June 27, 2012
Building An Empire, One Optimus Prime Cock At A Time...
by Chris Randall
As those of you who follow me on the Twit-scape know, I completed the MATG last week, and began work on the third instrument, SpringThing. MATG turned out... interesting, I guess? Not quite what I expected, I'll say that much.
As you can see, I used turnbuckles as "tuning pegs" and aircraft cable for the strings. The issue I'm experiencing is that I believe I've made the bridge too stiff (it is 3/32 plate steel) and not enough of the string vibrations get transmitted to the pickup. So I'm going to take it apart this week and cut out the old bridge and replace it with 1/32 steel, and use smaller gauge aircraft cable for the two middle strings. It sounds interesting, but not what I was hoping for. Easy to see where it can be improved, though. So there's that. Here's what it currently sounds like, but the new version should have much more body and sustain.
SpringThing is along similar lines, I guess. The frame will hold 6 different springs that I acquired at Ace. Along the bottom, where you see that plate, will be controls for some custom electronics. I'm giving it its own preamp, distortion, a compressor (Orange Squeezer type), and one of those looper things from Radio Shack. So SpringThing will theoretically be a comprehensive rhythmic looper doo-hickie. We'll see how that plays out, and you can follow along with the hilarity on my Twitter feed, as always.
In other completely unrelated news, I'm starting a sister blog to this one that is focused entirely on music, rather than music tech.It should be up by the end of the week; (now up here) the missus is putting the finishing touches on the software, and it will also serve as a showcase for her bespoke blogging platform, of which this site is a distant grandparent. I'll keep you posted on the progress on that front, and post here when it's ready. I'm hoping for discussions that are more subjective in nature on that site; I generally try to avoid inflicting my opinions on you guys here with respect to actual music. That won't be the case on the new blog. We'll see how it goes.
As you can see, I used turnbuckles as "tuning pegs" and aircraft cable for the strings. The issue I'm experiencing is that I believe I've made the bridge too stiff (it is 3/32 plate steel) and not enough of the string vibrations get transmitted to the pickup. So I'm going to take it apart this week and cut out the old bridge and replace it with 1/32 steel, and use smaller gauge aircraft cable for the two middle strings. It sounds interesting, but not what I was hoping for. Easy to see where it can be improved, though. So there's that. Here's what it currently sounds like, but the new version should have much more body and sustain.
SpringThing is along similar lines, I guess. The frame will hold 6 different springs that I acquired at Ace. Along the bottom, where you see that plate, will be controls for some custom electronics. I'm giving it its own preamp, distortion, a compressor (Orange Squeezer type), and one of those looper things from Radio Shack. So SpringThing will theoretically be a comprehensive rhythmic looper doo-hickie. We'll see how that plays out, and you can follow along with the hilarity on my Twitter feed, as always.
In other completely unrelated news, I'm starting a sister blog to this one that is focused entirely on music, rather than music tech.
47 comments:
That turned out excellent. I'm looking forward to hearing the music that comes from it. How heavy is it?
I know percussive sounds were more your intention, but have you tried bowing it? I've been messing around lately with a little Turkish spike violin. As a result I've been bowing everything I have kicking around that can be possibly bowed. I was most impressed with the results of bowing a kalimba, makes me think I'll be creating some kind of steel rod bowed instrument thing soon.
I know percussive sounds were more your intention, but have you tried bowing it? I've been messing around lately with a little Turkish spike violin. As a result I've been bowing everything I have kicking around that can be possibly bowed. I was most impressed with the results of bowing a kalimba, makes me think I'll be creating some kind of steel rod bowed instrument thing soon.
I need to pick up a proper bow. I was able to bow it to a certain extent with a steel rod (coincidentally, in the context of your post) at least enough to where I could hear it _can_ be bowed.
There's a violin shop right around the corner from us. I'll pop in there and grab a bow some time this week and see what's what.
Oh, and it's not that heavy. It weighs more than a Strat but less than a Les Paul. Call it 12 pounds or so?
-CR
There's a violin shop right around the corner from us. I'll pop in there and grab a bow some time this week and see what's what.
Oh, and it's not that heavy. It weighs more than a Strat but less than a Les Paul. Call it 12 pounds or so?
-CR
Have you considered using spring steel, pallet strapping, or bandsaw blades vs cable? They have a nice sound when tensioned.
JP
JP
As a string player myself, make sure you get a cello or double bass bow, and some double bass rosin. Double bass bows are wider and usually have more hair on them - and double bass rosin is stickier than violin rosin, so the combo will move more mass.
I'm a cellist, and I agree with kineticmonkey. Even if you go for a cello bow - definitely get bass rosin.
Also - I am sure you already know that you probably shouldn't splurge for a super nice bow - as it'll probably get a bit roughed up. However - you will still probably want to stay away from fiberglass bows - as they don't have much weight and can easily warp. So either go for the cheapest wooden bow you can get - or maybe even a carbon fiber bow (which is light - but much stronger than the fiberglass ones).
If the violin shop you are thinking of also does their own re-hairing (something you will probably need from time to time).. talk to the guy (or gal) about what you are intending on using it for and see if they have any ideas. If the person is cool at all - they might have some experimental ideas of their own.
Also - I am sure you already know that you probably shouldn't splurge for a super nice bow - as it'll probably get a bit roughed up. However - you will still probably want to stay away from fiberglass bows - as they don't have much weight and can easily warp. So either go for the cheapest wooden bow you can get - or maybe even a carbon fiber bow (which is light - but much stronger than the fiberglass ones).
If the violin shop you are thinking of also does their own re-hairing (something you will probably need from time to time).. talk to the guy (or gal) about what you are intending on using it for and see if they have any ideas. If the person is cool at all - they might have some experimental ideas of their own.
The shop is in Mesa, a town utterly devoid of anything remotely resembling "cool." I imagine going in to this shop and saying "yes, I need something for bowing aircraft cable" and the guy pulling iron on me and saying "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY STORE, YOU SPAWN OF SATAN!!!"
Or something like that.
-CR
Or something like that.
-CR
Hahaha!!
In that case - I would ask for the heaviest "cheap" bow they have along with some bass rosin.... kthxbai
Best of luck, sir.
In that case - I would ask for the heaviest "cheap" bow they have along with some bass rosin.... kthxbai
Best of luck, sir.
I could also try to kill myself by holding my breath underwater in my pool. Ain't either one gonna happen, though.
In all seriousness, there's nfw an ebow could move these strings. Aside from its inherent gayness (which is, I'm fully aware, basically asking for it in this crowd.)
-CR
In all seriousness, there's nfw an ebow could move these strings. Aside from its inherent gayness (which is, I'm fully aware, basically asking for it in this crowd.)
-CR
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