Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking

264 Pages·2006·4.64 MB·English

by  Nicolas Collins

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Disclaimer
Despite stringent eff orts by all concerned in the publishing process, some errors or omis-
sions in content may occur. Readers are encouraged to bring these items to our attention
where they represent errors of substance. Th e publisher and author disclaim any liability for
damages, in whole or in part, arising from information contained in this publication.
Th is book contains references to electrical safety that must be observed. Do not use AC
power for any projects discussed herein.
Th e publisher and the author disclaim any liability for injury that may result from the
use, proper or improper, of the information contained in this book. We do not guarantee
that the information contained herein is complete, safe, or accurate, nor should it be
considered a substitute for your good judgment and common sense.
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Nicolas Collins
Illustrated by Simon Lonergan
New York London
Routledge is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
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RT75921_RT75913_Discl.fm Page 1 Monday, February 27, 2006 3:18 PM
Published in 2006 by Published in Great Britain by
Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
270 Madison Avenue 2 Park Square
New York, NY 10016 Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxon OX14 4RN
© 2006 by Nicolas Collins
Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-415-97591-3 (Hardcover) 0-415-97592-1 (Softcover)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-415-97591-9 (Hardcover) 978-0-415-97592-6 (Softcover)
Library of Congress Card Number 2005030693
No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Collins, Nicolas.
Handmade electronic music : the art of hardware hacking / by Nicolas Collins ; illustrated by Simon
Lonergan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-97591-3 (hardcover) -- ISBN 0-415-97592-1 (pbk.)
1. Electronic apparatus and appliances-Design and construction-Amateurs' manuals. 2. Electronic
musical instruments-Construction. I. Title.
TK9965.C59 2006
786.7'1923--dc22 2005030693
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
Taylor & Francis Group and the Routledge Web site at
is the Academic Division of Informa plc. http://www.routledge-ny.com
CONTENTS
FOREWORD ix
by David Behrman
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INTRODUCTION xiii
PART I STARTING
1. GETTING STARTED: TOOLS AND MATERIALS NEEDED 3
2. THE SEVEN BASIC RULES OF HACKING: GENERAL ADVICE 7
PART II LISTENING
3. CIRCUIT SNIFFING: USING RADIOS AND COILS TO EAVESDROP 11
ON HIDDEN ELECTROMAGNETIC MUSIC
Mortal Coils 12
4. IN/OUT (THE EIGHTH RULE OF HACKING): SPEAKER AS MICROPHONE, 17
MICROPHONE AS SPEAKER—THE SYMMETRY OF IT ALL
5. THE CELEBRATED JUMPING SPEAKER OF BOWERS COUNTY: 19
TWITCHING LOUDSPEAKERS WITH BATTERIES
6. HOW TO SOLDER: AN ESSENTIAL SKILL 23
7. HOW TO MAKE A CONTACT MIKE: USING PIEZO DISKS TO PICK UP TINY SOUNDS 27
John Cage—The Father of Invention 33
Piezo Music 35
v
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vi Contents
8. TURN YOUR TINY WALL INTO A SPEAKER (OR HOW TO MAKE A PIEZO DRIVER): 37
RESONATING OBJECTS WITH PIEZO DISKS, TRANSFORMERS, AND MOTORS
David Tudor and Rainforest 40
Drivers 44
9. TAPE HEADS: PLAYING CREDIT CARDS 47
Tape 50
10. A SIMPLE AIR MIKE: CHEAP CONDENSER MIKE ELEMENTS MAKE 53
GREAT MICROPHONES
PART III TOUCHING
11. LAYING OF HANDS I (ST. VITUS’ DANCE): TRANSFORMING A PORTABLE RADIO 59
INTO A SYNTHESIZER BY MAKING YOUR SKIN PART OF THE CIRCUIT
The Cracklebox 62
12. TICKLE THE CLOCK (LAYING OF HANDS II): FINDING THE CLOCK CIRCUIT IN TOYS 65
13. HACK THE CLOCK (LEARN A NEW ALPHABET): CHANGING THE CLOCK SPEED 71
FOR COOL NEW NOISES
14. OHM’S LAW FOR DUMMIES: HOW TO UNDERSTAND RESISTORS 77
Composing Inside Electronics 79
15. BEYOND THE POT: PHOTORESISTORS, PRESSURE PADS, AND OTHER WAYS 83
TO CONTROL AND PLAY YOUR TOY
Circuit Bending 91
16. SWITCHES: HOW TO UNDERSTAND DIFFERENT SWITCHES, AND 97
EVEN MAKE YOUR OWN
17. JACK, BATT, AND PACK: FINISHING TOUCHES: POWERING AND PACKAGING 101
YOUR HACKED TOY
PART IV BUILDING
18. THE WORLD’S SIMPLEST OSCILLATOR: SIX OSCILLATORS ON A TWENTY-CENT CHIP, 111
GUARANTEED TO WORK
19. FROM BREADBOARD TO CIRCUIT BOARD: HOW TO SOLDER UP 123
YOUR FIRST HOMEMADE CIRCUIT
20. MORE OSCILLATORS: OSCILLATORS THAT MODULATE EACH OTHER 129
21. EVEN MORE OSCILLATORS: DIVIDERS, FEEDBACK LOOPS, AND INSTABILITY; 135
USING OSCILLATORS AS CLOCKS FOR TOYS
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Contents vii
22. ON/OFF (MORE FUN WITH PHOTORESISTORS): GATING, DUCKING, 141
TREMOLO, AND PANNING
23. AMPLIFICATION AND DISTORTION: A SIMPLE CIRCUIT THAT GOES FROM 151
CLEAN PREAMP TO TOTAL DISTORTION
24. ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION, SORT OF: MODULATING OTHER AUDIO 157
SOURCES WITH YOUR OSCILLATORS
PART V LOOKING
25. VIDEO MUSIC/MUSIC VIDEO: TRANSLATING VIDEO SIGNALS INTO SOUND, 163
HACKING CHEAP CAMERA CIRCUITS, AND EXTRACTING SOUNDS
FROM REMOTE CONTROLS
Visual Music 165
26. LCD ART: MAKING ANIMATED MODERN DAGUERREOTYPES AND 173
ALTERNATIVE VIDEO PROJECTORS
PART VI FINISHING
27. MIXERS, MATRICES, AND PROCESSING: VERY SIMPLE, VERY CHEAP, 179
VERY CLEAN MIXERS, AND WAYS OF CONFIGURING LOTS OF CIRCUITS
28. A LITTLE POWER AMPLIFIER: CHEAP AND SIMPLE 187
29. ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERSION, REALLY: 191
CONNECTING SENSORS TO COMPUTERS USING GAME CONTROLLERS
The Luthiers 192
30. POWER SUPPLIES: IF YOU MUST, HERE’S HOW TO PLUG 203
INTO THE WALL WITH MINIMAL RISK
APPENDICES
A RESOURCES 211
B REFERENCES AND NOTES: WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT 215
C TOOLS AND MATERIALS NEEDED 221
D THE RULES OF HACKING 225
E NOTES FOR THE AUDIO CD 227
F ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 233
INDEX 235
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FOREWORD
DAVID BEHRMAN
Th e appearance of Nic Collins’ Handmade Electronic Music has made me feel nostalgia
for the sixties, when I was young and fi rst heated up a soldering iron.
Th ere was a mixture of exhilaration and wonder that my generation felt, those of us who
worked on a grass-roots level with new technology in music in the sixties and seventies,
as we taught ourselves about the fresh marvels then made available for the fi rst time ever:
the transistor, a little later the integrated circuit, then the microcomputer.
Most musicians in the sixties and seventies didn’t make their own circuitry. Th ey had
other things to do. Th e few of us who did were aligning ourselves into the tinkerer-in-
ventor tradition handed down from earlier artists who had built things, questioned the
establishment, and found new sounds or tuning systems: artists like the Futurists, like
Henry Cowell, Conlon Nancarrow, and Harry Partch.
Nic, the talented author of this manual, is roughly a generation away from me—he started
building circuits as a way to make music in 1972. When I started around 1965—learn-
ing mostly from two artists who were friends and mentors—David Tudor and Gordon
Mumma—there were no music synths for sale; when Nic started, synths existed but were
out of reach unless you had a fat budget from a university or a record company.
In the sixties, I learned from Tudor and Mumma that you didn’t have to have an engi-
neering degree to build transistorized music circuits. David Tudor’s amazing music was
based partly on circuits he didn’t even understand. He liked the sounds they made, and
that was enough.
In the old days there wasn’t any distinction between high tech and low tech. Th e early
analog synths were made by creative individuals like Bob Moog and Don Buchla; even
the early microcomputers were mostly made by garage start-ups and there wasn’t so much
diff erence between these and the craft shops that had made lutes, guitars, or violins for cen-
turies. Th ere had always been a good relationship between performing musicians and the
craft speople who made instruments—whether those were mbiras, clarinets, or gamelans.
Th at relationship was comfortable—it was on a human scale and almost personal.
Only in recent decades have music instruments and soft ware become corporate, mostly
mass-produced and mass-marketed, and only recently are the computers used for music
generally the same ones found in tens of millions of business establishments.
It isn’t surprising that there had to be a reaction among artists to this corporate stain,
if one could put it that way, that has spread into the fabric of music.
ix
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