These instruments play themselves!

Today we show you how to make old or new musical instruments play themselves by using electronic actuators; turning them into speakers.

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[senorjp]

You could record a string quartet on separate channels and play back on the corresponding instrument for an authentic performance

[mcpa]

Just a helpful tip for removing high strength double sided tape - dental floss is strong and fine enough to make good progress cutting between the tape and the adhered surface with relatively low damage to the surface. Its also relatively easy to exert more force (wrap it around handles etc)

[recklssabndon]

Made in Germany, US Zone would seem to imply that the Bass was made between 1945-1949 somewhere near or around Bavaria

[TheMightyZwom]

At 41:45 I literally had to pause the video, walk over to my guitar and tap on it. And yes, the wooden body on the side with high-pitch strings resonates at a higher frequency than the side with the low pitch stings. I never noticed... This is amazing. I guess you lern something new every day. Thanks!

[neepsmcfly]

I gotta say, one of the beautiful aspects of this channel is how you keep switching it up. 2 words outta your mouth and i know who I'm watching yet the delivery is, in itself, an experiment. Pretty inspirational. Glad you're out here!

[ahobimo]

The footage of Science Dad explaining the setup to passersby in the park is the most genuinely wholesome thing I've seen in a while. Thanks for that. 😊

[ericmeyer]

Loved seeing the kids asking so many questions. You definitely created a couple life-long audiophiles that day. I would have been so amazed to check out something like this as a kid (and still would be today haha)

[theOriginalDonHuevo]

I've dabbled with these quite a bit since watching your initial DML videos and come to the conclusion that organic materials sound more realistic. Cardboard, paper-backed foam posterboard, etc. My favorite so far is honeycomb core cardboard.

[Charlie-Oooooo]

This is a great idea! But what about resonance? As I'm sure you know, every instrument body has a frequency response curve that gets added (summed) to the source music. It is based on everything ranging from the type of wood (basically density), age, moisture content, shape of the instrument, bracing, finish, etc.

Did you (or could you please?) do a frequency response analysis with a (pink, etc) noise generator and a flat response test microphone? You could then add a small graphic equalizer to compensate for the response or any nodes of resonance of the instrument body - perhaps keeping some of the sonic characteristics of the body, i.e. 'flavor to taste, as desired'.

But I really really LOVE the concept guys, especially the aesthetics. Cheers!

[BigParadox]

It would be cool to take a recording of some nice baroque music from a small string ensamble and let the violine part play only through the violine, the cello part only through the cello, and so on.

[VVRK]

One production tip: leave the stock long when sanding so it is easier to hold when sanding at 11:23, you can slice it to the desired thickness after it is formed .

[tarstarkusz]

24:10 US ZONE in GERMANY means it was made during the period of occupation of Germany right after WW2. Germany was split into different zones. The Soviet zone got turned into East Germany and the rest became West Germany.

[MrWaldo]

I think there is a better way to mount the actuators. The soundboard is designed to be driven under tension, at the feet of the bridge (not between them), by a signal passing _through_ the bridge---the bridge is an important part of the system. E.g., that way you get two driving modes: 1. the feet bouncing up-and-down (in phase) at lower frequencies; and, 2. in contrary directions (out-of-phase), twisting the soundboard at higher frequencies. It also does some filtering.

So: I would try mounting the actuators off-center on top of the bridge, held in place by the tension of, say, bungees, to re-create the normal force that would be exerted by strings in conventional playing. Failing bungees, actual strings would work, as long as they are heavily damped against sympathetic vibration---that might be an easier way to get the required tension, spread across the bridge in the usual way.

Love the channel!

[RoadTo]

This is actually a really good idea. Particularly if you play the tones those instruments are designed to play on their tone boards.

[artemivanieiev]

I learnt about dml emitters for the first time from your video, great technology! I recently tried out a dml emitter with stringed instruments, I got a great result, I think I will continue to work in this direction. I see your work, bravo maestro!

[NoMan-zwwb]

You know what is also fun. If the instrument is strung and tuned the strings vibrate sympathetically. A frequency test on the instrument will find harmonic resonances in the strings and they will ring like magic.

[peniku]

The idea is really cool, but I don't like how they're used as normal speakers, because for that, their technical performance will be terrible.
But if they were to be corrected via dsp and then play back sounds of their corresponding instruments, that would make for really cool looking and sounding setups. Place a string quartet somewhere and just give each instrument a seperately recorded signal and let them play together. It would be a cool thing for a museum lobby for example.

[ast_rsk]

I would be interested in seeing recorded technical data/measurements or a breakdown in objective speaker performance between the different materials + these new instrument based ones.

[DanielLopez-ktxt]

I made myself some DML speakers in the hotel i work at, following your instructions, with some recycled componentes (a broken portable fence with wheels, some scraped thin wooden boards and the actuators got recycled from an old LG tv, there were 2 normal speakers and 2 actuators glued to the plastic TV frame from the inside). They all said the same thing: where is the speaker? Noone believed how it worked, until i explained to them. Very good sound indeed, i'll definately build some of these once i get my own house.

[TheCookieCoolMan]

I'm willing to bet that these sound better in specific keys. The way violins are built (at least the good ones) they usually resonate a lot clearer in keys with sharps (C, G, D, A, E, B if we're talking major F# being the exception because in terms of frequencies it's identical to Gb) compared to the rest of the keys containing flats.