@@Edward_Black_Rose_Soundhey Edward! I was wondering if you can build a keyboard for me! (Yes I will pay.) I need this instrument by April and I’m running out of options!
@@SaladKingz I'm glad you like this musical instrument, but unfortunately I can't make a stable version at the moment. This is just a prototype that is unstable, but also takes me a long time to make.
Ooh, that's very cool! I love that it lets you get that electric piano sort of sound with surprisingly minimal electronics and mechanical elements. Nice work.
If you want to make another, make one with 1 photo cell per key and attach a small semi-mirror on each key so that the laser hits the correct photo cell, but also lets the laser pass through the mirror to the next key. :)
I guess that keys that would give a suitable overtone would vibrate in a synced way and work together. Sounds a bit like a FM synthesizer when you play two keys with suitable frequencies :) Really cool build! Your channel deserves more subscribers :)
@@morbidmanmusic Hmm. I'm not sure. FM is modulation of frequencies, and I wouldn't say that the upper tone is modulating the lower tone, rather adding tones.
I don't believe the issue you're having with multiple notes played is due any limitation of the instrument itself per se or any kind of blocking phenomenon but rather the range the instrument is in and it's harmonics limiting the kinds of intervals you can play across its range. Look up a concept called "Lower interval limit". Adam Neely has a good video explaining it in more detal. But essentially, as you go further down in pitch, certain intervals no longer sound harmonious together and can sound muddy. If you constructed a version of this instrument in a higher range, perhaps even just an octave up from where you have it, you might find it easier to get a more harmonious sound for chordal stuff. With that said, it has such a unique voice as a bass instrument, I could see a lot of use for it as is. The fact you've developed something that's pretty streamlined in how it actually works with the wire attached directly to the key, only requiring a single light source and sensor, basically folding it down to one pickup AND it sounds cool is awesome. Great work, dude!
wow, its amazing how good this sounds! reminds me a lot of the sound of a rhodes through a distortion pedal, which makes sense - the strings look like they're a similar length to the tines of an electric piano, crazy how light and magnetic-based pickups sound so similar
I think the concept is very deep, we could do a lot of interesting music with this with the fascinating concept of two strings vibrating to make kinda one sound, testing different temperament would be nuts
It's such an interesting electromechanical instrument. The thing I love about this is how fundamentally it connects the musician to the concept that sound is made of wavelengths. Thus, "harmonious notes" (which means they are part of the same harmonic series) like octaves, fifths, etc., actually sound fantastic together, but other intervals don't sound so good. To me, that's the defining feature of this instrument, even more significant than the laser part (though I agree that using a laser to measure vibration is pretty genius too). Also, some people might call this "harmonics-only" feature "restrictive." They might complain that they want to do other intervals, so normal pianos or synthesizers are just better because they can do those. But I really disagree with that view. I think this instrument, with its restrictions, allows you to think about music in a different way. Thus it provides a unique musical experience, which leads to unique music. It's like how the Japanese shakuhachi really only plays on the pentatonic (5-note) scale, but it's still a beautiful instrument with a unique musical tradition that separates it from other woodwind instruments. As a shakuhachi player, you would think about constructing melodies in a different way than a flute player, who has access to a full 12-notes chromatic scale. It's like how Indian classical music can make use of a tonality system that has more notes than the western 12-tone scale, which makes its instruments and its music unique. Even if Indian music has more notes than western music, we don't say that either one is "better." They're just different. This sort of difference in musical experience is what makes instruments unique and valuable apart from each other, and it leads to unique and valuable musical pieces too.
How is the pitch of each note achieved? Are the strings at the end of each key different thicknesses or something or is it the keys themselves being different weights so they vibrate the strings at different pitches?
@@Edward_Black_Rose_Sound how difficult is it to tune the strings then? I imagine a lot of fine tuning went into the string lengths? Or did you just check the specific frequency of each string and then assign a note value to whatever the laser sees for that key?
@@wokeupinapanic There is a bolt with two washers at the end of the key. The string is squeezed between the two washers. If the bolt is not fully tightened, you can move the string with pliers so that you can adjust the length of the string. I use an iPhone tuner app to tune the strings to certain notes. It's not difficult, but it takes time for all the keys.
I don't know how your electronic audio circuit looks like, but since you have 40 keys, perhaps you could install 40 photocells (instead of just the one) & position each cell adjacent to each wire "tine" but also putting thin wood walls inbetween each one so that they don't interfere with each other. Or use mirrors if placement is too tight. With 40 photocells, this could give you a closer representation of chords when multiple keys are pressed. Right now, at best, it is a monophonic instrument. However, I would love to see this played by a keyboardist & maybe in a live band or in a recording studio. It does resemble the sound of a Rhodes keyboard. I played a bass Rhodes keyboard back in highschool, decades ago. I would have loved to have bought that off the highschool. Oh well.
Same keys frequency is always double higher, which is probably why it works. Some other might work as well: there are some videos about overtone harmonies
What an incredible concept for an instrument. Did you test this with different wire gauges? I'd be interested to know whether that would only effect pitch of if timbre would change too based on how much light is being blocked during the physical interception of the laser. Also, the polyphony aspect of the instrument almost seems like pseudo ring modulation where not every interval will sound great, but some intervals will fit well to create a more cohesive sound.
I'm amazed at this mechanism! Maybe it could be modified for good polyphonic sound by using reflected laser light instead of blocking laser light. The tip of each string is painted reflective, and the laser is located to shine at the tips without overlap. The sensor is located next to the laser, pointed in the same direction. This way, the reflected light from the string tips will be additive. Or maybe a doppler motion sensor could be used. In this case, the sensor would be above or below the strings, detecting motion toward/away from the sensor. They're designed to detect moving humans so maybe the strings would be too tiny to register. But these sensors aren't terribly expensive so it wouldn't cost so much to try.
There are ways to detect the movement of strings other than laser and photocell, such as electromagnetic as in guitars. This is the easiest way to make it polyphonic. I thought about the reflection of the strings, but it is quite weak and spreads in all directions. It can be done with a photocell under each string.
@@Edward_Black_Rose_Sound Maybe the amount of reflected light could be heavily increased by using flat metal strips instead of wires. That way, the laser could be on one side, aimed a bit upward, and the sensor could be on the opposite side, so the reflected light mostly goes toward the sensor. A bit of cardstock in the middle prevents laser light from going directly to the sensor. But it seems fiddly anyway, compared to separate sensors.
If I understood correctly the following intervals sound good - thirds, fifths and octaves. You could fix all the other intervals by having 4 lasers. Group the twelve notes of the octave into 4 triads, for example - {C,Eb,G} , {Bb, F, D}, {E, G#, B}, {F#, A, C#} (C minor , Bb maj, E maj, F# minor). 1 laser does 1 group and all its octaves, another laser does another group and so on.
Look up the physics of harmony. The harmonic scale refers to overtones created by pitches, either mono or when played polyphonically. These are basically what the organ foot stops (drawbars) are modeled after. 8' is the base pitch you are playing, as you increase the feet by x2 or /2 you get an octave lower or higher, respectively. Then organs fill in fifths and a couple major thirds along the way, just like the Harmonic scale does naturally.
@@loganwhite8375 I appreciate the idea, but I must note that the harmonic scale =/= equal temperament. The equally tempered third is already quite out of tune (20 cents was it?) you could improve upon the idea I layed out by having 6 lasers one for each adjacent perfect fifth (which are only 2 cents off) or 12 lasers for each note and its octaves. With more lasers you have to start fiddling around with positioning and allignment, Edwards idea is great because of its simple design.
You should use just intonation to tune the strings. Unlike 12 tone temperament, which is the tuning we use in music everywhere, it's composed of actually resonant frequencies.
Sounds like it was very tedious to make. Way to go. Do you have a pdf created with the steps you made for the public..? Would be very interested in making one for myself.
Maybe if it had 12 lasers and diodes, one for each tone, but octaves shared the same laser, or even make the fifths share it too, can't work it out in my head how many lasers that'd be. But then you'd need som transmission. Or maybe you could angle them and have the lasers be placed in a circular shape. What wire did you use?
can you combine separate lasers? You could use three or four different registers, perhaps? Using the same number of different angles planes for your wires?
I was expecting something Rhode-like (tines) as the sound is very similar, but a laser & sensor as the 'pick-up'? I didn't expect that and it was a great idea to see. Love that sound tho!
Does that mean that after holding down the key for a bit that the vibration stops and the note stops or are you causing the strings to constantly vibrate somehow?
It fades slowly. The low tones last much longer. If you want a long sound there is a trick, you can tap with the other hand on the finger with which you pressed the key, it works mainly in low tones.
With that simplicity, no! Yes, the magnetic version can catch better sound. But it will take a little tweaking and complication to stop the vibration of the strings when the key is not pressed. Because the coil would pick up sound even if the string is farther away. There are a lot of such musical instruments on a magnetic principle, I wanted to do it differently and I thought of an optical version.
@@Edward_Black_Rose_Sound You can place felt pads under the strings. When the keys are not played, the strings will rest on the felt and will stop vibrating.
What strings are you using? It’s a low sound, but quite short strings. I’m also wondering if playing multiple note would work better in an even higher range? Very cool project, very inspiring :)
I'm sure you addressed this elsewhere in these comments... but do you mind possibly reiterating? hehe. Is the photocell circuit connected to an arduino or some other computer? Or is the circuit analog, with CD4XXX ICs and such? Thanks! awesome project!... has my brain churning with some ideas also =)
HAHA ! I've seen your other video and was sure something was off : synthesizers produce their original signal from an electronic circuit, here the signal is produced by a mechanical component (that is then used by an electronic circuit) which mean this instrument belong to the electromechanical instruments category (like Fender-Rhodes or electric guitars) and shouldn't be called a synthesizer. Also, hats off to the idea of using a laser the way you did : as far as i know it's totally original and very clever (might steal the idea later).
