And about this English vs. German thing: I guess there are still a lot of people missing out on the most recent do it yourself stuff. Some people do not speak English at all and even more might understand it but get stuck when encountering technical vocabulary and American standards (22 AWG wire gauge anyone?). I think there is a niche here only slowly occupied by sites like freeduino.de or, now, my site bausteln.de. So we will rock this niche and move it a little more to the left, longtail-wise.

It’s a Commodore 64 cake! Wouldn’t you just love anybody who baked you this? (Well, I already did so without the cake.) Other presents included the Nintento Controller Belt Buckle (also from her) and a cordless power screwdriver (from her parents). What a family!

Update: Here’s another picture: Which one is real? They are just like twins! Aaah!

(Source)

An M-Audio Oxygen8 v2 MIDI Controller (25 keys, 8 knobs and some switches) and a pink Nintendo DS. Yes, pink.

The geek friends’ peer pressure (and the fact that 0xtob made the fantastic wireless MIDI software DSMIDIWifi; basically only that) finally convinced me that I needed a DS too. Still waiting for my R4DS card that will enable me to use all that fine homebrew software, though. Orders from Hong Kong seem to take some time due to the recent earthquake in Taiwan. Until then I have to resort to Brain Age as my only (borrowed) game.

The Oxygen works nicely and came with a “lite” version of Ableton Live which I’m now trying to get addicted to so that at one point I just have to invest the 260 Euros for an upgrade to the full version. Talk about follow-up costs.

Please drop me a line if you are already doing something like that here in Berlin, or if we could work something out.

(Finally, I still feel a little stupid for passing a Casio SK-1, circuit benders’ favourite victim, on a flea market for 20 Euros some months ago. Having paid the same price for mine years ago, I was subsequently frustrated to learn that it now fetches a lot more on ebay and is not at all something you come across a lot anymore.)

wmmna

‘Freedom of movement is a great feature of these textile-based interfaces,’ [Dr Richard Helmer] says. ‘Our air guitar consists of a wearable sensor interface embedded in a conventional ’shirt’, with custom software to map gestures with audio samples. It’s an easy-to-use, virtual instrument that allows real-time music making, even by players without significant musical or computing skills. It allows you to jump around and the sound generated is just like an original mp3.’

Heh. He said “original mp3″. But besides, Régine also mentions the Bangarama developed by Students at Aachen’s RWTH university two years ago: A helmet to convert headbanging into guitar sounds using an acceleration sensor. That could be a cool add-on for my MIDI key-/guitar (still unfinished).

A rabbi, an Arab, a robot, and a Catholic priest walk into a bar. Only the robot exits.

(via BoingBoing)

Commodore itself released a cartridge for their C64 home computer in 1983 called “Music Machine”. While most of the C64’s software was loaded from cassette tapes or floppy disks, there were some games and applications available as cartridges that loaded instantly into memory on power-up, bypassing the usual BASIC screen. This makes cartridges perfect for immediate use: no loading times and no additional hardware to lug around.
Now, Music Machine turns a C64 into a simple musical keyboard. You play the c-d-e-f… scale on the QWER… keys, c#-d#-f#… on the 235… row respectively, so it’s layed out like a standard piano. There are four different “instruments” to choose from, you can transpose the pitch over five or six octaves and add some cheesy vibrato- or chorus-like effects. There’s also a simple adjustable metronome.

While the screen shows the notes played, it is not necessary to use it at all. So… as we now have this C64 mini-synthesizer not requiring any additional hardware to be used, it would be a shame to have it just stand there on a table while you play it. Of course, as rock credibility requires, you have to wear it.

So, I simply drilled two holes on the left and right side of the case, fastened guitar pins (reinforced on the inside by two pieces of metal, so the plastic case won’t crack when being loaded on it’s own weight) and applied a guitar strap. And because having two cables (power and audio) coming out of your keytar just doesn’t look good, I fitted the C64 with a standard quarter inch guitar connector next to the power connector and made a 6 meter extension cable. It’s a standard Cat. 5 network cable (for the sole reason that I have plenty of that and that it has enough wires, as the C64 power requires four lines plus the two for audio) with two plugs on each end. The C64 power supply and a standard guitar cable leading to the amp are plugged into the remote end.

To be used sometime in the future. Until then, enjoy the dorky picture of me that Till wasn’t afraid to take in the backyard.

Also, there are in total 18 LEDs in the small holes next to the pickups. The holes already existed and have a diameter of 3mm which made fitting 3mm LEDs quite easy. Apart from that, it somehow takes ages to build all that when you try to make it look good. There are lots of small plastic pieces in the way of the new electronics and so my workspace is completely covered in small plastic debris from sawing, drilling and filing the toy guitar. Cutting the straight slits for the sliders was a special pain in the ass. They ended up almost straight.
Next: Installing the blue LCD in the guitar body and wiring up everything.

Keytar Project:
Part 6: Guitar neck keyboard
Part 8: soon