set Player
The anomalies associated with this instructable is that since it is
generating endless "musical sound" using both sharp monopolar pulses
and a fractal as it's data source, the RFI field of the chip has a number of
dimensions which is a fraction.

For something similarly interesting, look at calcul8.txt and follow the
instructions in my Comments on this instructable:
How to get free music: see calculator comment
A similar number is already wrapped in a wav on the All Music Set page.

[VIRON]

One more:
FREE:The Sum Of All Human Knowledge

[Jsanges]

Ok if you put a volt meter one way on a circut you get regular space time type reading.... you flip the terminals and you get a negative value ... have you found a way to pull in radiowaves from random space time , or just time for that matter>? like possible hearing a radio talk show about the condon report .. that would be pretty hot if this thing could tune in to negative space time and mabe atteunate it to past or present? crazy stuff... IM lovin it and if im compleetly wrong sorry it just jumped out at me

[godbacon]

can it be hooked up with an IR LED so I can scan.. like on a universal remote?

[VIRON]

To make everything go totally out of control? I haven't tried it , but if I changed the program a little bit, it definitely would do that like crazy!

[dogsrcool2me]

Does anyone know of a cheap pic programer to buy/make for this project?

[VIRON]

Jack, I like your "definition" of digital broadcasting! You don't seem to be "High" now. Rotor, certain numbers can be "spigoted", meaning that you can get any digit at any time without storing the other digits in memory. That's why the recording takes up 2 megabytes but the algorithm generates massively more data with only 20 bytes.