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Even if you’re not into DIY projects, soldering is a good skill to know for musicians working with electronic music gear.
It’s learn to solder month at Make Magazine, and here are a few tutorials that they’ve tracked down that may help:
Make: Soldering Tutorial - Link
Gareth’s awesome howto PDF - Link
Howto solder - Link
Tin […]

Mekarer, who may be the MacGyver of the music world, has turned a sponge into a snare drum, using a guitar pickup and a piece of string:

Here’s his English explanation:
“I use Reaktor to translate the signal with its amplitube to snare drums. Each punch, with sound a snare drum (not the same snare all the […]

Limor Fried, creator of the very cool x0xb0x 303 DIY project, has released MIDIsense, described as “a simple, yet extensible sensor interface system for artists, musicians and others interested in experimenting with sensors.”
The MIDIsense boards provide a simple way to integrate various common sensors with existing software such as Max/MSP, Ableton Live, etc. or directly […]

via Axehole: Experimentalist Anonymous has posted a journal of building a modular synth in a month.
“During the month of January, 2006, I built an analog modular synthesizer from the ground up. At Oberlin, where I go to school, January is a time for students to work on individual projects of their choice. It has always […]

Here’s one for the benders & DIY’rs:
Highly Liquid is offering MIDISpeak Module - Version 2, a talking toy MIDI retrofit for the Speak & Spell, Speak & Read, or Speak & Math.
Features:

Adds a standard MIDI IN port to your Speak & Spell, Speak & Read, or Speak & Math. Non-English versions also supported.
Trigger thousands of […]

Electronica band SubAtomicGlue has a great step-by-step, blow-by-blow account of building and troubleshooting an x0xb0x kit. They call it the xoxl0g.
If you’re not familiar with the x0xb0x, it’s a circuit-accurate recreation of the electronics of the popular TB-303 bassline synth, with an updated sequencer and some goodies like MIDI and USB connectivity.
The blog takes you […]

Ever wish you could had a Minimoog, but don’t want to shell out the extreme dollars that new Voyagers go for, or that classic Minimoogs go for on eBay?
If you’re into synth DIY, you might consider building your own Minimoog. This site has details on a Minimoog diy project.

“After playing on many different synths and […]

Ray Wilson’s Music From Outer Space site has added a new synth DIY project, the Weird Sound Generator.
As Wilson describes it, “Whether you need weird sounds for a movie, performance art, neighbor annoyance, or you just like making weird sounds in the woods this circuit is for you. You could put this on a radio […]

Bent-Tronics is a site that carries specialty electronic parts for circuit-bending and other electronic experimentation.
Its selection is small, but it carries many items for benders that can be hard to find. Their selection includes body contacts, potentiometers, knobs, LEDs, connectors, switches and tools.
Bent-Tronics

Founder and President of PAiA Electronics John Stayton Simonton, Jr. died recently at his home in Arcadia, Oklahoma on Friday, Nov. 25 after a yearlong battle with esophageal cancer. He was 62 years old.
Simonton’s work at PAiA gave many musicians their first opportunity to work with synthesizers, guitar effects and recording equipment. Simonton created kits […]

Bent-Tronics features components specifically for instrument circuit-bending.
The site calls itself the “World’s first circuit bending store,” and carries body contacts, joysticks, knobs, LEDs, connectors, switches and tools.
“My goal is to provide one central site that offers essential supplies for fellow circuit benders,” notes the site’s owner. “I’ve spent hundreds of hours on the web tracking […]

PAiA recently announced its updated Headphone Distribution Amplifier. The HDA provides 6 channels of amplification for headphones.
Recently upgraded, this extremely useful, high-quality device allows low or line-level sources to drive up to 6 pairs of stereo headphones. 12 separate amplifiers drive any mix of headphones from 8 to 600 ohms and each headphone has its […]

When musicians and do it yourself electronics mix, the results can be amazing, surprising, and even downright disturbing! PAiA has been supplying electronic kits for musicians for years, and musicians have been doing freaky things with the kits for just as long. PAiA recently added an online hall of fame that showcases some of the […]

If you’re interested in building analog synthesizers, this is a great place to look. Music from Outer Space has a large collection of DIY synth projects, including oscillators, filters, amplifiers, noise sources, envelope generators, even sequencers.
Music from Outer Space is the home of Ray Wilson, his band ADHD Boy, and his collection of DIY synthesizer […]

This site has circuits and other resources for synth diy enthusiasts. In addition, it is the home of the virtual 909!
The Synth-Builder’s Online Resource is a labor of love of Chris List, a programmer, synth builder and electronic music fan. Resources at the site include:

Circuits & Other Resources

Java Potentiometer Graph Applet

Links to more Synth-DIY Info

Pictures […]