Synthesisers, upcycling and sustainability.
Upon initial thought, upcycling and DiY synths don’t go together. Synths require many tiny specialist parts that you can’t just find everywhere unless you are reusing a synthesiser. It seems improbable to create a synth without ordering anything. But do you have to? Does upcycling mean you have to upcycle every part of the project? Or should you upcycle parts of it? Let’s look at some examples of upcycling and attempt to understand the ideology better.
Along with that, what does upcycling actually mean?
Upcycling
The activity of making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or used things or waste material.
Cambridge Dictionary
Upcycled casio synth
Here, he uses a previous Casio keyboard to control a custom synthesiser he built. While the synthesiser itself is made of new parts, the keyboard is upcycled and reused. I would say this is an upcycled project, as the keyboard was changed in a way to increase its value despite not completely being upcycled.
PolyMod
This synth uses a toy keyboard and wood from a wardrobe the maker found on the street (link). The electronics are new, but the chassis is not. I think stating “its an upcycled synth” is incorrect, but instead, stating “the chassis is upcycled” is more accurate.
Sadly, there’s not much on how sustainable making your own synth is, so let’s look at a larger market, making your own clothes. Upcycling clothes is a simple concept, but what about making clothes yourself? Would it be more sustainable to make your own shirt than to buy one? It depends.
Materials matter; using polyester or another plastic-based fabric takes hundreds of years to break down. Whereas cotton and other organic fabrics decompose in a much more reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, because you are making the clothes yourself, you’re not supporting a large company with bad practices, and you know for a fact your labour is fair (Link).
I think this quote from Tina Smaile summarises how im thinking quite well, repairing something is easy to summarise as upcycling or repairing, but when making something brand new, it becomes much harder to summarise.
What do you do when you get a hole in your jeans or a button falls off? You probably donate it or let it sit in the bottom of a drawer. In this case, sewing is definitely the sustainable option. All you really need is a needle and thread. But when it comes to constructing garments from scratch, that’s where sustainability becomes a bit hazier.
Link
Another quote that is quite useful to me states it all depends on how you make them: “For example, we know that textile production uses a lot of energy and resources. If you’re using material that is not easily accessible (like rare animal hides) or has been shipped across the world from China or India (where much of our clothing is made), then no, making your own clothes may not be so sustainable (Link).”
Are you supporting companies with bad practices? Or, more importantly, ordering parts from China? If you don’t know where your products come from, how can you be sure it’s sustainable?
I believe I can finally come to a conclusion. If my project is made using electronics from other countries and mass-produced wood, then no, it’s not sustainable. But if I use parts made in the UK (or locally) with a good ethos and upcycle raw materials in its creation, then yes, it is sustainable. This means for my project to be sustainable, I need to find better local suppliers of electronics. Currently, I am using UK-based suppliers, but I don’t know where these electronics are coming from.