May, 2008 archive

BeatMachine – Amateur is a DIY project that uses a webcam and a computer to turn a sheet of paper and some bottle caps into a drum machine. 
This is totally MacGiver – but you gotta love it, too. Unfortunately, the creator’s site is in Polish. If you can read it, give us the run down in [...]

This strange music instrument is the Andes 25F – a flute keyboard!
It looks like a variation on the Suzuki Melodion. If you’ve got any info on this beast, let me know in the comments!
via SynthZoom

Nice video from MusicMik that looks at the mechanics of building a DIY synthesizer. This video includes segments culled from 6 hours of synth construction. 

Let’s get this out of the way up front:
The Tablo, a new multitouch keyboard/drum controller integrating displacement and pressure, just doesn’t look as cool as other new music controllers, like the Tenori-On or even the MultiWind. 
In fact, it makes you look like you’re pitching a tent, instead of pitching a tune. 
Get beyond that, though, and you’ve [...]

Multiverse is a collection of psytrance tracks from Israel’s Atomic Pulse, aka Tamir Ozana. 
It’s a dual CD collection that’s made to order for fans of psychedelic trance. The first CD is Atomic Pulse’s take on tracks by Infected Mushroom, Skazi, Astrix, Protoculture, Fatali, Shanti, G.B.U and Pop Stream. Atomic Pulse’s production is first rate, and the [...]

Tony Amendolare at ElectroKraft has introduced Super Synth Drums – an NES cartridge that runs the machine into a drum synth.
Super Synth Drums is a genuine Nintendo NES cartridge that transforms your original NES, or clone system (Yobo, Generation Nex) into an 8 bit percussion instrument. Just plug the cartridge into your Nintendo NES system [...]

72RK specializes in awesome 8-Bit style mini videos for bands like New Order, Richie Hawtin, Portishead and event The Ramones.

DJ Ruthless Ramsey rocks the decks
Somebody forgot to tell Ramsey that decks means “turntable” in DJ lingo, though!
You can see more of Ramsey at his MySpace page. 
via Califaudio

OT: Alexander “Sandy” Courage, who composed the theme for Star Trek in the 1960s, has died. He was 88.
Courage, who had been in declining health since 2005, died May 15 at an assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, said his step-daughter, Renata Pompelli.
After launching his 54-yearcareer as a composer for CBS Radio in 1946, Courage became [...]

The Atari Punk Capsule is a fun synth DIY project that to make a synth, or at least an electronic sound generator, into a pill bottle. 
See also Worth Ekik’s other DIY projects.