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Lazy Musicians Spawn Robot Ukulele

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the devil-made-them-do-it dept.

densetsu writes: "Three weeks ago, instead of forking over 5 whole bucks for an actual ukelele instruction booklet, I decided to teach myself for free using internet resources. Now that my will (and fingers) have been broken, these guys offer a faustian shortcut. They built a Lego Mindstorms-powered REMOTE CONTROLLED self-playing ukulele. The site has some nice photos and mindstorms code. Rock super-stardom, here I come!"

3 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. no mp3s? by jflash · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think they're lying - why else would they provide no MP3's? It's not like the Late Great Bob is going to file suit under the DMCA. ** Got to work out why these things can LOOK like they may work, but everyone wants to hear 'em!

  2. Not even remotely a new idea by No+Such+Agency · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Player pianos were made back in Victorian times, and a piano is a "stringed instrument", isn't it? This (very cool) "player ukelele" uses modern computer code, where the pianos used a punch card-like system more akin to older computers. A player piano still had to have a human operator to work foot pedals etc. to give the tune depth and "personality", but in principle this could have been automated too, once the sequence was worked out.

    I *do* wish they'd posted sound samples...

    --
    Freedom: "I won't!"
  3. One man's laziness is another man's ingenuity by LeiraHoward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Wow... For being "lazy," these guys sure put out a lot of effort for their automatic ukelele.

    Now if only someone would "be lazy" and come up with the cure to cancer...

    Seriously, though... I wonder how long til someone comes up with mods for any instrument out there... a piano wouldn't be that hard to do, you'd just need 88 fingers for your robot instead of 4...