If you want something done right, you should probably hire a professional at or above market rate.
But if you want to learn, try doing it yourself!
Consider it a companion month to our time spent on Tutorials: this month’s theme is DIY. It’s about taking lessons from a Tutorial (or brazenly ignoring them) and diving headlong into the trenches, puzzling it out, eventually returning to share your findings in a vain attempt to stop others from making the same mistakes.
Or perhaps you’re a definition traditionalist, and DIY means building something physical. This month is also for you, the makers-of-things-which-make-sound (and maybe those things which insulate it). Sonic sculptures, instruments unheard of, Arduino assemblies and other things outside the box still have important roles to play in modern sound design, and we’d like to talk about them.
Pull up homemade stool, brace yourself in case you’ve never done that sort of thing before, and prepare for a very creative month.
If you’ve built it, and you think you’ve something to share, we want to hear about it.
Want to join in the conversation? Comment below, ask a question in the Designing Sound Exchange, post to Facebook, or start up a conversation on Twitter!
Please email richard [at] this site to contribute an article for this month’s topic. And as always, please feel free to go “off-topic” if there’s something else you’re burning to share with the community.
I’ve made all my own cables since I started (ahem quite a while ago) and those who have know how useful this can be in the field when repairs are required.
I’ll happily fashion all sorts of fixes to my soundkit and gear to make me more productive and/or comfortable, but one real easy one is my x-cord:
Basically solder up a series circuit of two xlr3m’s and two xlr3m’s and you’ll have a handy lead that makes two y-cords (of each sex) and two gender benders.
Cheap, cheerful and handy!
Btw, been an avid follower of tonebenders for years now, listened often on my travels to and from jobs, great stuff! (From the Bonnie west coast of Scotland)