[HN Gopher] The Commodordion
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       The Commodordion
        
       Author : cowtools
       Score  : 302 points
       Date   : 2022-10-21 17:44 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (linusakesson.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (linusakesson.net)
        
       | arbitrage wrote:
       | Amazing musicianship.
        
       | torh wrote:
       | This is the best accordion I've seen in my life! Such a cool and
       | geeky project. Just what we need more of.
        
       | RocketOne wrote:
       | That's completely geeky and absolutely entertaining. Can't
       | believe the amount of work that went into that bit of ingenuity.
        
       | rkagerer wrote:
       | And the bellows is made of floppy disks. This is a masterpiece.
        
       | sixstringtheory wrote:
       | This guy is both an inspiration and makes me question the value
       | of my own existence. Always love watching and reading his work.
       | 
       | Now I want to figure out how to build a guitarch-linux.
        
       | Wuzado wrote:
       | Check out his C64 demo "A Mind Is Born", where he fits a
       | "procedurally-generating" song with visuals in barely 256(!!!)
       | bytes.
       | 
       | https://linusakesson.net/scene/a-mind-is-born/
        
       | raphar wrote:
       | Amazing. I though I was a nerd.
        
       | Eupraxias wrote:
       | I'm so happy to see this at the top of the list on a Friday
       | afternoon. Totally made my day, as well as a few others who are
       | too busy right now trying to close out the week to f5 on HN.
        
       | vidarh wrote:
       | I see Akesson, I click through. Absolutely amazing. Curious why
       | he chose a Datasette emulator instead of cartridges, though.
        
         | cbm-vic-20 wrote:
         | It's a lot easier to dump out a pre-recorded audio stream (or
         | even generate it with a simple modem) than it is to interface
         | with the C64's expansion connector.
        
           | vidarh wrote:
           | The simplest PCB designs for C64 cartridges requires fewer
           | components than the datasette emulator pictured, or you can
           | buy a ready-made more advanced one with a 64K eeprom for
           | ~$20.
        
       | Optimal_Persona wrote:
       | Very cool! It's funny, over the years I've seen high-tech digital
       | Roland accordions used in very trad venues where I wouldn't
       | expect them.
       | 
       | But TBH when I saw the thread I was expecting something a little
       | more like Keith Cary's Commodium (a mandolin made from a metal
       | bedpan)...
       | 
       | https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/odd-jobs-the-fanta...
        
       | kstrauser wrote:
       | Bravo. Bravo, sir. I flat-out giggled with glee during that
       | amazing video!
        
       | johnklos wrote:
       | That is so dumb. I love it!
        
       | danrochman wrote:
       | Amazing - bravo!! Is Weird Al Yankovic on HN? Because he REALLY
       | should see this.
        
         | amanj41 wrote:
         | this would have fit in perfectly in the white and nerdy music
         | video
        
       | bergenty wrote:
       | What a sad project but amazing implementation and vision.
       | Awesome!
        
         | mdp2021 wrote:
         | Your use of the term 'sad' seems to not match that of many of
         | us.
         | 
         | I was not informed about its history, so I checked, and
         | discovered that it means "satiated" - so the current use of
         | 'sad' comes from the idea of the discomfort that being burdened
         | by too much nourishment brings.
         | 
         | You must mean that the project is very "satiating". Good:
         | surely it can fill us with a most fulfilling nourishment. But I
         | would have used the most unambiguous term.
        
           | dwringer wrote:
           | Toward the end, the article states "unfortunately I won't be
           | playing this instrument very often, and I most definitely
           | won't practice for hours to improve my left-hand technique.
           | This rather undermines the potential for the Commodordion as
           | a viable musical instrument."
           | 
           | I believe there is a certain element of sadness in that.
           | However it's hopeful that he will continue experimenting with
           | the lessons learned, so I wouldn't describe it as sad.
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | scrozier wrote:
       | Not knowing in advance who Akesson is, I was prepared for this to
       | another bad attempt at music-adjacent technology. Then I watched
       | and listened to his performance...wonderful!
        
       | pwrrr wrote:
       | Amazing indeed! Linus always comes up with mindblowing stuff. A
       | true genius!
        
       | Caitlynmeeks wrote:
       | This is the best thing ever! Wow! Great work!
        
       | adhoc32 wrote:
       | Only respect for this mad guy. Not only did he build it he also
       | played it in public.
        
       | joemi wrote:
       | This is so much better in the video than what I thought it would
       | be from just the pictures. Which of course makes sense since it's
       | Akesson. He's one of the people behind the Teenage Engineering
       | Pocket Operators, after all.
        
         | gimmeThaBeet wrote:
         | I remember Linus videos with the pocket operators, somehow
         | didn't internalize that he worked for teenage engineering, and
         | in retrospect it feels like the most plainly obvious thing in
         | the world. _Of course he does._
        
         | raphar wrote:
         | Intro to Pocket Operators
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFD9_8H7lPA
         | 
         | Cool stuff
        
       | jrd259 wrote:
       | I am delighted to live in the era where such hackery occurs and
       | is also so easily shared.
        
       | tommek4077 wrote:
       | This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen - and I have
       | kids.
        
       | bityard wrote:
       | This is pretty impressive!
       | 
       | I play piano accordion (but not particularly well). I started
       | watching the video first and was a little troubled that the
       | bellows appeared to be home-made, crappy looking, and not nearly
       | as effective as they could be. Aftermarket bellows are not hard
       | to find and are not even that expensive if you get them from
       | China. But then I saw that he made them out of _floppy disks_ and
       | decided that was pure genius.
       | 
       | This also made me realize that a computer keyboard pretty closely
       | resembles the right hand of a chromatic button accordion, so I
       | assume that's how it's laid out.
       | 
       | Anyway, he certainly plays this cobbled-together instrument far
       | better than I'll ever play my analog accordion. There are MIDI
       | and other "digital" accordions out there but they are either
       | extremely expensive or limiting in terms of what you can do with
       | them, or both. This gives me hope that one day I could possibly
       | build my own programmable digital accordion.
        
       | Grothendank wrote:
       | Yooo, his performance is immaculate, had me dancing to the
       | entertainer like it was 1913. Yeee!
        
       | MaintenanceMode wrote:
       | This is truly bananas and wonderful. As an "old" that had a
       | Vic-20 and a commie 64, this just warms the heart.
        
       | fancyPantsZero wrote:
       | This made my day. Absolutely magnificent! My hat's off to you
       | sir.
        
       | jrochkind1 wrote:
       | This is completely insane.
        
       | felipelalli wrote:
       | lol
        
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       (page generated 2022-10-21 23:00 UTC)