Draw With Music (Seriously) [Instructables How-To]

Jay Silver’s tiny musical synthesizer, the Drawdio, is a writing utensil that works by using the conductive properties of graphite to create sounds, turning a quick scribble into a chiptune-esque symphony. Jay says about its genesis:

One day I bought a “harmonium” kit at the street market in Bangalore. I hacksawed the keyboard off to make the first ever Drawdio circuit. We played with it at a local school in the slums using plants, water, our foreheads, etc. My friend told me graphite would work too. Meditating on it, I realized the Drawdio circuit should be literally attached to a pencil to “draw audio,” and that’s where the name came from: Draw + Audio."

Purveyors of the Drawdio (licensed under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license) have even modified the tool to create “remixed” takes on the Drawdio like paintbrushes and jackets. When the DIY creatives from Adafruit industries spotted the project at Maker Faire, they teamed up to make the parts of the Drawdio available to the masses through a selection of specialty electronic kits. But if you prefer to do your own soldering, we’ll highlight the main points here.

First off, you’ll design the power supply (which runs on a single AAA battery), the oscillator, and the amplifier. Then you’ll gather your tools, you also might want to brush up on some soldering techniques by reading through a few tutorials. Then double-check your parts list—a full list can be found here.

Next comes all the soldering! You’ll start with placing the 10K resistor on the PCB, which will set the brightness of the indicator LED. Solder this and the 300K resistor in the marked places. Then solder the capacitors, clip the leads, and attach the power switch. Take special care when soldering the TLC551 chip as well as the electrolytic capacitors, because they are polarized and won’t work properly if they’re attached on the wrong side. Finally, solder the transistors a few millimeters above the PCB.

Then it’s time to attach the speaker by clipping off the insulation from the end of the wire and tying the ends. Now solder the wire to the speaker, being careful not to melt the plastic. Twist the wire and attach the ends where marked.

Now slide the battery holder into the PBC, making sure it’s aligned correctly. Flip the on switch and if squeaking comes out of the speaker, you’ve assembled correctly. After that solder in the battery holder and clip the leads short.

Now, mount the PCB to the pencil and attach with a cable tie. Wrap copper tape around the pencil and attach with a thumbtack. Finally insert the battery, turn on the kit, and start making music!

Visit the Instructables How-To for further instruction, more detailed photographs, and tips on where to buy materials.