Hello! Here’s an English translation of my previos post. My English isn’t perfect so there might be some mistakes ;-).
Summer holidays are comming to an end, I have passed all september exams and now I am procrastinating doing some dumb things instead finishing two other, more serious projects ;-).
Here’s what polish AGH University of Science and Technology students do in their free time. I’d like to introduce my another, totally useless device – a musical floppy drives.
First attempt:
And now it’s time for the double:
How does it work?
It’s nothing new and it’s very simple. The sound comes from a magnetic head moved by stepper motor. To make a specific sound, head must be moved with appropriate frequency.
FDD has a simple interface – the description may be found for example [ HERE ]. To move the head you need to activate the drive by pulling the DRVSB0 or 1 (depends on the cable you have and the connector – notice the crossover on the FDD ribbon cable) pin low and then falling edge on STEP pin makes the head move one step in direction dependent on DIR pin state.
An ATMega microcontroller is generating those frequencies and it makes the drives play music.
Now it’s tome to call some older buddies (5,25′ or 8′ drivers) and make an orchestra!
Awesome! And very inspiring! Right now I’m trying to build a MIDIfied 3,5″-floppy drive myself.
[…] Lien vers la traduction en Anglais de son post de blog consacré à cette réalisation : http://silent.org.pl/home/2011/09/29/evil-floppy-drives-english-translation/ Share this:TwitterFacebook"Aimer" ceci :"J'aime"Soyez le premier à aimer […]
[…] Remember those noisy 3.5" floppy drives? Watch dueling drives play the Imperial March, and read how it was done. […]
Really liked the video!
Thought you’d be intersted in this homage clip to your video –
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7uKsVQe2Y8
[…] friquis que he visto en mucho tiempo : un estudiante de Polonia que responde al alias de SileNT, ha creado esta curiosa versión de la Marcha Imperial de Star […]
I so LOVE it 😀 hope you will go for holiday son again 😀 😀
I belive in a near future where you have your totally own concert for geeks like me completely full for listening for that 😀
Big thanks from Denmark ^^
Please, create a ringtone „Evil FDD” 🙂 I love this sound)
[…] Il vous explique également comme il a réussi ce tour sur son blog. […]
We would love to interview you via Skype on our TV show RightThisMinute. Can you give me a call in the U.S.? My number is 480-532-6830. Thanks you!
Good stuff, I really enjoyed the imperial march on the two drives
Please publish the soruce code and the circuit schematic!
[…] polonès de 21 anys amb canal propi a YouTube, on publica altres projectes similars. Al seu web explica com ho ha fet. Rate this: Comparteix:PrintEmailTwitterFacebookRedditLike this:LikeBe the first to […]
[…] Blog del autor explicándolo mejor: silent.org.pl Via Microsiervos WTF Gracias a Roger Hurtado Arias por el […]
[…] (Imperial March) auf zwei alten 3,5″ Diskettenlaufwerken gespielt. Wie das funktioniert, steht hier. Ähnliche […]
[…] Read more on this Post in English: http://silent.org.pl/home/2011/09/29/evil-floppy-drives-english-translation/ […]
[…] donc plus à rien, si ce n'est à vivre une seconde vie nettement moins monotone comme là. Voici quelques détails laissés par l'auteur sur son blog officiel. ce que j'apprécie particulièrement, c'est la […]
What range of audible notes are reproducible?
Looks live good old Amiga drives 😉
[…] Evil Floppy Drives [via Boing Boing] […]
[…] Evil Floppy Drives [via Boing Boing] […]
[…] dos viejas disqueteras para utilizarlas como instrumentos musicales. Según cuenta en su página, lograrlo “no es nada nuevo y es muy simple. El sonido proviene de un cabezal […]
This is soo awesome man 😀
[…] Paweł tells us how it works: It’s nothing new and it’s very simple. The sound comes from a magnetic head moved by stepper motor. To make a specific sound, head must be moved with appropriate frequency. […]
Hello.
Thanks for the video. I saw that you have used an ATMEL microcontroller. Which ATMEL microcontroller have you used?
Thanks again,
Filipe.
[…] Today we bring you the ominous tones of the Imperial March from Star Wars, as played by a duo of 3.5 inch floppy drives. […]
[…] sort of music with improvised electronics, few sound as cool as this Imperial March from Star Wars played by two floppy drives. According to [Pawel], “It’s nothing new” and quite simple. This may be true as […]
[…] ser muito irado, o feito já é conhecido e segundo o criador é “fácil” de se fazer. No seu site o polonês explica que os sons são gerados pela movimentação da cabeça magnética de leitura dos […]
Thanks for making me smile! What a great way to use old floppy drives, can you get more notes out of them?
Julian
[…] SileNT’s site: “How does it […]
[…] Auf YouTube erfreuen sich die ungewöhnlichen Musikvideos großer Beliebtheit. So wurde der Imperial March – neu vertont von zwei Floppy Drives – innerhalb einer Woche fast zwei Millionen Mal angesehen. Der Ton wird durch den Magnetkopf der Disketten-Laufwerke und dem Schrittmotor erzeugt. Für den jeweils gewünschten Ton muss der Magnetkopf mit einer bestimmten Frequenz gedreht werden, erklärt der für das Video verantwortliche Blogger SileNT. […]
Thanx for Imperial March! I think this is possible to make a floppy orchestra and play… The Phantom of the Opera, for example. =)
omg this is lovely!
[…] more on how to and such on his homepage GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); […]
[…] a brief outline of how it works, observant “It’s zero new and it’s really simple,” on his blog. The sound comes from a captivating conduct relocating over aArticle source: […]
[…] sort of music with improvised electronics, few sound as cool as this Imperial March from Star Wars played by two floppy drives. According to [Pawel], “It’s nothing new” and quite simple. This may be true as […]
[…] sort of music with improvised electronics, few sound as cool as this Imperial March from Star Wars played by two floppy drives. According to [Pawel], “It’s nothing new” and quite simple. This may be true as […]
[…] description of how it works, noting “It’s nothing new and it’s very simple,” on his blog. The sound comes from a magnetic head moving over a stepper motor. Silent adds he built the system […]
Thank you for this, this was an entertaining project today. How did you calculate the frequencies you used? I cannot replicate the sound as good as yours
[…] Silent's Projects via […]
rządzisz 😀
[…] Silent's Projects via […]
Any chance of a < 30s clip of this as an .mp3 or .m4r to use as a ring tone?
[…] arrange of song with makeshift electronics, few sound as cold as this Imperial Mar from Star Wars played by dual floppy drives. According to [Pawel], “It’s zero new” and utterly simple. This might be loyal as we’ve […]
We now miss 4 floppies versions xD
[…] sort of music with improvised electronics, few sound as cool as this Imperial March from Star Wars played by two floppy drives. According to [Pawel], “It’s nothing new” and quite simple. This may be true as […]
[…] sort of music with improvised electronics, few sound as cool as this Imperial March from Star Wars played by two floppy drives. According to [Pawel], “It’s nothing new” and quite simple. This may be true as […]
Cool 🙂
[…] Silent's Projects via Make:] […]
Impressive, most Impressive
[…] on a couple of three-and-a-half-inch FDDs, today is your lucky day – because a guy named Silent is going to tell you: The sound comes from a magnetic head moved by stepper motor. To make a […]