Making music electronically, cheaply

[cdev]

I wanted to start a thread for people to post music making ideas, experiments, and anything related. A long time ago I had a bunch of piezo discs and had a lot of fun times attaching them to objects and using that as the audio input to an audio amp, because they make really sensitive sound pickups. You can make stringed instruments also. Its amazing the high quality of the sound you can get from miking almost any musical instrument directly like that.

More recently Ive been thinking about buying one of the many low cost all in one cheap midi controllers. Basically they provide a bunch of control surfaces you can use with various kinds of DAW and music making programs. Just to have something musical to do when I want to take a break from typing.

Anyway, curious about what kinds of sounds others have had fun with. It doesn't need to be serious, just fun.

[Synthtech]

I run a vintage synthesizer restoration workshop so I work on music electronics all day. I am amazed at the proliferation of boards and kits out there at low prices for everything from bleep boxes to chromatically scaleable oscillators and filters. It’s currently the golden age of electronic music for affordable gear and vast support for DIY electronic music, you can build stuff at every level starting from building a few 555’s into a little cardboard box with hand drawn control markings to make a couple of audio frequency best oscillators with an LFO and from there the sky is the limit, you can build anything into whatever enclosure or panel that takes your fancy.

Custom IC’s are cheap and plentiful now, digital delay chips for a couple of dollars, Curtis VCO’s for 20 bucks, SSM filter clones, you name it. If you are a tinkerer you can get dual rail power supply boards or kits off eBay for next to nothing and off you go.

[alienozi]

Greetings cdev,
I am not a music expert but, I think lots of sounds may be helpful...
Combine them in a console and you've got something like a synthesizer-kraftwerk device. I think you should make circuits separately that are connected to single audio out.

• Sine-Square-Triangular-Sawtooth Generator
• Random noise maker (White noise)
• A beat maker (like a drumish sound)
• An Atari punk console
• Bunch of SFX Circuits (Motocross, Machinegun etc.)

Please update us on your setup!

[cdev]

I just looove stuff like that.. 

I was sort of restraining myself for a long time because, well, my sweetie, (embarrassment she would not want to listen) neighbors, friends, embarrassment at being less than a beginner, etc. but now we both have decided to go for it. so, I suppose, let the (fun) begin!

[Synthtech]

I just looove stuff like that.. 

I was sort of restraining myself for a long time because, well, sweetie, neighbors, friends, embarrassment at being less than a beginner, etc. but now we both have decided to go for it. so, I suppose, let the embarrassment begin!

If you want to get into building electronic music machines I cannot recommend this book more highly. The second half of it takes you through all of the op-amps and CMOS IC’s that you already know and love and shows you specific electronic music circuits using them. This book is gold for the electronic music hobbyist. So sad that the author Ray Wilson passed away. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16144497-make


And, as a recording engineer, touring tech and synth programmer, repairer and restorer I just have to say this, (and I don’t want to insult anyone but I have lived the music industry all my life and have worked on thousands of concerts around the world) the very best thing that anyone into electronic music can invest their first $500.00 into is music lessons and theory study.

Being that this is the golden age of the modular synthesizer (who would have thought!) I see people with massive modular systems that they obsessively build larger and larger and all that they do with them is to make rhythmic bleeps and post them on YouTube. The modular synthesizer has become the train set of the 21st century. They get bigger and bigger for their own sake.

The most fun, satisfying and rewarding way to do electronic music is to get one synth, a basket of guitar pedals and any kind of audio recorder and just start laying up tracks layer by layer and if you have some keyboard skills this is all you need. I might get flamed for this but I know that learning your scales and modes and timing is the best electronic music investment that you will ever make. If you take the time to learn some keyboard skills then you can take a simple mono-synth, borrow a flanger pedal from your guitarist friend and start shredding and you will have a ball.

[cdev]

I think I had looked through this book while getting coffee at a local bookstore a year or so ago.. I always check out the Make stuff..

...and wanted to get it but didn't, anyway, I just ordered it..

I just looove stuff like that.. 

I was sort of restraining myself for a long time because, well, sweetie, neighbors, friends, embarrassment at being less than a beginner, etc. but now we both have decided to go for it. so, I suppose, let the embarrassment begin!

If you want to get into building electronic music machines I cannot recommend this book more highly. The second half of it takes you through all of the op-amps and CMOS IC’s that you already know and love and shows you specific electronic music circuits using them. This book is gold for the electronic music hobbyist. So sad that the author Ray Wilson passed away. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16144497-make


And, as a recording engineer, touring tech and synth programmer, repairer and restorer I just have to say this, (and I don’t want to insult anyone but I have lived the music industry all my life and have worked on thousands of concerts around the world) the very best thing that anyone into electronic music can invest their first $500.00 into is music lessons and theory study.

Being that this is the golden age of the modular synthesizer (who would have thought!) I see people with massive modular systems that they obsessively build larger and larger and all that they do with them is to make rhythmic bleeps and post them on YouTube. The modular synthesizer has become the train set of the 21st century. They get bigger and bigger for their own sake.

The most fun, satisfying and rewarding way to do electronic music is to get one synth, a basket of guitar pedals and any kind of audio recorder and just start laying up tracks layer by layer and if you have some keyboard skills this is all you need. I might get flamed for this but I know that learning your scales and modes and timing is the best electronic music investment that you will ever make. If you take the time to learn some keyboard skills then you can take a simple mono-synth, borrow a flanger pedal from your guitarist friend and start shredding and you will have a ball.

There are some newish, very inexpensive keyboards which incorporate things like drum pads, rotary encoders, user configurable switches, transport-like controls, pitch benders.. blinking lights (i.e. indicators) and so on.. Most of them come with some factory supplied software but usually for other platforms than the Linux OS I usually use, but some of them look nice and are well under $100. I'm thinking about getting one of them if I can find one used, and cheap.

[Synthtech]

CDEV you won't regret ordering that book, it's really good and if you already know electronics then the little synth circuits in the second half using the LM13700 and other op-amps are a piece of cake and the chapter on electronic music circuit uses for the 4013s, 4001s. 4042s, 4094s, 4011s and so on are a lot of fun.

[Synthtech]

And for a cheap but high-end Mac and PC recording DAW check out Reaper - it's light weight and the demo version is fully functional an never expires but it's worth paying the modest fee for it to support the developers.

https://www.reaper.fm