Intersections in Musical Instrument Design and Maker Culture

There is a rich history of DIY practice and approaches in experimental music, sonic art and musical instrument design as can be found in the work of Don Buchla, David Tudor and Nicolas Collins among numerous others. The Maker Movement as a newer DIY sub-culture which includes hackspaces and Fablabs, brings political, technical and social contexts to this field. What are the relationships between contemporary music hack practices and the online and offline spaces of maker culture, and how should we situate this relationship against previously established DIY music practices? In what ways have the social intentions, democratisation of tools and open source design approaches inherent in the Maker Movement influenced the sonic culture of hardware DIY practices?

In this article, the investigators provide an interdisciplinary review on this topic grounded in an expertise in electronic instrument making and from working within a variety of maker communities. A critical narrative is drawn from the position of creative music and hacking practice. Attitudes towards ownership, making and community are described through examples of both archival and new works by artists and makers. Samples of the investigators’ creative making practices involving community and open source hardware are also presented.

The spaces of Maker Culture offer alternative models of working and fabrication for musical instrument makers, and potentially new venues and audiences for sonic cultures. This article aims to explore the of these intersecting worlds