I always liked the sounds I got while washing big steel bowls.
Trivia: the musical instrument called the Waterphone does contain water, but is named for its inventor, Richard Waters.
instrument-a-day 25: water bowl
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Category Archives: sound sculpture
instrument-a-day 24: handmade electronic noise
squeaky exercises from the pages of the book "Handmade Electronic Music" by Nic Collins.
instrument-a-day 23: mechanical synthesizer
This trick was used as far back as the 19th century to synthesize musical tones. The gears have 24, 27, 30, 32, 36, 40, 45, and 48 teeth, so the notes are all related by simple fractions – that makes this a just intonation scale rather than equal temperament.
There's plans and instructions on thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6662
instrument-a-day 22: baseball chimes
In honor of the start of spring training and in the hope that spring weather will be here soon.
instrument-a-day 20 & 21: 8-bit violin
A working violin made from maple and oak craft wood. The design is all 90 degree angles except the fingerboard. The tuning pegs are literally square pegs in round holes.
The thing's tuned two half-steps low until it gets used to the tension.
I have never played a violin, so many thanks to Bre Pettis who dusted off his 15-years-neglected fiddling skills to test-drive this violin! (Hey NYC violinists! Want to help test & demo this thing? Contact me.)
I hope to get all the designs uploaded to thingiverse soon – keep an eye on moonmilk.com if you're interested.
instrument-a-day 19: brass whistle
Yeah, I like whistles. This one's made from a brass tube and a wooden dowel from a craft store. The fipple was cut with a hacksaw, and the finger holes drilled with a drill press.
instrument-a-day 18: garbage drainpipe
Someone left a big chunk of gutter drain pipe in the garbage, and a sturdy wooden handle, just for me.
instrument-a-day 17: wooden strings & rattles
I lasercut some strips of poplar for another project, and found that the waste wood could be plucked like guitar strings. The strips make pretty good rattles too.
instrument-a-day 16: light sensor
It's just a photodiode, a 9-volt battery, and a little amplifier, but it makes the vibrations in artificial light audible. A lot of what you hear is derived from 60Hz AC power, but electronic displays have tones of their own.
instrument-a-day 15: piano scanner
Scanning a handheld magnetic pickup back and forth over the piano strings makes a pretty neat sound. I may try attaching a rail on which the pickup can slide back and forth.
The pickup is plugged into an ordinary guitar amp.
Plug: Fun with Sensors workshop this Saturday at NYC Resistor!
