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Machine Collective has announced a public beta of its new modular music controllers:
The picture above shows our final prototypes. We made the sides from thin laser-cut acrylic so it’s easy to see if everything fits. The side panels of the final prototyping modules will be made from a high tech aluminum sandwich material which is [...]

littleBits is an open source library of discrete electronic components pre-assembled in tiny circuit boards, designed to make experimenting with electronics easy and fun.
Just as Legos allow you to create complex structures with very little engineering knowledge, littleBits are simple, intuitive, space-sensitive blocks that make prototyping with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets [...]

Gijs Gieskes’ image scanning sequencer scans images and plays the image as MIDI notes:
It uses LDRs to measure the gray-scale of specific point of a image, and triggers midi notes from a selected threshold. When the threshold is reached the velocity will be set by the darkness at that point. the darker point the higher [...]

A video guide to building your own dj controller from scratch using a few simple tools.
via djtechtools.co

Julien Bayle’s site features an interesting work in progress looking at building a Monome clone. Even more interesting, his project features multi-color LEDs.
It’s a heavy duty project, requiring coding, wiring and design skills. But if you can’t wait for a Monome or just don’t have the bucks, it could be the way to go.

A collage of impressions from the recent Synth-DIY meeting in Cambridge/UK, focusing on the DIY aspects.

Synth DIY supplier The Bride Chamber has introduced a variety of new products:

Nine new modular synth panels, including designs for Oakley Triple LFO, Oakley VC-LFO, the Wogglebug and more
PCBs - YuSynth CV Standards boards and kits.
EMS-style knobs

Bride Chamber is turning into a great resource, offering supplies for building CatGirl, Music From Outer Space, Tellun Corp, [...]

Sonofcastille has published a set of videos demonstrating beautiful steampunk-style synths and noise generators.
Here are a few of the coolest:
WSG

This is Ray Wilson’s Weird Sound Generator circuit off of musicfromouterspace.com, plus audio amp scavenged out of a Radio Shack amp. The case was an old telephone from the 70s.