Announcing a workshop taught with my 1976 Phototheremin kit, although I won’t be in attendance.

HANDMADE MUSIC
Culturefix, 9 Clinton St., New York, NY 10002
Sunday, August 29
Workshop 4-6p
Event 7-9:30p
Hosted by createdigitalmusic.com with Etsy.com, Make Magazine, and XLR8R Magazine

4pm – 6pm
WORKSHOP: Make your own Photo-Theremin (Beginner-friendly!)
$10 (includes parts)
Never soldered before? Dozed off in Physics class when they were explaining electricity? Here’s your second chance. Create a noise-making two-transistor synthesizer of your very own, controlled by modulating light. Based on an original circuit by electronics legend Forrest M. Mims III, the man who de-mystified electronics in books for Radio Shack and others, and adapted by designer Eric Archer for Handmade Music Austin, this simple circuit is the perfect introduction to making sound with electricity. It’s quick to assemble, but lots of fun. Learn basic soldering, then make your own kit. And be sure to come back in the evening with your creation to join the world’s first known Photo-Theremin Chorus.

You must pre-register for this event.
Registrations close August 20! (Parts are being fabricated in advance!)
http://phototheremin.eventbrite.com/

7pm – 9:30 pm
HANDMADE MUSIC – Open Party
FREE

Meet and mingle with inventors, musicians, and artists. Discover chip and mobile music played live wirelessly at the bar by New York’s Pulsewave community. Hear music and sound made with free software on Android mobile phones. Check out open sound inventions in the gallery and surprise performances hosted by createdigitalmusic.com, DIY musical crafts from Etsy.com, the latest inventions and kits from Make Magazine, and a world-exclusive debut performance of a new, hackable synthesizer called the MeeBlip.

Special guest: Drone Lab creator and renowned synth designer, artist, circuit bender, and musician Pete Edwards of Casperelectronics

Full lineup will be announced, but unplanned guests tend to appear.

You can now find Bodytronix tracks on my SoundCloud .  We’re playing Friday July 2nd at the ND @ 501 Studios.  Come have fun with us, Pong, and Woodgrain.

Handmade Music Austin #9 (nine already!?) is coming up on Sunday afternoon July 11th at the usual location, Salvage Vanguard Theatre in Austin TX.  I came up with a new basic level project called 1976 Phototheremin.  Here’s a demo:

The original circuit is by Forrest Mims III, from the book OPTOELECTRONIC PROJECTS vol 1.  I fell in love with this circuit when I saw it, because it is ultra-minimal.  It has only seven components including the battery and speaker.  Its real transistor magic.  The active circuit is just two transistors, a capacitor, and photocell.  I’ve crossed my fingers that the PCBs will get here in time for the workshop.

I’ve also been experimenting with voltage-controlled oscillators.  In particular the 4069 CMOS VCO of René Schmitz.  I got rid of the PWM section and built two VCOs from one CD4069.  The temperature compensation method deserves some re-working however, because Schmitz’s design requires one tempco resistor per CV input.  It would more efficient to use one tempco per VCO.  So I am consulting some of the other VCO designs I see, including a nice one by Ian Fritz that you can see here.

In order to appreciate the subtleties of temperature compensation, the VCO must be tuned accurately.  This can be a chore so I imagined a circuit to make it easier.  It is just a voltage sequencer that outputs stairstep waveforms with 1.00V intervals.  This makes the VCO play descending octave intervals, and its easiest to hear if it is tuned accurately.  Here’s more information, and a demo.

RDS mod

 drum solo pt 2

Bodytronix has two upcoming shows in Brooklyn.  Catch our Bent Fest appearance on Saturday, then dig the Huitlacoche Circuit Brunch on Sunday afternoon.

Hit me up + say hey if you know where the actions at!

Sat. 4/24 BENT FESTIVAL 2010

Bodytronix is scheduled for 10:30PM on Saturday night.  I’m teaching a Handmade Music Austin workshop on Saturday afternoon at Bent Festival as well.  I’ll be there with Dann Green from 4ms Pedals to teach 3 beginner PCB projects for fun minimal synthesizers: mini space rockers, picopaso (bleep labs), and simsam (4ms pedals).  Register here!

Sun. 4/25 HUITLACOCHE CIRCUIT BRUNCH @ SILENT BARN

A Bent Fest spillover event on Sunday afternoon, with performances by Pixelform, Dr. Rek, Casper Electronics, Judi Chicago, and Bodytronix… curated by Kunal from Loud Objects

Bent Festival 2010 is official!  April 22-24th, NYC, venue TBA.  I’m looking forward to checking out everybody else’s stuff, and hopefully I get to see everybody again that I met last time.   I missed out on some good performances last time b/c I spent too much time on the roof looking at the Manhattan skyline.  So this year I resolve to stay inside the venue as much as possible.

I’ll be performing with E-Squared, and teaching DIY electronic music workshops based on the projects we’ve developed for Handmade Music Austin.  That means me, Erich Ragsdale, Dr. Bleep, and Dann Green will be there.  And possibly more Austinites as well.

In the mean time, I’d like to book more performances and workshops while I’m out on the road.   Especially in NYC since we plan to stay for about a week.  And if you have any advice on good places between Texas and New York, let me know.  Maybe further north, even Montreal?

Here’s a photo from last year of E-Squared stuff, with Die Schrauber in front.  maybe this year we can decide to bring less crap?

heres to a very analog 2010.

Handmade Music Austin #3

Sunday, December 20 ‘09

4PM – 5:30 – Beginner’s Workshop
6PM – 8 -Upper Division instrument building class
8:30 – ? Jam and featured performance

Salvage Vanguard Theatre
2803 Manor Road
Austin, Texas 78722

Snare is synthesized with Andromeda Mk-1 damped sine wave + Mk-2 filtered noise burst. The damped sine waves simulate the top head of the snare, and the Mk-2 simulates the bottom drum head and snare wires. The sharp percussion sound is from an experimental all-transistor circuit, on the left. Its triggered by a prototype 2-button loop sequencer using PIC 16F684, code by Wooster Audio.

Its a cluster of four interactive electronic music stations where you can play with Andromeda Space Rockers, the Autonomous Bassline Generator, and MIDI-IR. Each station has 4 space rockers, a mixer, four flexible LEDs from our friends at Bleep Labs, and MIDI-IR to keep everybody in sync.

Here’s video from Handmade Music Austin #2. It was awesome meeting everybody who participated.

HMA3 is coming soon. This time we’ll be building mini space rockers (intro) and Andromeda Mk-4 analog bass drums (advanced).

12 x ASR mini analog drum machines

In other related news, Nathan Wooster designed a PCB for his MIDI-to-IR sync converter, which lets a computer or MIDI sequencer be the master clock for all of these things.

The 4MS Autonomous Bassline Generator is now available as a kit from 4ms Pedals.  We’ll be teaching 20 people how to build them at the Handmade Music Austin workshop #2 on Nov. 15th.

In December, we’ll introduce the Nebulophone synth kit from Bleep Labs.

Thanks to everybody who came out to Cherrywood to hear my set last night.  It was cool meeting new DIY/electro people and seeing old friends.  The set didnt get recorded, but here’s a track pieced together from rehearsal tapes.

rehearsal oct 2009

I like to build something new for every gig.  This show I added a 10×10 drum trigger routing matrix.  I found this killer switch matrix at the Black Hole of Los Alamos (r.i.p. Ed Grothus).  That means it was probably originally purchased by Los Alamos National Labs for nuclear weapons research… death rock indeed.

Here’s whats coming up…

THURSDAY OCT 15: Dorkbot 21 @ Cafe Mundi

Arthropod Space Wreckers live demo!!

Location: Cafe Mundi 1704 E 5th St.
Thurs. Oct 15th 2009
7:30-9:00pm

SUNDAY OCT 18: Handmade Music Austin workshop #1

I’m teaching class on how to build your own Andromeda Space Rockers mini-drum machine.  Expert instructors from Bleep Labs and 4ms Pedals will be there too.  Registration is closed for October but there are six more monthly workshops planned so you can still get in.  And the performances (8:30 - ?) are free to attend so c’mon down.

Salvage Vanguard Theater
2803 Manor Rd
Austin, TX

4PM - 5:30 beginner’s workshop
6PM – 8 instrument building class
8:30 – ? DIY music performance

A performance by featured artists Static Storm System will close out the event.

Church of the Friendly Ghost presents Handmade Music Austin.An exciting series of DIY electronic music workshops, with expert instructors from Bleep Labs, 4MS Pedals, and Eric Archer.SYNTHS AND DRUM MACHINES?

In a friendly workshop setting, we’ll present a newly-designed series of miniature electronic instruments, called Andromeda Space Rockers.  No bigger than a credit card, these projects are designed for DIY’ers like you. They can be built in a couple of hours to make a working drum machine, bass generator, or micro-synthesizer. These fun little instruments love to jam together, and they do it by forming a wireless network to keep the rhythm! They react to the environment as well… for example, the drum machines‘ filter, pitch, and envelope are controlled with light-reactive photocells.

Each workshop will feature a different instrument.
The full series of kits will be available online as well (to be announced soon).

BEGINNERS ARE WELCOME TOO

Basic classes are offered for beginners free of charge, where you can learn to solder by building mini space rockers.

Or you can skip straight to the ‘Upper Division’ and build one of the Andromeda Space Rockers instruments. Soldering equipment will be provided. To participate in the Upper Division classes you should be familiar with assembling printed circuit boards. An understanding of electronics theory is not required; just patience, hand-eye coordination, and enthusiasm for DIY music.

OPEN JAM AT EVERY WORKSHOP

Of course, there will be an open jam / performance once the instruments are built.  We encourage you to bring some pedals and a small amp to plug in your new synth or drum machine and participate in an exciting musical experiment. Huh? Since the Andromeda Space Rockers communicate with each other using infrared wireless, they keep the rhythm automatically - the space will be filled with synchronized sound as you tweak the tones and control the arrangement.

Performances are free to attend.

CLASS SCHEDULE

All workshops are on Sundays.

4PM - 5:30 Beginner’s Workshop
6PM - 8 Upper Division instrument building class
8:30 - ? Open Jam and featured performance

CLASS DATES

2009

October 18
November 15 (coincides with East Austin Studio Tour)
December 20

2010

January 17
February 28
March 14
April 18

LOCATION

Salvage Vanguard Theatre
2803 Manor Rd
Austin, TX

HOW TO REGISTER

Beginner’s Workshop is free.  Upper Division registration is $45 and includes materials.  We’re accepting workshop preregistration for Oct 18th and Nov 15th.   The first 2 workshops are filling up quickly!

REGISTER VIA EMAIL :  churchofthefriendlyghost (@) gmail (.) com