Relevant DiY examples

Rocco Wallis 9th March 20239th March 2023 0 Comments

DiY Music

A DIY musician is a musician who takes a “Do-It-Yourself” approach to build a music career. That is, a
DIY musicians must literally do everything themselves […]. A DIY musician has a lot on their plate including writing,
recording, promoting, releasing, and monetizing new music; planning, marketing, and producing tours;
reaching, building, and engaging a fan base; managing social media; securing publicity; and so much
more. A DIY musician may hire a manager and/or attorney to assist them with their career, but they are
not signed to or backed by a record label or a music publishing company.
Dae Bogan

DiY Instrument makers

Diego Stocco. A sound designer for media and an instrument maker, most famously working on Sherlock Holmes with Hans Zimmer utilizing one of his instruments (the experibass). One creation that stood out to me more was his Bassoforte, using piano keys to fret a guitar neck. I loved how this sounded, but don’t think I can utilise a similar sound/effect in my own creation.

Eric Singer. A robotic instrument maker focusing on automation. He creates instruments and programs them to be played by themselves. One that stands out to me is his GuitarBot, as it’s similar to my instrument, just with one string. How he excites the strings is really interesting, he uses picks but has multiple attached to a block which is on the motor’s axle. In fact, his entire motor design is amazing and looks like something I could use.

Yuri Landman. Spoke about him in a previous blog is an experimental instrument maker and invented the 3-bridge zither. But along with this, has made a multitude of weird instruments and guitars.

Jon Rose. Spoke about him in a previous blog, but is a violinist and instrument maker. He uses motors to excite stringed instruments, normally with something more similar to a hurdy-gurdy wheel than a pick.

Sami Elu. Another person from a previous blog inspired a lot of this project. On his Chopstick Piano, he upcycled lots of materials to create the instrument. While this was done mostly to reduce costs, it brings an interesting ethic to his work and looks amazing.

DiY Synth makers

Nick Collier. “The Beast” is a synth worn over your neck, like a guitar (resembles a keytar more). Sadly, his website no longer exists, but his Facebook and youtube videos are still around. His Facebook shows weird inventions of his, such as a floppy disk reverb (this sounds awesome (2:10)), custom-designed synths and inspirations. Some videos I found showcase a spring reverb machine of slinkies (1) and “The Beast” (2). Another article speaks of his short film showcasing his synths (3).