Remix the washing machine drummer and win Ableton Live
August 6, 2010 – 12:05 pm | 102 Comments

OK, I was just so infatuated with the washing machine drums video, that it would be criminal not to remix those drums into a song.
So we’re going to have a remix contest! Ableton has …

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Articles in Strange and Weird

DIY mind-controlled synth
September 3, 2010 – 10:36 am | No Comment
DIY mind-controlled synth

Robert Schneider is the singer for the indie rock band “The Apples in Stereo“, hailing from Denver, Colorado. Not happy with trying to play synthesizers with and actual keyboard, Robert modified a Mattel Mindflex(The …

Washing machine drum machine
August 6, 2010 – 11:14 am | 2 Comments
Washing machine drum machine

“Shoes in the dryer” is one of the best ways to describe a beat that is going off-kilter, or the sound of a DJ who just can’t seem to get two songs beatmatched. That …

Hipdisk – the world’s most undignified musical instrument
July 7, 2010 – 7:49 am | No Comment
Hipdisk – the world’s most undignified musical instrument

The hipDisk was conceived and developed during Craft Australia’s three-week summer residential lab focused on wearable technology. The idea is that the hipDisk is meant to be a “a wearable interface that extends …

Velosynth: the hackable, open-source… bicycle synth?
June 24, 2010 – 9:52 pm | 4 Comments
Velosynth: the hackable, open-source… bicycle synth?

I’m not sure entirely what to make of this, but it sure got my attention. Velosynth is a DIY kit for “an open-source bicycle interaction synthesizer” that attaches to your bike, playing sounds interactively.
Made …

Robot DJ’s set to take over the world
June 18, 2010 – 1:08 pm | No Comment
Robot DJ’s set to take over the world

Robots have never exactly been thought of as the grooviest types, but the “Juke Bot” is really trying hard to change that image.

The Juke Bot is a pair of Kuka industrial robots – each one …

Steam-powered synthesizer
May 19, 2010 – 3:23 pm | One Comment
Steam-powered synthesizer

One of the last things that I would think of to be steam powered would be any sort of electronic device, let alone a synthesizer. Well Lorin Parker and Sarah Seelig, whom we …

The Machine: DIY Instrument Made From Scavenged Car Horns
May 18, 2010 – 11:03 am | 5 Comments
The Machine: DIY Instrument Made From Scavenged Car Horns

Llyn Foulkes is an artist and music from Los Angeles who likes to do things a bit differently. His website says:
LLyn Foulkes has been called the Zelig of contemporary art. Over the past five …

Synthesizer cakes, take 2
May 17, 2010 – 2:46 pm | 2 Comments
Synthesizer cakes, take 2

Since it’s SynthGear’s birthday, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate with some cake, and revisit one of my favorite subjects, synth cake!
Around a year ago, one of our first articles was on some …

Nude bodies as a musical instrument
April 25, 2010 – 8:45 pm | No Comment
Nude bodies as a musical instrument

Cocky Eek’s Tactile Research Lab has created an art-installation-meets-musical-instrument-meets-organic-weirdness. Called the “Get in Touch” exhibit, it invites the public to create sounds by touching the backs of nude people in an effort to help …

Fine collection of curious sound objects
April 21, 2010 – 4:42 pm | No Comment
Fine collection of curious sound objects

Georg Reil is a musician and artist from Deggendorf, Germany. He’s put together this video of a collection of very curious sound objects.
At first sight, each one seems quite trivial, but exhibits exceptional and …