_NetNomadFeb 22
Shirley Knott
This is what I've been obsessed with for the last few weeks. It's taken a while but I now have a working Haxocorder - a custom hacked Haxophone. I'm still refining but it's now a usable electronic wind instrument for a recorder player.
https://youtu.be/C5GVVqOo5GA
Building a Haxophone pt 3 - the first Haxocorder in the world!

YouTube
Feb 22 at 10:05amWeb
Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Feb 22
@shieladixon Absolutely the coolest thing I’ve seen lately!
Show threadmyrmepropagandistFeb 22

@shieladixon

Adding this to #fediTV

Show threadCouscousFeb 22
@shieladixon
amazing work 😻 love it !
Show threadmakkin thingFeb 22

@shieladixon very cool! What do you think of the keyboard switches for the keys? I was trying to emulate a sax and found they actuated too early as you press them down. Real sax keys (mostly) change the note at the very bottom of the press.

I'll have to check out how the haxophone does the breath control - my design is ok (using a pressure sensor) but could probably be easier to clean out, and it's not very cheap.

Show threadShirley KnottFeb 22
@gbrnt It's an interesting question. I've loved the feel of them right from the start. They're even further away from recorder holes, but I haven't had a problem at all. Maybe it's because I'm a brass player first, and those valves have a long travel, IDK. These switches are certainly a lot better than the capacitive touch ones on my re.corder - those things get wet in use and stop working. I really wanted a really positive action and this has it.
Cleaning the pressure sensor (possibly more importantly the printed mouthpiece and tubes) is a very good question. Javier, the creator of the Haxophone, does warn about acrid smells and the mould he's talking about is a problem I've had with a camelbak hydration system. I'm concerned about it here. So far I've been running some alcohol through the tubes occasionally, I don't know whether that helps. Only time will tell on that one.
Show threadmakkin thingFeb 22

@shieladixon Alcohol is probably a good bet, thanks for the tip!

Really interesting to hear about your very different experiences with the switches! I went to quite a lot of trouble to make mine feel sax like enough for me: https://www.gbryant.co.uk/posts/2025-12-28_electro-sax-keys/

But I agree it's probably because we're coming from different places! I've only (seriously) played the sax so want it to feel like that, while you're used to more varied instruments (brass and recorder sound like opposite extremes!)

Electro-Sax Keys

Developing natural-feeling keys for the electro-sax

Show threadShirley KnottFeb 22
@gbrnt Thanks for the link to your project - really interesting!
I have wondered about microswitches and your findings are interesting. I know the noise would bother me too. Retro gamers love microswitched joysticks but I hate hearing what sounds like they're shaking a box of tic-tacs!
Show threadmakkin thingFeb 22
@shieladixon I suspect you could find quiet ones! Maybe "silent" computer mice would be a good place to look?
Show threadmal3abyFeb 23

@shieladixon This is amazing! I want one!

Partly because it's just very cool in itself. But also because, some years ago, I made a MIDI glockenspiel-playing robot, and the idea of playing that using a recorder controller somehow amuses me :)

Show threadShirley KnottFeb 23
@mal3aby I would love to make a glockenspiel robot. I think space is the issue with that one for me. Did you blog about it?
Show threadmal3abyFeb 23

@shieladixon Haha yeah, it does take up a fair amount of space! For that reason it spends most of its time tucked away in a cupboard in the loft.

I have not blogged about it, but I'm in the process of setting up a blog, and will probably post about it at some point...

Show threadShirley KnottFeb 23
@mal3aby Controlling a glock with a wind instrument is a funny idea. It does feel very odd to use this with inappropriate patches like piano or whatever.
Show threadmal3abyFeb 23

@shieladixon Yeah, I imagine that's a lot of fun :)

Is that a flugel horn in the background of your video?

Show threadShirley KnottFeb 23
@mal3aby Yes, there's a flugel and a cornet there. I'm a brass player first, but I had an accident involving my top lip and front teeth and don't have the range and stamina any more. I took up recorder at that point.
Show threadmal3abyFeb 24
@shieladixon Ah, I thought I could see something else shiny there too! My wife plays cornet (very well); for a few years now I've been playing the baritone (badly), in part because I was accompanying her to so many gigs I thought I might as well join in!
Show threadShirley KnottFeb 25
@mal3aby There are things I really miss about brass banding. My cornet is a round-stamp Sovereign, from the serial number, made in 1976. A design never improved upon! It's shiny only after being polished. That's the trouble with silver plate.
The 3-valve fingering system is the one I'm most familiar with and I've seriously thought about implementing in the haxophone, but it would rely on either breath pressure or maybe a bite sensor to select register (C to G to C to E to G etc) but I think that's going to end up being quite sketchy in the upper registers and difficult to play.
Show threadmal3abyFeb 26

@shieladixon Nice! The baritone I play (loaned from band, not mine) is a Sovereign; not a round stamp but it's still lovely to play. I also have a baritone (cheap off ebay) that must be about 100 years old, but still plays nicely.

Yeah, I've also sometimes thought about making a brass-like controller - but I equally don't have a good solution for the register selection! I guess it would take some experimentation... which could be a lot of fun, but I don't have any time for it right now, alas.