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Drone Machine

A purple circuit board with 7 knobs across the middle and a small screen. Below each knob is a capacitive touch pad.

The Drone Machine, designed by Professor Andrew Brown, is a versatile 5 voice synthesizer. Performance is via capacitive touch pads with knobs for parameter control. It’s a great portable synth as it’s powered by either battery or USB. The Drone Machine is built on the OnBoard sProject PCB, powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller with audio […]

Lofi Sampler

Lofi Sampler This project is cool little looper/sampler project based around the ISD1820 “voice recorder” IC. It’s dirty and clicky but surprisingly endearing to play with. It is battery powered, built on a breadboard, and enclosed in a laser cut wooden box with buttons, dials and speaker grill on the top face. There are many […]

Found Sound at Brave New Works

Our research team visited Denmark, Western Australia to participate in Brave New Works, a creative arts festival that encourages experimentation and champions local performers, providing opportunities for artists to test out new ideas and share experimental works. We collaborated with local artists to run two workshops and a performance. Lo-fi Sampler Workshop Participants in the […]

Brave New Works Program Announcement

Our researchers will be travelling to Denmark, WA, in April to collaborate with local musicians and makers on ‘Found Sound’, a project consisting of two workshops and a performance. On Saturday, we will run a session where participants can build a lo-fi sampler to take home, while on Sunday morning, we will hold a workshop […]

Brave New Works, Denmark, WA

Our next research action will take place in Denmark, Western Australia, a coastal town 423 kilometres south-southeast of Perth. As part of our ongoing investigation into regional creative ecosystems, we are collaborating with local artists and musicians to present Found Sound, an interactive project exploring the intersection of audio, electronics, and place-based sound practices. Found […]

DIY Show n Tell

The DIY Synth Show and Tell was an event organised by some participants from the DIY Drone Machine workshop at UniSC in November 2024. The event featured several local musicians who brought along a variety of instruments they have made and/or perform with.

Build a Drone Synth Workshop

Exploring Regional Creativity: UniSC Maker Space Workshop 19 November 2024, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia Our first research action took place at the UniSC Maker Space on the Sunshine Coast, where we hosted a hands-on workshop focused on building a drone synthesiser designed by Dr Andrew Brown. Led by Dr Andrew Brown and John Ferguson, with […]