Homemade Tricks

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Trace

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I've been searching the board for homemade tricks and I have found some great ideas. My favorite so far is using aluminum foil as a snare sound. Please post any ideas for homemade instruments, gadgets, or whatever. Thank you, you have a poor student's gratitude.
 
I once tapped the woofer of my stereo speaker with a pencil and close-miked it to simulate a kick sound. It worked OK for what I was doing at the time. If you have a keyboard or drum machine ... it's probably better to go that way, though.
A place where you find a bunch of homemade instruments is the kitchen. Great for some aux percussion ... cheese graters, tupperware, glasses, coffee tins, spoons, you name it ... let your imagination go nuts.
 
Behringer ECM8000 inserted into your favorite orifice, and then sing your chorus line parts for more of an "internal" feel. EQ to taste. The proximity effect can be brutal, so roll off some lows. Doing situps can make some pretty cool sound effects.
 
In what the Big K has just offered, I have plugged my drum machine into 2 amps and mic'd both cabs with 4 mics to simulate
the mic'ing of a kit! I accentuated the cymbal crashes produced by the drum machine with a mic'd 18" crash to give a lil more realism! I eventually bounced 2 of the 4 tracks onto 1 and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome! BTW, 1 of those mic's I used
was the Beh ECM8000!
 
Yo:

When the horn man doesn't show up, I've used a Ka-zoo; fun sound to record.

Also have added a rim-shot counter beat using the rim shot pad on my drum machine to a vacant track. Nice effect.

I like Big K's take on using those odds and ends found in the kitchen -- cheese grater for example -- watch the ends of your fingers though.

Green Hornet:D :D :p
 
as far as micing drums. someone told me once that his friend did this (basically):

take those little earbud headphones and tape the buds to the bass drum head (not on the side you kick. on the side facing the audience, if you were looking at them from the floor of a concert.

he talked about splicing and making it 1/4". you can do that. but if i did it it would be plugging it directly into the line in or mic input. or a mixer. etc. havent tried it yet

eddie
 
I've tried LOTS of things, but probably the most successful involved one of those big metal can that popcorn and other stale shit comes in. I was finishing up a particular song and needed a realy booming-type sound - sort of like a kick drowning in reverb, but not quite. I found one of those big popcorn cans and made a shockmount around the lid for an SM57 with a little duct tape (what else?). I can't remember what I used to hit the side of the friggin' can with, but it was perfect.
 
perfect snare sound

If anyone ever needs a good snare sound..try a foil pie pan upside down under a frisbee...works like a charm...i happened upon that trick when i was like 7 years old or something..try it some time.
 
Oh yeah, this was cool, too...

Effect: Jets

Get a big box, big enough to like stuff your kids into, and turn it upside down on a C1000S. Mic the outside with a 57, and use a micro-tipped pen to draw long curves on the outside of the box. A little reverb and you've got yourself some low flying jets.
 
Here's a low tech flanger. Get the cardboard roll out of the center of the left over Christmas wraping paper and put a mic just inside one end. Point it basicly at whatever it is you want to record and wave it in slow circles or figure eights. Then make a bong out of the tube, have a few hits and listen to playback.
 
I LOVE this stuff- keep it coming!

I've spent many hours in a closet banging on all sorts of shit to create some percussive tracks. Things have advanced quite a bit since I first got involved in this. I suspect that a hardware sampler is the way to go with this technique.
 
I've had one of those cardboard tubes sitting here for a few weeks now waiting to be used somehow. I figured I would just stick a 57 in it and put it on an amp since it's too small for a bong :)
 
Here's one for those with way too much time on their hands. Lay a guitar amp on it's back and hang a 57 by the mic chord from the ceiling so when it's at rest it's a couple of inches off the grill in the sweet spot. Play guitar and roll tape and swing it like a pendulum. Break out the cardboard tube bong for some more listening.
 
Track Rat- You da man!!!

The Pit and the Pendulum!

Edgar Allan Poe gets involved in H/R.
 
Wait!!! I got anutha' 1 !!! Take 1 of them SMack 57 or 58 mics,and place approx 8-11" from the back of regular household
10"in fan. Place the front of the fan facing a git amp and plug your keyboard or git into amp. Turn the fan on keeping it at the lowest speed possible. If you have a dsp, put a small amount of flange into your signal and play! WALA! Ya' got your very own,inexpensive Leslie rotating speaker cabinet! Sounds 'specially good when organ samples are used!
 
Bathroom

How about a speaker and a mic in your bathroom for some reverb?
 
I read somewhere that John Lennon asked George Martin to hang him upside down and let him swing from the cieling while singing.I don't think he ever did it.

Try sampling or recording the sound that a crystal wine glass makes when it is rubbed around the mouth.Also add some of your favorite beverage in different amounts in several glasses for different notes.
 
The bathroom idea is awsome, but if you want some really strange reverb find a raquetball court. I got some incredible sounds yesterday with a close miked 57 and a cheapo condenser to pickup the room sounds.
 
tubedude said:
Behringer ECM8000 inserted into your favorite orifice, and then sing your chorus line parts for more of an "internal" feel. EQ to taste. The proximity effect can be brutal, so roll off some lows. Doing situps can make some pretty cool sound effects.
Click to expand...

Damn, I just got a pair of ECM8000 and already its becoming the butt of all jokes. :D
 
Trace said:
The bathroom idea is awsome, but if you want some really strange reverb find a raquetball court. I got some incredible sounds yesterday with a close miked 57 and a cheapo condenser to pickup the room sounds.
Click to expand...

That maybe a good idea for some, but I live in the city and a raquetball court is not feasible!
Now maybe a gymnasium!!?? Or howza' bout recording your own echo's in a cave !!??:D
 
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