DIY: MusicFromOuterSpace.com

Now THAT is very, very cool!

The design for the Sound Lab looks like you can plug just about anything into it. Perfect for the CV output from an EPro...

That just might be my next project - after mastering the theremin... :P

I agree. I especially enjoyed the creative cases people made for them. These things definitely need theremin controllers :)

I was thinking about making one with a ribbon controller.

I have an old cello with a cracked neck that would make a great case for it. Kind of like a theremin cello type of thing.


Has anyone done one with two or three ribbon controllers on the neck?

If you build that, I [i]must[/i] get a chance to play it! :)

You'd have to find some really thin ribbon controllers, or perhaps find a way to make them out of wires instead of wide ribbons. The theremin cellos Leon Theremin built used an ingenious technique... He had a coil embedded in the neck. Pushing down on the ribbon would press a metal strip onto the coil and complete the circuit. The entire neck was basically a big variable inductor.

I wouldn't hold my breath but it is something I would like to try.

The first step would be to put together the DIY synth.

Putting it into the cello body would not be hard at all, considering you don't need to worry about the sound of the instrument. You would be free to cut a few holes into it.

I have seen some stuff about ribbon controllers but I don't think they are thin enough.

It would be cool to have at least two on the neck. Maybe one could be for pitch and the other(s) could be for filtering or oscilating.

The Yamaha CS 60 synth from the 70's had a great ribbon controller. The first place the player touched become the zero point and then you just slid your finger up or down from there.

That would be the kind of thing you would need for the second and third ribbons on this thing. That way you could play a note and then slide up or down to change some other charcteristic.

Alesis (I think) used to sell a 3-ft long MIDI ribbon. Maybe you could find one of those on eBay some time and just replace the neck with it.

I will look for it.

With any luck I will actually get motivated enough to put it all together. I am not much of an electronics whiz although I have expperimented with some circuit bending.

The DIY synth looks relatively easy to put together, especially if you start with one of their pre-printed IC boards...