Instruments, sounds

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MattKingUSA
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Instruments, sounds

Post by MattKingUSA »

I'm planning on having more sounds in my next CD from instruments that are less used or maybe not typically used as instruments. I've been finding things that make cool sounds or droning sounds. You can find a lot of cool stuff at dollar stores that make cool sounds. Anyway, my music tends to sound the same a lot of the time and it gets old so I think this will be very cool. But I will be posting the music here as I work on it.

Are there any unusual instruments that anyone else on the board is using that you would like to suggest or talk about?

-Matt :D

thorgal
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Post by thorgal »

I use a kalimba, which produces some soft, almost toyish sounds but can be used for expressing either happiness or reserved sadness (depending on which mode you play).

I also use a didgeridoo (well, actually, I am learning, just started ...). This is really mystical and can be used for all sorts of ambiance music, from acoustic to hard electro.

a jew's harp (the mongolian thingy that cowboys seem to like) : same, you can really spice your music with this kind of sound

yo can also record noises around you, and shape them up the way you feel like, you can get very interesting stuff ...
james=jwm//art@net
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Post by james=jwm//art@net »

This is something I want to get more into. Currently I'm going through things which I have access to: kitchen utensils (an oven shelf was quite successful, nice sound), various pots and pans for percussion (quite obvious I guess), using pipes as effects, cog-wheels from a bicycle, and most recently recorded a little tune strumming on a CPU heatsink :)
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Post by MattKingUSA »

Yeah, I have heard a heatsync before, not in a song or anything, just from handling one. I'll bet that sounds pretty sweet. You should record something with it and post it here.

-Matt :D

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Post by james=jwm//art@net »

MattKingUSA wrote:Yeah, I have heard a heatsync before, not in a song or anything, just from handling one. I'll bet that sounds pretty sweet. You should record something with it and post it here.
Ah well, the recording was already done, I just needed to Mp3ify and upload. Lots of noise this, I'd say you're welcome to use it if you like, but I'm not sure you'd want to. One word: freezer. One more word: random.

http://www.jwm-art.net/o7.php?p=hintseek
studio32

Post by studio32 »

A Turkish Percussion Instrument Library For HYDROGEN

http://www.ardaeden.net/asma_davul/

Maybe this is also a sound you can use...
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Post by MattKingUSA »

Gracias!

-Matt :D

Retro Banana
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Re: Instruments, sounds

Post by Retro Banana »

You could make a cheap synthesizer if you have a bit of money, Digikey, a soldering iron, and a few hours.
http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/CMOS_Synthesizers/
Last edited by Retro Banana on Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Shadow_7
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Re: Instruments, sounds

Post by Shadow_7 »

With the cheapness and availability of old computers why would you make a physical synth these days? You can run down to goodwill and pick up a laptop for $100 or less. And some of them are fairly new-ish. Boot up a linux usb stick with jackd, fluidsynth, hexter, ams, ??? and you're off and running.

I visited my dad a few weeks back and all I brought tech wise was a usb stick with linux on it, a cell phone, and a camcorder. I was suprised at how many different machines the linux stick (i386) ran on out of the box. And how many of them had wireless that worked for the most part out of the box. Checking my yahoo and gmail emails without having to worry about malware or keyloggers, priceless. About the only manual processes were adapting the network to the new udev name, and changing xorg.conf to use the video driver and bus id associated with the video card.

As far as strange instruments, I have a slide whistle, and a badhran drum. But I'm a brass player so I have an assortment of cheap bugles. Some even have valves. And as a brass player I have a drawer full of mouthpieces.
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Re: Instruments, sounds

Post by Retro Banana »

Shadow_7 wrote:With the cheapness and availability of old computers why would you make a physical synth these days?
Because it's fun.
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Re: Instruments, sounds

Post by Capoeira »

Retro Banana wrote:
Shadow_7 wrote:With the cheapness and availability of old computers why would you make a physical synth these days?
Because it's fun.
:D
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