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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You could record a string quartet on separate channels and play back on the corresponding instrument for an authentic performance
Agreed
Next video? Its the natural progression.
Dito. Add how to use the different fq response of the different sizes to sort out, say, an LP playback / direct exposure to live performance they have become a giant microphone.
it wont be authentic because of different method
@@frederf69just a thing for animatronics… the sound is just adding to the theatrics
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)
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 .
Good idea. Another would be to use a hole saw to cut them out of a sheet, although they will be thin.
Sanding an adapter piece may not be necessary. A thick layer of glue should do. I think of the glue that is used to stick credit cards to paper letters. If free of bubbles, the material is close to incompressible. It is also easy to remove.
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!
Same here! Never thought of that....
If you though that was cool you should look up the video "How to Tap Tune the Soundboard tone bars." by Tomy Hovington. He goes through the process of scraping the tone bars down on a tenor mandolin untill each is in tune. Its got all sorts of crazy things to think about tho, it made me reconsider picking up luthier work as a hobby. xD
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!
Yess!!! Thank you!!!
Very well said!
great idea. I believe there would be some "annoying" frequencies. Software could "kill" those frequencies on one speaker and transfer it to another one thad does not suffer.
The driver just vibrates, exactly like strings or whatever. The only difference is that it's doing it only to the body, which is what provides resonance... This is actually a great idea.
They could probably tune the speakers
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.
Take mine from bluegrass please. I can hear the big dumb bully coming out of the bass.
You beat me to it! Had the same idea. I bet that would sound really interesting.
This tech is begging to be an art installation
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)
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.
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!
Mr. Waldo, you are correct. The stringed instruments are designed to vibrate from the fulcrum of the sound post with the bass bar acing as a distribution device as well as a dampener. The instruments need a bridge as you suggested. I also think that mounting the frequency generating device directly to the bridge while under normal string tension would be the way to maximize the acoustic qualities of the instruments. The sound post distributes vibrations to the maple backs of the instruments and helps with the production of volume as well as tone. Naturally not as critical as the spruce sound board but part of what makes a violin family instrument a very efficient acoustic machine. So I agree that the bridge is essential to transfer the sound to the soundboard and the proper tension on the sound post is needed to maximize the acoustic value of the rest of the instrument.
I don't think bungees would be capable of equaling the force that strings produce. But totally agree with the idea of putting it under tension and transferring the force through the bridge as intended. I'm under the impression that it would give a much fuller and more true to life sound
I'm tempted to disagree, or at least I think it'll be a negligible difference. The system is designed to amplify string vibrations. You can't just glue a string to a bit of wood, it needs to be held under tension. You can just glue a driver to the soundboard though.
@@davidwilson6577 I'm not talking about gluing strings. They are fixed in the normal way, pressing the actuator to the bridge. The system is designed to transmit a signal through the bridge to a soundboard that is under tension. The bridge and the tension (of the strings pressing normal to the soundboard) change the behavior considerably. E.g. compare the tap tones of the instrument before and after a setup.
@@MrWaldo of course you're not talking about gluing strings. The point is that you _can_ just glue the actuator to the soundboard. The tension is required to produce sound in a violin. In a violin that is now a loudspeaker, it isn't. So you'd want to clamp the actuator to the bridge using the tension of strings? And just have them there, resonating at their discrete pitch? Yes the soundboard being under tension would change the frequency response a bit. I doubt it would be very significant. There's quite a difference between tapping the soundboard and oscillating it with a driver. I guess the only way to know is extremely complex physics simulations.
While restoring the outer finish of my grandmas piano I learned a bit about the insides of them too. There is what is called a soundboard inside a piano that is largely responsible for the tone and for lack of better terms the preamplification of the strings being hammered. I constantly see people trying to give away pianos and I can imagine hooking those things up to the sound boards and letting the sound amplify in reverse so to speak. Actuators vibrating the soundboard and the soundboard vibrating the strings, highs resonating the high strings, lows resonating the low string, and everything in-between, etc, etc. Super cool! :)
like that idea, allot piano more importantly, a piano is one of small number music instruments can play the full range music notes, so the dead zones should not be an problem too? 🙂
I hadn't thought of that but you are so right!!! :)@@dh2032
You could probably hook some sensors up to the wires and use them to determine the frequencies used by a particular song, perhaps create a way to reverse engineer music into it's respective piano notes. I saw a video on another channel (can't remember which one right now) that had a fully automated piano that was able to reproduce voices by playing a bunch of different chords in rapid succession.
Wow that is a fantastic idea, it seems like it would work. :)@@grn1
I really want to see this done with an old piano soundboard.
This is actually a really good idea. Particularly if you play the tones those instruments are designed to play on their tone boards.
what an awesome idea! It would be interesting to see a frequency response from them if you could measure that
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!
I appreciate that
Would love to see a list of links to some of the actuators that you used
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.
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!
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.
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.
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. 😊
I have done the same thing with Putting Speakers in side of guitars tuned up with strings also in pianos they sound the best. The sound is amazing. great job. Leaving the string and tune it correctly ads even more depth because the strings will vibrate with it.
Thanks, good ideas!
Would have liked to have heard each individual instrument when its playing a different assortment of sounds and some technical details on the final outputs compared to traditional speakers but maybe you have covered this elsewhere. Dml emitters are new to me.
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.
Interesting
WOW, this is an Outstanding video full of technical, and actual demonstrations and as always exceedingly well done. Thank you!
The first store I ever worked at had transducers in the wooden floors and it was amazing!
A large array of these in a movie theatre might make a good impact.
Made in Germany, US Zone would seem to imply that the Bass was made between 1945-1949 somewhere near or around Bavaria
Nifty as always ! This has been perhaps thE best channel of its kind from the very get-go. 1M subs is long overdue IMO. Onto 10M+ !
I am really excited for this live stream. Always a opportunity to learn more.
Hey I liked watching this and I love how serious and detailed your explanations to the people is. I would recommend starting with just presenting them the playing "instrument speakers" and asking them if they like what they are hearing and to rate the sound quality. After that it's probably easier to explain how you did that. Also those reactions would be more interesting for us viewers. :) Loved the a capella person by the way, great voice.
Yea, instead of telling them the speakers sound good, ask them
I really hoped that you would start each demonstration by playing a string quartet piece and people would expect that your devices were playing the instruments. Then the instruments surprise the listener by starting to rap or some audio totally unexpected. Then you explain that the drivers are just audio transducers that use the instruments as sound radiators.
I recently saw a video about a Rotary Subwoofer and thought it was a really cool idea! As you all are back doing some audio stuff recently, I thought it might make a cool video and figured it fit right into your niche of interesting tech taken to extreme precision! I'd love to see what your take is on it and an explanation of the physics behind it!
algorithm got you and me both.
Novel but not practical
Really looking forward to the livestreams, due to timezone difference I wont be able to watch them live, but I will 100% be catching up on them after the fact!
The real advantage of DML systems is when they're used in old concert halls and churches as no matter how reverberant the environment, you'll find they're incredibly resistant to feedback.
Explain more. Why would they be resistant?
1. Every acoustic musical instrument is made with a specific resonance frequency(es) in mind 2. A loudspeaker membrane is the best (but not an ideal) way to reproduce sounds from strings, wood, coil pickups, metal cymbals, a voice, etc.
Also, have you considered playing violin cello and base though it to evoke the instruments' physics ghosts of sympathetic frequencies? The wood fibers may remember singing together those very same tunes!
loved the interaction with the kids. This would be really cool in a themed bar/restaurant/coffee shop.
You guys rock as always. 1 million subscribers is soon to come. Best at what you do (and that’s a lodda stuff) and perfect audio every time too! Ahem.
I was waiting for this. Thank you for all the research and testing! This is a step up from the styrofoam. Very cool and lots of fun!
Harold this is REALLY REALLY nice!!!! look at you, going out to the world and stuff, hanging out with people and marketinizing your channel
I love your enthusiasm.
Great video. Keep up the good work. A thought I had was to spread spectrum resonate each cavity/instrument and measure the resonant frequencies. Then use an equalizer(s)/filter to divert the frequency range to the appropriate resonator. Much of which you have already done in a broadband sense. Each one of those instruments should have a resonate frequency and the corresponding octaves. I would think with 10 unique objects, you could have a very efficient full spectrum audio system (~300hz-20khz).
This channel has so much variety yet always consistently high quality 👏
they have one of these for Acoustic guitar, it makes chorus and reverb come out of the guitar - called the "Tonewood Amp" there are youtube videos demonstrating it!
Thank you good Sirs for not only showing us the tech and it's outcomes but also the ingredients.^^
Another legendary video, well done team! First time I learned MP used to be a physician (a medical doctor, if I understand correctly)! I had believed up until this point that his career consisted of high energy laser physicist. Just goes to show you that humans are very complex and interesting. Also shout out to Jr stageblocking MP closer to the wonderful Ava Maria vocalist lol.
yeah, from the video where there was an injury, i think thats the only thing we know about MP besides that he's in ME/NH area
Now you have to find the perfect shape for each frequency class and develop a home theater setup based on that. :)
Great job guys.
perfect. and ive gathered so many old acoustic guitars this year along with dozens of old car stereo speakers. i'll make a few, so thank you for sparking the idea mate. I am mainly using the old guitars as bird boxes for the local natives i share time with. and the old speakers I snavel the magnets for projects and the coils ive been collecting for when an idea comes for those too. :) Happy days to that pretty cool community there I witnessed in the park. Good families, and polite intelligent kids. Nice to see.
Brilliant. It's the kind of surreal exposition I'd love to see in New Zealand's park life. Science meets art.
That is a very neat idea! Thank you for sharing it with us. 🙏🙌
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.
Loved it Thank You!
Very nicely done 👍
I used to have a battery powered suction cup driver, it was called a soundbug or something like that. Stealthing speakers would be interesting for many applications.
AWESOME!!!
great idea , I'm going to try this one.
This channel is awesome! Thanks for all that you do!
Hey buddy, with the Bass saying Germany and U.S. Zone, that means it's Date of Manufacture lies somewhere between the late 1950s and 1989, as "U.S. Zone" was part of the post WWII Germany where the allied Victors each held territories in Germany which where referred to as zones or sectors.
Now you have me wondering how effective this type of setup might work if attached to the skin of various drums. Not to try to hear actual drum sounds but how well they might reproduce sound overall like the wood does. Very interesting stuff. Just as I accidentally came across this I remember coming across one of your videos using flat panels of wood and stuff in a room. Glad I came across this thank you.
Definitely love your videos. I try to watch every single one as they are almost always very interesting. I definitely look forward to seeing the LASER you were talking about. When that comes out. Thank you for all the awesome videos.🤘🤘
Thanks!
Would have liked to hear more of the music and the reaction of the people in the end when turning it on :)
Awesome as usual! Please keep going! I once saw the use of an old discarded human skull as a voice speaker. They were shocked! It needed soft matter in the upper regions and fluffy stuff in the throat. The addition of a box of wood under the skull made a good chest cavity.... the awesome thing about your invention is how the resonator chooses its own frequency range! No channels of filters/ graphic equalisers like in the old days!?!
I am not an audio guy yet these are still pretty good. I did like the first video with the foam and it was quite cool to see a simple driver and foam has the ability to produce sound from someone as simple as foam.
I liked that as well
I definitely want to get a bunch of these and set up a proper 5.1 surround system in my art studio, so I can feel like I've actually got a live band playing for me while I bop along to my playlist.
Good luck, it's fun.
such a beautiful soul with a crop of solid gold, brave to echo schubert to the young and old.
After you first few videos about the actuators I tried them on my guitar. Never thought of obtaining violins and cellos for the same effect.
Fun to watch - I haven't been to Concord in years! (I went to Dartmouth, so bummed around NH a fair amount back in the day. Recognized the state house immediately!)
Loving this channel more each video...
Thank you, Really enjoyed the video and I will be looking to make something similar myself. Nice :)
I can’t wait to try to make one of those.
This is marvellous, unique and I'm sure it was a lot of fun showing outside 😉 As always, thanks for this very interesting video, and can't wait to take a look at the live oncoming 🤩 in the meantime, keep doing the good job And greetings from the warm Sicily 🇮🇹
Thanks! See you there.🙂
Now onto the horn section! I would love to hear horn actuators through brass instruments. There would be tremendous resonances, obviously, but I think it would add to the texture.
Fascinating stuff....cheers !
I would like to see some takes on creating infrasound, rotary subwoofer, or a large volume subwoofers ! Thanks for another great video !!
i'm goin to get a couple of those things and try it out, and go in search of some instruments, thank you for the idea, and i love your channel
A piano soundboard would also be a great resonator. But in general, from a functional decor piece, you could just have instruments sitting on an instrument stand in the room and they would also have a practical purpose. I wish I still lived in the area, it would have been great to see you guys on the street (I relocated from the MA/NH border to Northern Texas, so unfortunately it's just a little more unlikely that I'd catch you out and about)
I would love to see this used with a synthesizer with each instrument connected to the same synth instrument.
This channel never met a problem that couldn't be solved with epoxy
Ha!
You should get a good, multitrack recording of a string quartet and feed the appropriate track only to the appropriate instrument. That would be something very interesting to hear.
Super nice, you have the ability to always go further and impress us all. Now I am really interested in these actuators, maybe not with a musical instrument (my wife would kill me), but with some other stuff as you mentioned.
those instrument speakers sounds awesome, listened to this video on my pair of martin logan sequel ii electrostatic speakers, and it sounds fabulous :)
You guys are awesome!!! Keep the good work!
Thank you! Will do!
Great idea!
I did something similar for a walkabout street show years ago but using brass instruments that were wirelessly linked back to a "covert" mixing desk and mac mini hidden in a pram pushed by the sound guy.
I just imagine if I had time, I would build one based on your concept. However, I would hide the driver behind the bridge. At the same time, I would leave the neck and the strings intact for the visual purpose. Of course, acoustical isolation is obviously needed (by cushioning etc.) That would give everyone a good kick. Thanks! You're the best as always.
I've been doing this to my guitars for the last 10 years or so. I use a Tectonic TEAX32C30-4/B 32mm Balanced Exciter and double sided tape and put it on the center of the bridge and play music through it from a small cheap class D amp. It helps(play in) the solid spruce tops so that they sound better. I just play whatever music I like as background music for a few hours a month or so and it keeps the guitar sounding great.
Fantastic!
Looking forward to the livestreams!
MORE GREAT STUFF!!!
This is way too cool
Nice doc. Really like to hear these play a piece of music composed for a string quartet/quintet. I'd like to see your "crossover network".
This idea is super cool
Germany US-Zone might refer to the US occupied zone in Germany before BRD and DDR after ww2 so... 45 to 49 neat how the kid helped finding this out
What's also very impressive to me about this type of loudspeaker: people are standing literally _right_ next to them while they are playing at a still well-audible volume, and none of them show any sign of discomfort... that tells me that one of the biggest advantages of DML speakers is that your inner ear won't get bombarded by highly directional and powerful pulsed blasts when right next to the speaker. That might make this version especially well-suited for smaller rooms, and for events where it is unavoidable that guests would get very close to the speakers.
Alright, so I think it's time to multitrack record a small quartet using piezo pickups at the bridge of the instruments, cello, violin, etc. and then to playback those individually recorded channels to each instrument you have here.
Regarding the bass, Made in Germany, US Zone means it was built in Berlin between 1945 and 1949 when Berlin was split into 4 zones.
Very cool!
Amazing
Hi . Thank you for all you in Tech Ingredients. I enjoy all your videos. Could you send a link on where to buy the actuators?
This is so wholesome I love it
Thanks!