Handmade Electronic Music

Providing a practical introduction for students of electronic music, installation, and sound-art to the craft of making, this text covers the basics of practical circuitry. It tours the world of electronics, encouraging artists to get to know the inner workings of basic electronic devices.

Table of Contents:

Part I: Starting
Acknowledgements
Forward by David Behrman
Introduction
Chapter 1: Getting Started
Tools and materials needed.
Chapter 2: The Seven Basic Rules of Hacking
General advice.

Part II: Listening
Chapter 3: Circuit Sniffing
Using radios and coils to eavesdrop on hidden electromagnetic music.
Sidebar #1: Mortal Coils
Chapter 4: In/Out
Speaker as microphone, microphone as speaker - the symmetry of it all.
Chapter 5: The Celebrated Jumping Speaker of Bowers County
Twitching loudspeakers with batteries.
Chapter 6: How to Solder
An essential skill.
Chapter 7: How to Make a Contact Mike
Using piezo disks to pick up tiny sounds.
Sidebar #2: John Cage - The Father of Invention
Sidebar #3: Piezo Music
Chapter 8: Turn You Tiny Wall Into a Speaker
Resonating objects with piezo disks, transformers and motors.
Sidebar #4: David Tudor and Rainforest
Sidebar #5: Drivers
Chapter 9: Tape Heads
Playing credit cards with hand-held tape heads.
Sidebar #6: Tape
Chapter 10: A Simple Air Mike
Cheap condenser mike elements make great microphones.

Part III: Touching
Chapter 11: Laying of Hands
Transforming a portable radio into a synthesizer by making your skin part of the circuit.
Sidebar #7: The Crackle Box
Chapter 12: Tickle the Clock
Finding the clock circuit in toys.
Chapter 13: Hack the Clock
Changing the clock speed for cool new noises.
Sidebar #8: Composing Inside Electronics

Chapter 14: Ohm's Law for Dummies
How to understand resistors.
Chapter 15: Beyond the Pot
Photocells, pressure pads, and other ways to control and play your toy.
Sidebar #9: Circuit Bending
Chapter 16: Switches
How to understand different switches, and even make your own.
Chapter 17: Jack, Batt & Pack
Finishing touches: powering and packaging your hacked toy.

Part IV: Building
Chapter 18: World's Simplest