Squeakerbox

Fall 2011

The Squeakerbox is my first ever attempt to build a musical instrument. It was a thrilling investigation and lead-in project during my Fall 2011 semester the University of Colorado and has since become one of my favorite projects. It was inspired by Guqins and the Tafelberg. Both are types of a rare stringed-percussive instruments.

The schematics for the 'Little Gem mkii' micro-amplifier came from runoffgroove.com. I did all the soldering myself on campus in the Engineering Center, with beads of sweat dripping from my furrowed brow. I printed the circuit board using a laminated acid bath subtractive process.

The Squeakerbox is so named because it uses an inexpensive piezo buzzer 'pickup' on the bridge to pick up the vibrations of the strings. If the piezo is touched or rubbed it squeaks quite loudly.

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