The Art of Scratchboxing: A DIY Project for Music Experimentation

In an era where technology has advanced exponentially, it's refreshing to see artists and musicians experimenting with old technology to create new sounds. One such project is the scratchbox, a DIY instrument that combines vintage cassette deck playback head with modern components to produce unique scratching sounds. The author of this article will guide you through the process of creating your own scratchbox using readily available materials.

The first step in creating a scratchbox is to gather the necessary components. You'll need a mono phone jack, a small momentary switch that's normally open, something to put it all in (such as an Altoid-style tin), and a playback head from an old cassette deck. The author has already found a suitable candidate for this project - a portable cassette deck that records and plays. The device was previously used but now the buttons don't work, making it perfect for disassembly.

The author disassembled the cassette deck to reveal its internal components. There are two heads: a record head and a playback head. You'll want to remove the playback head, which is usually located at the center of the unit. This requires removing a couple of screws, followed by a snip to cut the cable. With the playback head removed, you can now focus on preparing it for use in your scratchbox.

To prepare the playback head, place it into the tin and secure it with a small drill bit as a pilot hole. The larger bit will be used to create the final hole, allowing the phone jack to fit snugly inside the tin. Repeat this process on the other end of the box for the switch, starting with a small drill bit as a pilot hole before finishing it off with a larger bit.

Next, the author turned their attention to cleaning the playback head. This is an essential step, as built-up tape oxide can affect its performance. A small and soft pencil eraser was used to remove some of the oxidation, while also using a Q-tip and some alcohol to clean out any remaining debris. The tape guides on the playback head were then bent back into place using needlenose pliers to make them flush with the head.

With all the components prepared, it's time to wire them together. Standard wire was used for this purpose, with one contact made from the switch to the playback head, followed by a connection from the phone jack to the other connection on the playback head. Finally, there is a connection from the phone jack back to the switch. This circuit may seem straightforward, but it's essential to ensure that all connections are secure and functional.

With the wiring complete, the author moved on to securing the components in place. The phone jack was fastened with the nut, while the switch was secured with another nut. These were tightened down firmly to prevent any movement or malfunction.

The final step is to assemble the scratchbox itself. The playback head was placed outside of the tin and secured using hot glue. This provides a sturdy base for the device, ensuring that it will hold its shape over time.

With the scratchbox complete, it's now essential to create music with this new instrument. The author used an ordinary credit card as a makeshift microphone, rubbing its magnetic strip back and forth to generate strange and fascinating sounds. These scratches were then amplified using a mixer, producing a unique sound that's perfect for experimentation.

In conclusion, the scratchbox is a DIY project that combines vintage technology with modern materials to produce unusual sounds. By following these steps, you can create your own instrument and explore new possibilities in music creation. Whether you're an artist or musician looking for new inspiration or simply someone interested in exploring alternative sounds, this project is sure to fascinate.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmost old school scritches and scratches are now done digitally gone are the days of abusing albums but it's time to use some other old technology to find some new sounds to make your very own scratch boox you're only going to need a few things to start off with we'll need a mono Quin phone jack a small momentary switch that's normally open something to put it all in like an Altoid style tin and a playback head from an old cassette deck I've had this portable cassette deck that records and plays sitting around for a while and now the buttons don't even work on it so it's going to be perfect to take apart for this project there was four screws I had to loosen up and then it came apart and revealed the guts of this cassette deck now in this case there's two heads a record head and a playback head you want to make sure you remove the playback head which is usually the center a couple of screws to remove that and then just one snip to cut the cable we've now got our cassette deck playback head okay let's put it all together and we'll start with our tin place a phone jack in one end and mark the location and our switch can go on the other end of the tin out to the shop where the tin will go in a vise to hold it in place and then we're going to use a small drill bit to drill a pilot hole before we drill the larger hole once we've drilled the pilot hole it's time for the larger bit and that'll be the final hole for our quarter in phone jack and we'll check to make sure it fits and sure enough it'll fit right through that hole and we'll be able to tighten the nut on the other end now we'll repeat the same process on the other end of the box for our switch starting off with a small drill bit as a pilot hole then finishing it up with a larger bit and the switch will fit in there snugly now on to the cassette deck head and while we're at it this one could use a little cleaning so we're going to use a small and soft pencil eraser to remove some of the tape oxide built up around the head you could also use a q- and some alcohol to clean the head now we've got our three components it's time to wire them together using just some standard wire we're going to make one contact from the switch to the Head from the other connection on the head to our phone jack and then from the phone jack back to the other connection on the switch it's a pretty straightforward circuit now most cassette deck heads have these tape guides these two little pieces of metal that stick out and they have to be bent back so we'll use some needlenose pliers to bend them down and make them flush with the head okay we'll fasten the phone jack in place with with the nut and tighten that down and then also put the nut on the switch and tighten that down as well our two components and wiring are secured in our tin and now it's time to put the head in place now the head is just going to go on the outside of the tin and we'll use some hot glue and hold it in place until it dries our scratch box is complete and now we need something to play and that's going to be an ordinary credit card or gift card even though the cassette deck head is not magnetic and won't affect the credit card it's best to use a an expired one for this project there's a lot of info crammed in that magnetic strip and it's going to come out as some crazy scratch sounds I plugged it into my mixer and away we go this is best thought of as an exploratory instrument just rubbing the credit card's magnetic strip back and forth will create some crazy sounds so that's how to make the scratch box you can check out more cool music projects in junkyard jam band it's a great new book and there's a link in the description so that's how to make vintage technology modern again reusing old Tech is cool but not when it comes to shaving and nobody has more high-tech than Harry's their high-quality German engineer blades are crafted for sharpness and precision they really are amazing they're half price of the bigname drugstore Brands and of course they're shipped completely free deer door their starter kit is just 15 bucks and that includes the Sleek Razer fre blades and either Harry's shave cream or their foaming gel which is what I like plus as an added bonus you'll get $5 off your first purchase with my code Kip K5 so support my show and head over to harry's.com and experience a new way to shave that's harry's.com so that's how to make the scratchbox I hope you like this project thanks for watching and we'll see you next timemost old school scritches and scratches are now done digitally gone are the days of abusing albums but it's time to use some other old technology to find some new sounds to make your very own scratch boox you're only going to need a few things to start off with we'll need a mono Quin phone jack a small momentary switch that's normally open something to put it all in like an Altoid style tin and a playback head from an old cassette deck I've had this portable cassette deck that records and plays sitting around for a while and now the buttons don't even work on it so it's going to be perfect to take apart for this project there was four screws I had to loosen up and then it came apart and revealed the guts of this cassette deck now in this case there's two heads a record head and a playback head you want to make sure you remove the playback head which is usually the center a couple of screws to remove that and then just one snip to cut the cable we've now got our cassette deck playback head okay let's put it all together and we'll start with our tin place a phone jack in one end and mark the location and our switch can go on the other end of the tin out to the shop where the tin will go in a vise to hold it in place and then we're going to use a small drill bit to drill a pilot hole before we drill the larger hole once we've drilled the pilot hole it's time for the larger bit and that'll be the final hole for our quarter in phone jack and we'll check to make sure it fits and sure enough it'll fit right through that hole and we'll be able to tighten the nut on the other end now we'll repeat the same process on the other end of the box for our switch starting off with a small drill bit as a pilot hole then finishing it up with a larger bit and the switch will fit in there snugly now on to the cassette deck head and while we're at it this one could use a little cleaning so we're going to use a small and soft pencil eraser to remove some of the tape oxide built up around the head you could also use a q- and some alcohol to clean the head now we've got our three components it's time to wire them together using just some standard wire we're going to make one contact from the switch to the Head from the other connection on the head to our phone jack and then from the phone jack back to the other connection on the switch it's a pretty straightforward circuit now most cassette deck heads have these tape guides these two little pieces of metal that stick out and they have to be bent back so we'll use some needlenose pliers to bend them down and make them flush with the head okay we'll fasten the phone jack in place with with the nut and tighten that down and then also put the nut on the switch and tighten that down as well our two components and wiring are secured in our tin and now it's time to put the head in place now the head is just going to go on the outside of the tin and we'll use some hot glue and hold it in place until it dries our scratch box is complete and now we need something to play and that's going to be an ordinary credit card or gift card even though the cassette deck head is not magnetic and won't affect the credit card it's best to use a an expired one for this project there's a lot of info crammed in that magnetic strip and it's going to come out as some crazy scratch sounds I plugged it into my mixer and away we go this is best thought of as an exploratory instrument just rubbing the credit card's magnetic strip back and forth will create some crazy sounds so that's how to make the scratch box you can check out more cool music projects in junkyard jam band it's a great new book and there's a link in the description so that's how to make vintage technology modern again reusing old Tech is cool but not when it comes to shaving and nobody has more high-tech than Harry's their high-quality German engineer blades are crafted for sharpness and precision they really are amazing they're half price of the bigname drugstore Brands and of course they're shipped completely free deer door their starter kit is just 15 bucks and that includes the Sleek Razer fre blades and either Harry's shave cream or their foaming gel which is what I like plus as an added bonus you'll get $5 off your first purchase with my code Kip K5 so support my show and head over to harry's.com and experience a new way to shave that's harry's.com so that's how to make the scratchbox I hope you like this project thanks for watching and we'll see you next time\n"