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Beginner electronics projects for musicians?
Does anyone have a suggestion for a starter kit or a good way to start playing with some electronics?
Eventually I'd like to be able to midi-retrofit some old keyboards, build a theremin, a synth, etc, but I feel like a need a starter kit to get... started. Also may be a fun project to do with my kids....
Comments
Have a look at the littleBits synth kit, now distributed by Korg: http://littlebits.cc/kits/synth-kit Your kids might like it a lot. A bit expensive product though
Also, some companies are selling more serious DIY synth kits: https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/2ywgms/lets_make_a_megathread_for_diy_synth_kits/
On the way-easy side of the spectrum, there's Korg little bits
http://www.amazon.com/littleBits-Electronics-650-0124-Synth-Kit/dp/B00G99BZ4Q
Great for kids! Also snap circuit (though not musical)
What about a moog werkstatt?
http://www.amazon.com/Moog-Werkstatt-01-Analog-Synthesizer-Kit/dp/B00V5BP2H4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440947980&sr=8-1&keywords=moog+werkstatt
You might also try arduino.
checkout http://www.highlyliquid.com/
Finally, check out Electronics Projects For Musicians
https://www.msu.edu/~dougl126/Electronic Projects for Musicians.pdf
Check out kits from http://www.bareconductive.com/shop
You can create a fun MIDI controller for the iPad too...
Very fun and educational
It kinda depends on how deep or high level you want....+1 for ardiuino. Do a search for "Adafruit midi". Great company and great YouTube channel. Their midi glove or capacitive touch sensors (I.e.banana piano) both would be great starter projects. You can also get "Midi Shields" for the ardiuino on eBay if you don't what to do the soldering and connections. Check out Adafruit' ARDX kit for a good starter kit for the arduino.
In addition the Raspberry Pi is also great for midi and synths and your able to program in Python and interface to the real world. There are PI hats which are "shields" for the raspberry Pi. Check out Adafruit for this, too. There was even a keyboard hat recently introduced.
Other options are Parallax with their Propeller or basic stamp. Vern Graner did something similar with the basic stamp a robot group http://www.thereping.com
And check out Tindie for kits... Specifically, Hotchk155's Store. Really fun and useful MIDI kits...
Personally, I'd recommend starting with the arduino and getting a midi shield.
Other kits:
http://www.miditool.com/tools.html
http://www.paia.com
So many great ideas in this thread already...
Yep, the Raspberry Pi is awesome. It can run Pure Data and even SuperCollider. One day I'm gonna turn my cheap midi keyboard into a programmable synth using the RPi
Another alternative is http://patchblocks.com If you're more into programming than electronics, like me, you may find it really interesting.
http://midibox.org/
How about the Soulsby miniAtmegatron? Would that be out of my league as a total noob?
http://soulsbysynths.bigcartel.com/product/miniatmegatron
@gburks
Not familiar with that, but the big question...do you know how to solder?
Also not seeing any code or sketches....how does it work w the arduino?
If you don't know how to solder you may want to practice on some perfboards and resistors and watch some you tube videos before starting on the main project. Make sure you have / understand the arduino set up, too.
There are many kits available to start with the electronics. But please specify that at what level you want to start and also which kind of DIY kits you want.
Because also many types of DIY of application based kits are available.
printed circuit assembly
Synthrotek's passive ring modulator is a breeze to assemble and provides a great deal of fun.
There's a book by Craig Anderton with the same title as this thread. Lots of simple interesting projects.
This is by far the biggest influence on me as a device and pedal maker. So well written, easily evolves with your learning curve and is inspiring as well.
Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking https://www.amazon.com/dp/0415998735/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_B9SdwbDZXEQCY
Crazy and super useful stuff to make too. Get it! I have most of the other books on this topic, but Collins book is the best by far.
Some of the devices inspired by the dog-eared pages of my copy on the device page of my site: http://www.coloringpad.org
Wow, that looks amazing. Not cheap though! I've added it to my wishlist. Do you guys need to know hen my birthday is?
Would you like the Hardcover or Paperback edition?
I'm an electronics technician (6 years now) and I used to repair synthesizers for a living (MARS Amp Repair, Denver Colorado *now defunct). Repairing synths was probably my best experience to learn what I needed to know about synthesizers and audio hardware in general. I spent a lot of time studying schematics of many different instruments in order to determine a problem and even came up solutions to unsolved problems with various keyboards by doing so (nord electro power problems, Roland D-50 key release issues, Restoring a Yamaha CS-80 *holy hell).
I think the best thing you can do is make sure you have a good set of test and soldering equipment. DMM, Oscilloscope, Variable benchtop DC power supply, Solder re-working station (heat gun), breadboard, good lighting, and a workbench for it.
During the 1980's crossover from analog to digital a ton of synths had analog guts with digital control. Some fun projects are 1980's Korg synths (Poly 61, Poly 800, Akai AX series etc...). These will need some repairs usually and digging in to figure out whats wrong will teach a ton of things. Once you have them up and running you can start pulling out analog controls from the circuits. Using your oscilloscope you can make changes on the digital control panel and poke around to see where those changes are happening. If you tap into the circuit you can install potentiometers and turn these analog/digital synths into full blown analog. Great learning experience there as you begin to understand what different parts of the circuits are doing.
Get service manuals and study the schematics. It looks very complex but if you look up data sheets for any particular IC on the board you'll see that a lot of the components are really just a premade design suggestion from the manufacturer of the IC. You'll learn a lot about their designs and what types of IC's are used for different purposes.
After that you can start to do things like create basic oscillator designs on your breadboard. Moving to filters, envelopes, etc... Don't re-invent the wheel. There are many designs for various parts of the circuits out there and freely available. You can experiment with component values and experiment to make it your own.
Basic things to learn/build/ and other info:
• Ohms Law (relationship between Voltage, Current, and Resistance) This is the fundamental of all electronics, you can't change one without affecting another.
• Soldering, practice on some garbage electronics. Just remove components and put them back on. See what you can do without damaging too much before moving on to your real project. Also get a good variable temperature soldering iron and small tips. Don't buy it from Radio Shack, those are garbage.
• Capacitors, Resistors, Diodes, Transistors, inductors, and IC's(usually an integrated combination of the previous components on a smaller scale). This is almost all of the components of electronics, know what these do and you'll be able to figure anything out.
• Build an audio tracer. Take a lead from a Digital multimeter, one of the pointy ones. Cut an RCA cable apart and solder one side to the lead, the other to an alligator clip. You attach the alligator clip to a ground on the circuit board and plug the RCA ends into a powered speaker. You can then poke around on the circuit and "hear" where the audio is happening on the circuit. It's great for troubleshooting and circuit bending/modifications.
Try modifying/repairing existing designs first. This will help you learn about other peoples circuits and how to use them for yourself.
If all else fails but you really like doing this, go to school for electronics
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask, this is something I have knowledge about and I like to help when I can. I'm not really open to just doing it for you though, I barely have enough time for my own projects.
Good luck, this is a great skill to have which will open up many doors for you.
Good book, definitely gets you into hacking what's readily available around you.
Start with something very simple like a distortion or something and work your way up ...
http://www.musikding.de/Das-Plus-Distortion-Bausatz
Discchord just posted this... Looks cool. Do you think the midi hack would be out of my league for a newb? http://discchord.com/blog/2015/8/31/miniatmegatron-diy-synth.html
Discchord recently posted a video on the Soulsby miniAtmegatron DIY Synth built on top of a midi-hacked Arduino UNO. Would I be out of my league to try this as a total noob?
http://discchord.com/blog/2015/8/31/miniatmegatron-diy-synth.html
Start with something very simple like a distortion or something and work your way up ...
http://www.musikding.de/Das-Plus-Distortion-Bausatz
Discchord just posted this... Looks cool. Do you think the midi hack would be out of my league for a newb? http://discchord.com/blog/2015/8/31/miniatmegatron-diy-synth.html
Discchord recently posted a video on the Soulsby miniAtmegatron DIY Synth built on top of a midi-hacked Arduino UNO. Would I be out of my league to try this as a total noob?
http://discchord.com/blog/2015/8/31/miniatmegatron-diy-synth.html