It Turns Out That a Ukulele Built Around a Game Boy Can Make Sweet Chiptunes #MusicMonday
Great project if you have a broken GameBoy laying around and love to play the ukulele! The use of IR to sense string movement is particularly clever.
Via Hackster.io
Chiptunes are all the rage these days, and they’re usually created by programming the sound chips from vintage video game consoles or retro computers. Some musicians will even play chiptunes in real time with a MIDI setup. But, it’s rare to see an actual chiptune instrument, because there is incongruity between the analog nature of conventional instruments and the digital nature of sound chips. Luckily, ARISTIDES Alexandre didn’t let that phase him when he converted his Game Boy into a MIDI Ukulele.
Alexandre, who is a Paris-based electrical engineer, is no stranger to instruments, and has built amps, carbon fiber guitars, and more over the years. In this case, the idea was to build an instrument that was both acoustic and digital. Alexandre had an original Nintendo Game Boy, and decided that it would make a good Ukulele. That seems appropriate when you consider the small size, and the four strings make sense given that the Game Boy’s sound chip has four channels.
