Media Artist, Educator, Maker of Things
…Dip the finished mic in Plasti-Dip (or similar liquid rubber coating) to waterproof it. The soft rubber has less effect on the frequency response than I expected, but it will reduce the treble. (It probably won’t make a good hydrophone….
https://zachpoff.com/wp-content/uploads/ZLP-Pier6-hydro-test-trainsboats.mp3 I’m often surprised by the sounds that emerge from the water and what they can tell us. This winter I lowered an experimental hydrophone from Pier 6 in Brooklyn, hoping to record the drones of passing ships. (Each engine…
…the sounds of the deep that they’ve been recording with their new hydrophone array! From the press release: By invitation of The Norwegian Consulate General in New York, Radio Hopes and Dreams and Wave Farm are pleased to present The…
VLF (Very Low Frequency) radio waves vibrate at frequencies that overlap the human hearing range, although we can’t directly hear them. (Our ears sense physical waves rather than electromagnetic ones.) VLF radio is filled with “natural radio” emissions. Every lightning…
…ever seen. Off-grid solar experiments. The “Tillentown” tent, always good for coffee and conversation. And of course, 3 delicious meals a day, made with love by a skeleton crew who were just as talented as any of the guests. Final…
I have often worked on projects requiring short-range high quality wireless audio. Bluetooth is an obvious choice these days, but it has some problems outlined here. The ubiquity and decent quality of FM radios makes FM transmission an attractive choice,…
(This page is part of a series. See the rest of my contact microphone pages here.) The piezo sensors in contact mics and hydrophones need a buffer preamp to sound their best. There are many practical options listed in my…
The contemporary world produces a sea of electromagnetic (radio) noise. Most electronic devices emit radio byproducts as they operate – especially motors and microprocessors. A small fraction of these emissions occur at frequencies that we could hear if we could…
I’ve been playing with a pair of DIY inductive pickups recently, listening to the electromagnetic emissions of everyday objects. More info (and pix/sounds): Inductive Pickup Experiments….
I recently updated the D.I.Y. Resources section of this site: An LED lamp for my workbench made of flexible coolant hose Experiments with hacking FM transmitters to creat reliable short range radio links Adding synchronized digital sound to a Steenbeck…
…as we contribute our own gestures back into the network of sounding subjects through domains like radio, sound art, music, and film. This workshop features listening sessions, hands-on recording demonstrations, introductions to novel sensors like contact microphones and hydrophones, and…
…it behaves just like the trusty old Panasonic WM-61a (except not noisy!) Mike has a fantastic blog featuring extensive mic-building experiments with sound clips, explanations, and measurements. I called Primo and got 10 reasonably-matched capsules for $6 USD each. (They’re…