Urban Cricket 2

The Urban Cricket 2 is a solar powered sound generator built on low-end, analog electronics and produces sounds like a cricket. I developed Urban Crickets to practice Sound Tossing with it. Sound Tossing is an alternative type of street art that uses sound as a medium of creative expression in a public space. As the streets belong to the people, the intention is to appeal to anyone who wants to shape their acoustic space.

As tiny sound generator we use an Integrated Circuit (IC) called “Hex Schmitt Trigger Type 74HC14” which was never intended for making sound. It consists of six identical inverters and with two of them we will build one simple oscillator by using 1 resistor, 1 capacitor, 1 diode (optional), 1 solar cell and 1 piezo speaker.

It is a very cheap, loud and simple project that can be made in about 30 minutes.

Step 1 Tools and Parts

Tools

Soldering Equipment
Wire Cutter
Drill Machine
Cutter
Double-sided sticky-tape
Wire-ties

Parts

A 1 x CMOS IC SN 74 HC 14 N DIP
B 1 x Capacitor 10 uF
C 1 x Resistor 1k or 10k Ohm
D 1 x Diode BAT 43 (optional)
E 1 x Solar Cell 4,5 V / 35mA (or use an old garden light panel)
F 1x Piezo Speaker (PIEZO-SUMMER KPI-G2313L-6260) or similar
G 1 x Wires
H 2 x old mini Speaker Cases, for Piezo Speaker and Circuit

Costs ~$5.00

Comments

[RetroPlayer]

All this guerilla art is likely to do is cause laws to be made to jail and fine people vandalizing and harassing the public. And no...you do not own the streets. We have a government, which we the people created and fund to manage our streets to protect us from obnoxious, self-centered, self-interested people like these guerilla artists.

Sorry, but I would be one of those people saying 'send him to jail.' You have a right to express yourself and say whatever you want, but that doesn't mean there will not be consequences.

This idea is simply obnoxious. It's not art when you force it upon me. It's harassment.

[snotty]

Yeah! It's true there's a whole army of crickets by my house. They really should go to jail, damn insects.

Frogs too.

[Supabuild111]

I couldn't agree more

[djbarista]

haters gonna hate,

[R.A.T.M]

+2

[srilyk]

Just don't use these in Boston... ;)

[Dude567]

Sorry to ask what is likely obvious but why?

[srilyk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare

Boston isn't exactly the most descriminating city. But then again, this doesn't have a lite brite attached so maybe they'll ignore it

[teknojo]

This is an interesting concept. I would have liked to read your July 25th reply in your first post. The idea of this being implemented in response to those area noise deterrents for people under a certain age is cool. The idea of this being deployed randomly, not so cool. Art for the sake of annoyance without a purpose is just annoyance.

I must also agree that in the current state of the world rigging one of these is dangerous for you. Please remember in Boston where Turner Broadcasting put out weird little electronic devices that people thought were bombs.

[soundfiti]

Thanks! I'm really careful by choosing Sound Tossing locations.

I didn't know about this curious incident in Boston.
Wiki says "It is not known why the devices took police several weeks to notice, nor why the devices were believed to be dangerous."

[teknojo]

The fact that they were identified as potential explosive devices is still considered by many, including myself, as somewhat silly.

But the average person on the street is likely to be excitable, particularly when it comes to things like weird looking/sounding electronics.

It would suck if your act of peaceful social protest landed you in a cell for a night and or a large bill for city services including bomb disposal.

Still a nifty device. Good luck with it!

[sdcharle]

Nice, I like this one better than v1. Cost is a bit lower and it's simpler.

[soundfiti]

Thanks!
Yes, and it's easy to change frequencies by using different capacitors, resistors and piezo-speakers. Good luck!

[londobali]

Nice job!!!
i'll try to make it if i can find the parts in this part of the world...

and some funny comments you've been collecting there.. lol..

nothing that small and simple will cause an alarm, who would be terrified at a simple speaker making chripping noise??
and if i understand correctly, it's far from annoying, cricket sound would be a lovely ambiance sound.. rather than hearing other peoples' thoughts... :)

keep posting man!

[soundfiti]

Thanks!

I'm really afraid that this safety paranoia will spill over to Europe.

you got it! Crickets are good luck!

[tjesse]

Put it in a pair of shoes. Although, wind chimes would be more acceptable to the public if you wanted sound art. But I know nothing about art I just like commenting on stuff.

[soundfiti]

Good idea! But I'll stick to my speaker objects... everyone should know it's about sound.

[Arsaces]

I am not understanding the point of the project. I am a person who is pretty observant when I go walking around, I listen to everything, and if I were to hear something like that on the streets it would do nothing but annoy me and make me want to leave.

[soundfiti]

The idea is to develop an alternative type of street art that uses sound as a medium of creative expression in a public space.

[hodavame]

I really like the idea!!
But we need a circuit to produce a softer sound, like cricket 1 with fewer components. This cricket 2 sounds like an alarm, and many people can be scary.

[soundfiti]

Thanks!
I´ll experiment with different capacitors, resistors and piezo-speaker to produce a softer sound.... people will love it!

[crapier]

I noticed that they have a 'be nice' comment policy so I'll try to 'be nice' while still figuring out why anyone would think something like this is constructive or useful in anyway:
So is the idea to start a conversation?
A conversation with who?
What does one hope to achieve with this conversation?
Wouldn't it make more sense to start a conversation with the people deploying the mosquito devices?
Or, alternative, making people aware of which locations are using them and encouraging people not to patronize these places?
Are you really trying to start a conversation or are you just doing something you think is 'neat' and trying to pass it off as 'art' in order to steal some sort of validity and post facto justification for doing this?
What are your real goals and reasons for this? Explaining this in English as opposed to artist statement-ese would be helpful.

[soundfiti]

So is the idea to start a conversation?
The idea is to develop an alternative type of street art that uses sound as a medium of creative expression in a public space.

Wouldn't it make more sense to start a conversation with the people deploying the mosquito devices?
The mosquito sound system was just an example how sound is used to oppress people.

Are you really trying to start a conversation or are you just doing something you think is 'neat' and trying to pass it off as 'art' in order to steal some sort of validity and post facto justification for doing this?
I think developing and sharing audio devices like the urban cricket is a good start to question the use of sound in urban space. Sound Tossing is not a careful consideration but subtly provocation.

Sorry for my bad english.... if you want we can switch to german.

[DavidKaine]

Congrats on your fairly well made, well documented instructable. However, I agree with the majority of other commenters that the solution to unwanted urban noise is not to add yet another noisemaking device to the mix. If it played a bit of classical music occasionally, that would be one thing, but a device that does nothing other than, as I understand it, chirp like a smoke detector with a bad battery (universally agreed upon as one of the most irritating sounds in the known universe) is downright acoustically malicious.

I also disagree with your statement that the streets belong to the people - the streets belong to the municipalities that spent the money to build them for our convenience and spend money (our money!) to keep them maintained, clean, and free of debris (silent or otherwise) strewn about. The areas surrounding the streets also belong to the people or businesses who purchased the property. I'm pretty sure that a cafe with outdoor seating would be pretty unhappy with a noisemaking device like this sitting where it can disturb, discomfort and drive away paying customers.

[dguerin hanlon]

i thought this was for playing a game of cricket

[agis68]

yeah me too and I confused....lol

[Damascene]

The thing about guerilla art is that the creator must also accept that it may well be destroyed. In fact, its destruction at the hands of the public or the authorities is intrinsic to its nature and does not devalue it. It's why I get so angry when councils decide to protect street art they deem to be valuable. All art like this is essentially transgressive and that's a good thing.

[soundfiti]

That's a good point!

[Damascene]

Thanks!

I like the idea actually, but I can also see why lots of people would find it annoying and definitely NOT art. But so long as it's not dangerous or seriously annoying (near someone's bedroom or something) I don't think that really matters. It's not going to last long anyway....the batteries will run out, the cops will remove it, or someone will lob a shoe at it.

What would be much worse is if you got really famous and people started selling their houses at a premium with a "genuine soundfiti work" When that happens (I'm thinking of Banksy here) it's all over!

[zurkuhlenm]

i think as soon as someone steps up and says it's not art, it begins a discussion and a reaction to the piece which instantly makes it art.

the street artist JR has a good Ted Talk, and (i'm paraphrasing) he tells this story: he was in a slum in Africa somewhere and was pasting his pictures. A crowd formed and newcomers would be informed by people who had been standing there what was going on. One man walked up and said 'what is this? this isn't art. they're just people's eyes. i don't think this is art.' to which a man standing next to him said 'since you've been standing here, what have you been thinking about? not the food you don't have. not the lack of water here. you've been thinking about this man and his work. and that is art'

i love art. and i think what makes it so appealing is that behind all art was a definite series of actions carried out by another person. Nature is beautiful but art is the outpouring of natural human creativity that binds us.

[duggerpato]

lol. There is an emergency light that lost its power at the store, and it beeps incessantly like this. I quit going to the store, it's been beeping for like 2 weeks! Absolute torture.

[soundfiti]

go to the store! Talk to the shop assistant if you feel annoyed...

[mu_humpy02]

Who does one talk to about the noisy cricket noise come from the overhead wires.

[soundfiti]

You can talk to everyone and start a discussion about noise pollution. And now you are talking to me. But as already mentioned in our discussion, most people even don’t notice this small device and its chirps.

“I hear a lot of cars and honking, better then my neighborhood full of the sound of shots and screaming. You must not live in a city. Adding sound to a city street is like using a flashlight at noon, only those who know what you're doing will really notice it. “Crabby 9. April 2011

And it is really not made to annoy your neighbors!
Look…these are alarming tendencies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito

[duggerpato]

Fair enough. I'm not trying to anger or offend you, I just thought the idea to be amusing because it reminded me of that local store near me.

Carry on, eccentric one :)

[Kiteman]

(Watches news feeds for reports of suspicious devices causing terrorism panics.)

[soundfiti]

Let me know if you find something about devices hanging from overhead wires!

[ironorr84]

Shoes can be easily identified, and therefore the general public won't be in panic if a tied up pair of shoes are strung over wires. However, a strange looking device emanating weird noises? That's going to get a different reaction.

Plus, it's a pretty dangerous and stupid act of entangling anything on overhead wires. I know your picture shows it on a pole, but the way this device is built suggests that it be flung and caught on anything overhead, including the wires off telephone poles. I just hope to God that when and if someone flings this device and catches the power line, they don't get hurt and the power outrage isn't for long for the surrounding area.

IMO, this isn't art either...it's an irritant. The noises this device is only capable of producing would be obnoxious at best. You insult true artist in their own media by calling this art.

[shantinath1000]

while I agree with much of what you say (including that the noise is is irritating) I would like to point out that one man's art is another mans irritant! I would most certainly not want that thing hanging outside my window! While art can take many forms -not all of which I like- I find this work problematic in that the people subjected to the noise are not being subjected to it by THEIR choice but rather having it forced on them. This (for me) crosses the line from art to noise pollution. Having said that, I would like to add that this a very clever use of the IC chip.

[soundfiti]

Well, thanks for the constructive criticism! I'll keep your inspiring comments in mind.
Let introduce some new terms: "Street Art" "Sound Art" "Guerilla Art"
and yes, I studied fine art!