imagination transducer (diy contact microphone)

http://richard-c.com

This video tutorial will show you how to make a contact microphone out of a $2 Piezo Transducer (part#: 273073A) from Radioshak. You also need an some sort of audio connector, which can either be salvaged from old electronics (preferred solution) or bought from Radioshack as well. This video also demonstrates how to make shockmount for the mike out of scrap styrofoam. You can use this contact microphone to amplify various musical instrument and even object. Here are some examples: mbira (as shown in the video. aka finger piano), yukalaylee, guitar, cello, glass, and pretty much any sort of idiophone, membranophone, and cordophone :).

This microphone is cheap and can be mounted on your instrument for recording and live performance.

I have to give a shout out to Jamie Burkart who showed me how to make this contact mike in the first place!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• contact
• microphone
• mike
• diy
• tutorial
• radioshack
• solder
• shockmount
• mbira
• performance
• music
• cheap
• love
• piezo
• transducer

[fionnymurf]

Good work.

The reason you can solder the wires in either arrangement is because one is positive and the other negative. All you are doing is changing the polarity. Exact same sound, opposite wave form. If you wanted to attach a "ground" or "shield" wire it (XLR for example) it would need to attach to a metallic surface nearby (mic casing, usually). Also there are devices for soldering that hold your wires and connectors that are very useful. They just clamp onto things. They're great.

[mrshiz111]

@LightsGoneWild funny. i would take this down, but it seems to steadily get hits, good feedback, and be useful to people

[vivektprasad]

nice video dude. loved it

[VioletDeliriums]

yay!

[genspike1]

Cool video. I went to radio shack today to get one. The guys there said they had never heard of it. I've bought them there before. They would'nt help me find it. I felt like I was in Walmart. They would'nt even look it up. The website says that store has them in stock too. Going back to fling it in there stupid faces.

[alexisonfire123]

Dude! Don't take it down :) Awesome video, very helpful for me! Thanks for making this :)

[kvsuprise]

hipster on crack.....good job tho

[joeeeeeeeeeeeee66666]

@mrshiz111 i found it useful!

[LightsGoneWild]

@mrshiz111 There's just so much WRONG with this video that I'd hate to see someone screw up perfectly good parts trying to reproduce your marginally useful result.

[LightsGoneWild]

@mrshiz111 Try cutting the first 8:33 out and it will be perfect. Seriously.