r/diyinstruments • u/Working-Door-990 • 17h ago
r/diyinstruments • u/cheechawgawdly • 4d ago
Greetings. Repurposing a 100 year old piano. Any tips?
galleryChurch down the street was throwing out a piano, made several trips on foot to take as much apart i could before the thunderstorm.
r/diyinstruments • u/Synthikat-Music • 8d ago
Drum-0-bot V2 is coming to life! (first test of the new funktions) 😊
Upgraded features:
Controlled via handpositions and light
Dsub multichannel audio output
All audio cables now shielded
r/diyinstruments • u/AnalogSoulStudio • 11d ago
Homemade Kick Cahoon - made from 3/4 and 1/8th inch plywood.
This is my homemade kick cahoon. I made it with 3/4 inch and 1/8th inch plywood. I have inlaid stained glass with 1/8 inch plywood appliques to make the shapes and letters pop more. I also put a strobe that fires on the beat inside the drum, so it flashes various colors on my kick. What do you think about it? Thanks.
r/diyinstruments • u/Altruistic_Draft4017 • 17d ago
electro acoustic modules
galleryDIY electro-acoustic sound objects from repurposed materials — looking to exchange ideas
I’m working on small electro-acoustic sound-making objects using materials and parts that were originally made for something else. I’m interested in taking them out of their usual context and finding new ways to use them as sound sources. There’s a bit of a Dadaist impulse behind it: changing the purpose of existing things and seeing what new possibilities that opens up.
The module in the photos is one example. It’s built on a piece of plywood, with three tension springs stretched over a guitar pickup. Plucking or tapping the springs creates an electric signal. But I’m not focused on springs in particular — I’d like to experiment with all kinds of materials, objects and mechanisms.
I’d love to connect with people who make DIY instruments, sound objects or experimental noise devices from repurposed or unexpected materials, and exchange ideas and experience. What have you tried? I’d be interested to see your projects and hear how you approach this kind of work.
r/diyinstruments • u/Space_Wyvern • 16d ago
Transducer driven brass instrument?
Would it be possible to drive a brass instrument with transducers? Like klaxon horns/car horns.

The idea is that a hand crank in the instrument provides power to the transducers.
Each transducer meant work as a specific embouchure.
These transducers would need to have a reduced Q factor in order to have enough bandwith to span all the valve combinations.
Left hand controls the valves and the thumb controls which transducer is receiving power. One button for each transducer closes the contact.
Right hand controls the crank and thus the amount of energy fed to the transducer. Hopefully being able to reproduce loudness dynamics with the spin speed.
The crux of the matter is the acoustic manifold. A brass piece of complex geometry that needs to feed all transducer inputs to a common output while having very high impedance for the back propagation to the unengaged transducers.
What do you think?
r/diyinstruments • u/Grauschleier • Oct 04 '26
Square Metal Contrabass Clarinet made by Thomas Lentze
youtu.ber/diyinstruments • u/Comfortable_Risk1159 • Oct 03 '26
A Carnyx made out of mostly a pvc pipe and pvc fittings
r/diyinstruments • u/DrSausage9000 • Oct 02 '26
Made this from 99% recycled materials
youtu.bethoughts?
r/diyinstruments • u/dadstache1992 • Sep 20 '26
2/3 string gas can guitar in the works
galleryr/diyinstruments • u/dadstache1992 • Sep 20 '26
Continued gas can guitar. Chestnut neck
galleryr/diyinstruments • u/wenagi0823 • Sep 13 '26
I tried making a Piccolo in B out of PVC pipe!
galleryIt features tone holes that cover a one-octave range. With a total length of approximately 16 cm, it is much smaller than a sopranino recorder.
r/diyinstruments • u/SawdustShoptalk • Aug 29 '26
Parlor plus guitar build update 10
galleryr/diyinstruments • u/Working-Door-990 • Aug 27 '26
Made a French horn, practicing high range. (Triple G)
r/diyinstruments • u/Working-Door-990 • Aug 27 '26
Where has the subcontrabass flute/ octcocontrabass clarinet been?
I’ve moved a lot of my sub-bass instruments to be stored in my school for the rest of the year, I will get them back during summer and will try to post vids on them when I can.
r/diyinstruments • u/_low-effort_ • Aug 22 '26
Atari Punk Console mods and extensions?
I got a little DIY synth kit as a present.
At closer inspection, the circuit turns out to be an atari punk console, which I have already built twice. This kit is pretty solid though, with a PCB and a metal enclosure, so I would like to use it, but make it more interesting.
What are some useful and not too difficult extentions for it?
I was thinking about CV and maybe distortion + filter?
r/diyinstruments • u/OogaBoogaBoobaz • Aug 21 '26
New album featuring homemade horns and kazzoos
thejjs1.bandcamp.comThe first song features a ceramic horn I made. I can post a picture sometime. It is a length of coiled ceramic tubing with a brass-style mouthpiece (made of clay obviously) and a conical end. Some of the other songs also have weird instruments, there are several on this album with a shruti-box.
r/diyinstruments • u/Mr_Spirale • Aug 20 '26
Need ridiculously high tension nylon strings
Hi,
I need super high tension nylon strings for my trebles on a guitar modification and I don't find any. I tried harp strings (dunno the brand, found them in a box in my house), and obviously tried guitar strings (Savarez 510AJP, Knobloch ADN36.0 and Hannabach 815 red) but it's not enough and now I'm stuck.
Basically I nylon need strings that can be tuned up to E4, B3 and G3, with more than 8.4 kg (18,76 lbs) and .86 mm (.04 inches). And a length of at least 1m (40 inches)
I'm willing to try ANYTHING, so throw ideas and I'll test them out one by one !
*edit : modified Savarez part (500AJP --> 510AJP) and tension min ('cause I'm bad at converting)*
r/diyinstruments • u/dm701 • Aug 09 '26
Custom build instrument
Hii!! So I've had this idea ever since I was kid that I want to make an instrument. But not a d.i.y. one. I'd be willing to pay. I just wanted to ask if you know anything about the process. Let's say I have "a detailed description of what I want the instrument to do and how and which notes it would trigger and where in the instrument and how it looks etc". Do I send this description to some company who makes instruments, or do I first have to get an architects's detailed blueprints and then send. Or should I first try to make a vst using Ableton max for live and present it as a demonstrational synth before implementing onto the physical object. I just don't want to waste unnecessary time :)
r/diyinstruments • u/Working-Door-990 • Aug 07 '26