Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Make Magazine September 2nd, 2010 - Have you ever seen those sweet custom-molded earphones and actually looked up how much it costs to have them molded, on top of the price of earphones themselves? I don't doubt that they're worth the price, but I certainly can't afford them. I do, however, have a pair of old Shure generic in ear monitors (IEM) that are in need of new sleeves. Make Magazine has a tutorial on how to roll your own out ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Mike Senese July 29th, 2010 - Sure you can pirate audio, but you can never pirate the soul and grit of vinyl. Or can you? Check out this DIY tutorial on making a playable copy of a vinyl record. The process involves making a silicone mold of the original vinyl record, then applying a liquid plastic to the negative. Once you drill out a hole in the middle, you're good to go. I would mix this tutorial with the one on ... Read More

Photo courtesy of ssp July 18th, 2010 - When Motu Released their Moto BPM software, a small contingent of fans were disappointed that Motu didn't also release a hardware interface that mirrored the software's computer-generated eye candy. An even smaller contingent went out and did something about it...well one person really. User ssp on the MotuNation forum created his own using the MIDIbox platform. From the layout, to the silk-screened graphics, the attention to detail is amazing. The Moto BPM software is a ... Read More

July 7th, 2010 - Peter Cocteau over at nxtasy.org has posted the software he created for a sample-based drum machine hacked into a Lego Mindstorm NXT unit. Using the NXT brain and some rotary dials, you can program some pretty nice sounding drums. I'm pretty impressed by the sound quality from such a supposedly lo-fi device. Check out the link below for more information and to download the code. I might have to get a Mindstorm kit just to make this thing! nxtasy.org ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Ikea Hacker July 4th, 2010 - With Ikea's wide variety of products and comparatively affordable prices, it's no wonder that their products are ripe for the "hacking". Ikea Hacker has a tutorial for making your own speaker stand out of a table leg, and a shelf. I like the idea of using the leg for threading the cables through, but I'm not sure about the benefits of the shelf as the base. If you look at serious audiophile speakers, they usually ... Read More

Photo courtesy of Derek K. Miller June 26th, 2010 - Have you ever walked into a music store to buy guitar or microphone cables and been taken aback by the pricing on cables? What makes them so expensive? I think it's probably the time and care needed to properly solder connections more than the materials. So if you have some time on your hands, you can make your own high quality cables and save a tonne of cash. AudioTuts has a great primer ... Read More

Photo courtesy of tnl June 14th, 2010 - If you have a set of earphones whose cord always seems to get tangled, you ought to take a look at this paracord sleeve mod. Basically, you will end up feeding your earphone wire through the core of the paracord, and use it as a sort of super sleeve. Not only will the cord be thicker, thereby reducing the chances of tangles, but it will also resist bending which can cause breaks in the delicate ... Read More

Photo courtesy of BobsDogHouse June 13th, 2010 - I've always been fascinated by thumb pianos. Probably because they sound so earthy, and they're so simple. When I pluck away at one, it's hard not to smile. If you've ever handled one, their construction is fairly simple, so why not make your own? Instructables user BobsDogHouse has written a DIY article on building one and the end result looks very polished. DIY Thumb Piano Read More

Photo courtesy of mistic June 6th, 2010 - User mistic on Instructables has posted a tutorial on creating a "mini-piano". Well it's actually more of a mini-harpsichord since the strings are plucked rather than struck. It's a pretty cool idea, and while it may not look so great, I'm sure you can get some pretty nifty sounds out of it. There's a video on the Instructable site that you can watch if you're a registered user (sign up is free), so you can ... Read More

Photo by Joseph Levy May 23rd, 2010 - Speaker cable prices can run the gamut from a few dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. While the listening experience may not necessarily be reflected in the price, good quality cables can make a difference. Of course, you don't have to pay big dollars for a good quality cable if you make them yourself. Joseph Levy has put together a tutorial on how to make your own speaker cables out of silver wire. It ... Read More