If you've read any of this blog recently then it won't have escaped your attention that I've recently built a lo-fi electronic instrument of sorts. I posted some photos earlier, and also promised to put some samples up.
I always try to deliver, so here is a recording made just after arriving home this evening:
The Cosmophone Demo
Recorded on 13 July 2007
At: 5:30 pm
Format: 192kbps mp3
Size: 10.7mb
Duration: 7:23
Alternative bit-rates available here.
To stream the recording, left-click on the associated 'play' icon - you may need to wait a couple of seconds before playback.
To download the recording, right-click on the title, and select either Save link as or Save target as depending on the browser you are using.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Building the Cosmophone
Last night I finally completed the building of my lo-fi electronic instrument! It took a lot longer than I hoped, but the feeling of satisfaction was immense.
I had a rough idea of what it was going to sound like, but was (pleasantly) surprised at how glitchy and noisy it has turned out! I suspect this to be down to my fairly idiosyncratic soldering, and the inclusion of a 'power-starve' control. I was conscious of having misjudged some of the wire lengths when working out where to position each pair of switch and pot, but it turns out that one group(mixed by diodes) of three oscillators are fairly haphazard in their control anyway, which (for me) negates the issue of having two switches aligned with the wrong pot.
In the absence of a decent drill, I used my girlfriend's Dremel tool to machine the housing case. This was difficult as I had chosen to use very small switches with a casing that had a good 6/7mm thickness. I got around it with a bit of haphazard drilling which has mostly been covered by the mounting nuts (is that what they are called?).
Anyway... here are some photos of the instrument at various stages
of building. I will make some audio clips available shortly!
I had a rough idea of what it was going to sound like, but was (pleasantly) surprised at how glitchy and noisy it has turned out! I suspect this to be down to my fairly idiosyncratic soldering, and the inclusion of a 'power-starve' control. I was conscious of having misjudged some of the wire lengths when working out where to position each pair of switch and pot, but it turns out that one group(mixed by diodes) of three oscillators are fairly haphazard in their control anyway, which (for me) negates the issue of having two switches aligned with the wrong pot.
In the absence of a decent drill, I used my girlfriend's Dremel tool to machine the housing case. This was difficult as I had chosen to use very small switches with a casing that had a good 6/7mm thickness. I got around it with a bit of haphazard drilling which has mostly been covered by the mounting nuts (is that what they are called?).
Anyway... here are some photos of the instrument at various stages
of building. I will make some audio clips available shortly!
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