This is legitimately the coolest thing i've seen in a long time. I did think of another idea though. What about being able to load your own tapes in? you unwind the tape a bit, feed it into the machine, and the motors move the tape along like a normal cassette player. Yeah it would be straight up linear, but so is a record techniaclly.
I don't mean to back seat engineer but I think for the tape heads holder you might want to consider a mouse like design The buttons used on a mouse have an extremely fast response which would give you the ability to do unimaginable crabs and the middle button could be used for tracking and stopping the "platter" by clicking. The ergonomics of them allow you to free two or three fingers depending on your grip style. Plus the components already exist so I'm sure you'd save money from a lot of custom manufacturing. A device like the Razer Naga also has mad buttons you can use with your thumb. Just my thoughts, awesome work so far man.
You should make the top of the fader a slightly recessed capacitive touch sensitive and wide enough for 3 finger tips to tap on it. Most people can more rhythmically tap between 3 fingers then just 2. And then you do not have the mechanical delay of pressing a button.
Cool idea from an engineering standpoint but I'm wondering if the thing just gets so complex that it's no longer easier than scratching vinyl. The whole point of using pre-pressed vinyl to create new sounds and rhythms is that it's everywhere and makes use of common items (records, turntables, and two channel mixers). Slicing up and preparing tape for this requires not only learning a new technique and new muscle memory but also creating perfect tape loops and affixing them to the reels. At that point I wonder why someone wouldn't just use a flexible MIDI-based controller since those are essentially infinite as far as layout and capabilities. They also allow you to make use of common items like the computer you probably already own. Again, very cool concept and I'd love to play with this but I'm not sure it improves on vinyl or controllers either in flexibility or shallow learning curve. Anyway, keep building it! Don't let devil's advocates like me dissuade you from a cool project :-)
Thanks for your input, soylentcola, (love the Futurama reference). I definitely would like to make an all-digital version of The ScrubBoard after I do this tape-based one. But it would definitely be different than the digital scratchers that are out there now (or at least, the ones I've seen). As far as I know, there aren't any scratchers out there that do the kind of stuff that I want mine to do (namely, cutting and scratching with the same hand). If there are any out there, please let me know!
Jeremy Bell By using a couple of these: www.atmel.com/products/TouchSolutions/bsw/qtouch.aspx you could make a digital system which would do the same thing you're trying to do with tape. It can be designed in such a way that it would work just like your tape scrub board but without any outside wires or the need to manually cut pieces of tape. You could load the audio samples into the machine (Probably a computer) and assigned them to each touch sensor. You can have as many touch sensors as you want. The more sensors, the more complicated it will be.
A lot of people have been asking if I could sell a DIY kit so people can build their own version of my handmade prototype, and I wanted to let you all know that I'm working on it. If you'd like me to keep you posted, please sign up for the newsletter here: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
awesome idea dude, but the kill switch on the fader is a bit of a letdown for me. i dont know if i could get used to that, as separating the crossfader and the scratching medium is so ingrained in the way i scratch with a traditional turntable.
Well, you could just connect an external fader and not use the seesaw. But this really isn't meant to replace traditional scratching; it's more about creating a different kind of interface that allows for a different kind of sound and a more experimental approach to the genre. I think it would be really cool to have a performance that combines the ScrubBoard with traditional vinyl scratching.
Try use encoder strip tape continius, (mouse ball) optic sensor and software for charge sample, display lcd backgroud for marks guide samples, saludos desde Chile
You may want to patent this, or at least consult a patent attorney, before you enter into a manufacturing contract. I you don't, someone could patent your idea, which would for you to license your own product should you start production.
ME GUSTARÍA SABER COMO VA EL PROYECTO,ME ENCANTARÍA TENER UNO...ME ENCANTA EL SCRTACH Y NUNCA HE PODIDO COMPRARME UNOS TECHNICS...ojala tuviera uno TE HARÍA PROMOCIÓN...SALUDOS DESDE CEUTA (SPAIN)
ok, but cutting tape on a roll or band or whatever is pretty flimsy. Why not make it a tablet thing so you can load samples easy (change sounds) instead of really cutting tape? First record, then stick it on to something… It will wear out too etc. Sure, I absolutely love "real" stuff and 'mp3 ipad tape scratching" is not sexy. But it will be way more easy to change sounds and you only need to make app
If you want to make a MORE PORTABLE DESIGN (with the guitar design) WHY DON'T YOU DESIGN THE PORTABLE VERSION LIKE A SNARE DRUM ???? (if you don't know what a snare drum it, google it) it would be hard to play the scrub board when it's designed like a guitar.
This is legitimately the coolest thing i've seen in a long time.
I did think of another idea though. What about being able to load your own tapes in? you unwind the tape a bit, feed it into the machine, and the motors move the tape along like a normal cassette player. Yeah it would be straight up linear, but so is a record techniaclly.
I don't mean to back seat engineer but I think for the tape heads holder you might want to consider a mouse like design The buttons used on a mouse have an extremely fast response which would give you the ability to do unimaginable crabs and the middle button could be used for tracking and stopping the "platter" by clicking. The ergonomics of them allow you to free two or three fingers depending on your grip style. Plus the components already exist so I'm sure you'd save money from a lot of custom manufacturing. A device like the Razer Naga also has mad buttons you can use with your thumb. Just my thoughts, awesome work so far man.
so awesome !!!!
This is just want I need for my millions of tapes!! Great idea!!
This was 9 years ago?! Can’t wait to see what people do with this.
You should make the top of the fader a slightly recessed capacitive touch sensitive and wide enough for 3 finger tips to tap on it. Most people can more rhythmically tap between 3 fingers then just 2. And then you do not have the mechanical delay of pressing a button.
Cool idea from an engineering standpoint but I'm wondering if the thing just gets so complex that it's no longer easier than scratching vinyl. The whole point of using pre-pressed vinyl to create new sounds and rhythms is that it's everywhere and makes use of common items (records, turntables, and two channel mixers). Slicing up and preparing tape for this requires not only learning a new technique and new muscle memory but also creating perfect tape loops and affixing them to the reels. At that point I wonder why someone wouldn't just use a flexible MIDI-based controller since those are essentially infinite as far as layout and capabilities. They also allow you to make use of common items like the computer you probably already own. Again, very cool concept and I'd love to play with this but I'm not sure it improves on vinyl or controllers either in flexibility or shallow learning curve. Anyway, keep building it! Don't let devil's advocates like me dissuade you from a cool project :-)
Thanks for your input, soylentcola, (love the Futurama reference). I definitely would like to make an all-digital version of The ScrubBoard after I do this tape-based one. But it would definitely be different than the digital scratchers that are out there now (or at least, the ones I've seen). As far as I know, there aren't any scratchers out there that do the kind of stuff that I want mine to do (namely, cutting and scratching with the same hand). If there are any out there, please let me know!
Jeremy Bell By using a couple of these: www.atmel.com/products/TouchSolutions/bsw/qtouch.aspx
you could make a digital system which would do the same thing you're trying to do with tape. It can be designed in such a way that it would work just like your tape scrub board but without any outside wires or the need to manually cut pieces of tape. You could load the audio samples into the machine (Probably a computer) and assigned them to each touch sensor. You can have as many touch sensors as you want. The more sensors, the more complicated it will be.
It might also be nice to figure out a way to use different lengths of tape loops...
A lot of people have been asking if I could sell a DIY kit so people can build their own version of my handmade prototype, and I wanted to let you all know that I'm working on it. If you'd like me to keep you posted, please sign up for the newsletter here: jeremyseanbell.com/scrubboard/newsletter.html
genius man... I hope that you will succeed with your idea :D
This will also bring back cassette tapes n it having a purpose in modern day lol
Scrubboard: YES!
crazy shit dude. keep on
awesome idea dude, but the kill switch on the fader is a bit of a letdown for me. i dont know if i could get used to that, as separating the crossfader and the scratching medium is so ingrained in the way i scratch with a traditional turntable.
Well, you could just connect an external fader and not use the seesaw. But this really isn't meant to replace traditional scratching; it's more about creating a different kind of interface that allows for a different kind of sound and a more experimental approach to the genre. I think it would be really cool to have a performance that combines the ScrubBoard with traditional vinyl scratching.
Jeremy Bell Awesome idea, man! I would love to own this..
DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THATS JUST AWESOME
Why not use a tape from a tapedeck? It has 4 tracks on each side instead of just 2 (audio cassette)
Try use encoder strip tape continius, (mouse ball) optic sensor and software for charge sample, display lcd backgroud for marks guide samples, saludos desde Chile
why not insted of tape use like a traktor/serato timed tape so you would be able to play music from you computer/usb downloaded remixes :) ?
Uhmmmm... can I marry you? What an awesome invention. Hope this takes you far!
You may want to patent this, or at least consult a patent attorney, before you enter into a manufacturing contract. I you don't, someone could patent your idea, which would for you to license your own product should you start production.
ME GUSTARÍA SABER COMO VA EL PROYECTO,ME ENCANTARÍA TENER UNO...ME ENCANTA EL SCRTACH Y NUNCA HE PODIDO COMPRARME UNOS TECHNICS...ojala tuviera uno TE HARÍA PROMOCIÓN...SALUDOS DESDE CEUTA (SPAIN)
excelente necesitas inversionistas?
ok, but cutting tape on a roll or band or whatever is pretty flimsy. Why not make it a tablet thing so you can load samples easy (change sounds) instead of really cutting tape? First record, then stick it on to something… It will wear out too etc. Sure, I absolutely love "real" stuff and 'mp3 ipad tape scratching" is not sexy. But it will be way more easy to change sounds and you only need to make app
Very interesting
а есть перевод по-Русски???Ты гений Джи))
If you want to make a MORE PORTABLE DESIGN (with the guitar design) WHY DON'T YOU DESIGN THE PORTABLE VERSION LIKE A SNARE DRUM ???? (if you don't know what a snare drum it, google it) it would be hard to play the scrub board when it's designed like a guitar.
I hope you get no funding! This is cheating! Learn how to do it properly, this is stupid.