I make an electric piano wire instrument

[@ChrisKaplan]

I think this guy is never bored.

[@NicolasBras]

You're perfectly right!

[@h2o1969]

@@NicolasBras I believe it.

[@retrocjt]

Or is he so easily bored, he thinks so deeply, and creates these incredible projects!

[@mooflaghero1]

Or he is always bored

[@nathanjasper512]

This dude is awesome. I'd love to go to his house and be like, "Hey Nick what are you making today?

[@amj.composer]

As a musician, composer, and DIY music enthusiast, I find it insane how insanely talented and creative you are. It's almost hard to believe. I think I have basically watched all your videos

[@daveyjoseph6058]

literally making gibberish sounds

[@feli_1]

@@daveyjoseph6058 with instruments they have made themself and its rythm

[@daveyjoseph6058]

@@feli_1 this is what happens when writers write with writer's block.

[@sooth15]

The spinning pan flute instrument is really neat!

[@Frownlandia]

Metal is so rich in unexpected overtones! I was just in a hardware store the other day with some angle aluminum and the variety of tones you could get by holding it in different places was incredible...

[@Projacked1]

Sounds like a gong.....love it! The tuning part=fascinating.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@sammikinsderp]

SO cool. The only instruments I ever made by hand was a few bamboo flutes. Never properly tuned but fun to play and fun to make.

[@charles_antoine7737]

You have so much talent and creativity. You inspired me to start creating my own instruments and to learn others thanks a lot a don't stop what you do please.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot! I'm really happy to see other builders, please use all those ideas and improve them!

[@atarirob]

I'm amazed at how good that sounds. It sounds like FM synthesis almost, one string sounds like multiple different frequencies clashing in the most elegant way. Fantastic work, mate.

[@GuyNamedSean]

That's what it is! I knew it sounded similar to something I would always mess with on a synth when I was a kid. I really love how soft and rich the sound is.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@reasonforhopewithin]

It sounds like a ton modulator

[@reasonforhopewithin]

Ring lol

[@ossiehalvorson7702]

Tbf it literally is multiple frequencies. Overtones and whatnot.

[@ScrapwoodCity]

Really interesting idea!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@joethompson11]

That bicycle wheel one is amazing!

[@BrotherTris]

When frenchmen are like you, they are the best people in the world to hang out with… I’ve met several like you in my time on earth so far! 😁👍 every creative has an iPad with procreate on it 😎 love your channel I’ve shared it with everyone I know who will also love it

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot for your support!

[@kaitlyn__L]

Sometimes I find myself thinking of ways the form or control could be simplified in these videos, and have to remind myself he likes them to go all over the place :D (since you evoked French engineering in general: those Futuristic dashboards in 70s Citroëns come to mind!)

[@normanfreund]

A bicycle pan flute love it. You come up with some crazy ideas.

[@thorgal8692]

I like how excited he is when he finds somthing, that make a new cool sound and how he makes an instrument with this ... that is really cool

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks! I'm happy to share this!

[@Heisenberg2097]

I like your MWL (More with less) approach!!! I remember the modular nerds of the Schneider Psycho Circus freaking hot on how much $$$ their rig cost... but never producing anything half as creative as what you do. THUMBS UP! An artist is not defined by the cost of his pencil. But by his skill to be expressive.

[@vespathekid]

Watching this just reminded me of a trick we did as kids. We would loop a long piece of thread through a wire hanger and tie the ends together. Then we hung the thread over the top of our head and leaned forward so the hanger hung down. Then we pushed the thread into each ear with our fingers and would swing the hanger into walls and objects and listen to the sounds/vibrations it would make. Just like then this is cool stuff!

[@NicolasBras]

I love doing this too, this is the acoustic version of my intro!

[@echodelta9]

Younger hippie days someone taught us at a party to use an oven rack and 2 strings, built in reverb.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh, cool. I did that with a leftover stethoscope as a kid, but making it yourself is 100x cooler

[@djijspeakerguy4628]

One thing I’d like to touch on is that guitar & bass pickups, while they serve a similar purpose to microphones, actually work by sensing how far the metal string is. A pickup contains a magnet, close enough to the string to slightly magnetize it. When the string is vibrating, the magnetic field changes, and this causes a coil of wire in the pickup to generate a small amount of electricity. In contrast, microphones use any sound vibration to physically vibrate an electrical coil inside near a magnet, which causes the same generator effect. This is why pickups can’t pick up your voice, or something like a nylon string. They can, however, pick up the sound out of a smartphone due to the speaker having a vibrating metal coil inside, which has a similar effect to the pickup as a guitar string. So, while similar in many ways to a microphone, they are not the same thing.

[@manvilathwal7]

WOW!! HE'S CRAZY ABOUT ALL THESE THINGS. ONLY A CRAZY PERSON CAN MAKE ALL THESE KINDS OF INSTRUMENTS AND EVEN BY HIMSELF. A VERY VERY UNIQUE TALENT TRUELY❤❤❤ 👍👍👍

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@augustjschroeder]

This reminded me of a video I saw from a guy called "Edward Black Rose" where he made a keyboard that struck pieces of wire to make them vibrate, but he used a laser and a light sensor to pick up the vibrations. Kinda similar idea, maybe you could try his design when you're back from tour.

[@nateKitsura]

dude i know you're gonna become so much famous, and you deserve every little bit of it, i genuinely think you're a genius

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks! We will see, but I'm working on it!

[@crapadopalese]

Not only is the invention ingenius, the music you make with it is also funky. Awesome!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@warlord-chan9540]

The first note you played on this instrument immediately reminded me of the Elfenlied intro.

[@CleverNameBot13]

Interesting sound possibilities. Actually usable and very configurable. I liked it in the less refined versions with tons of overtones. The less one thinks of bass guitar, the better here. Excellent work!

[@elefantindaroom3543]

Nothing makes me happier than people who can make music out of anything!

[@danielleohallisey4218]

Such a great, haunting sound. I love the way the tuning warbles as the strings vibrate!

[@NicolasBras]

Mee too!

[@TheBanana93]

Anything can be an instrument if you want it to. I like to find random things and play something on them its good fun. I can't make stuff though so you are on a mad level

[@DanielSimu]

This is great, but I love that pan flute carrousel too! Thanks for sharing your work!

[@philippequintard2378]

Tu cartonnes , Ce qui m'impressione c'est la qualité apporté a l'éstétique visuelle en plus de la sonore. grand respect.

[@NicolasBras]

Grand merci! C'est souvent l'objet qui dicte la forme, moi je m'adapte!

[@philippequintard2378]

​@@NicolasBras yes and it show in a certain way , as the violin with nail even if it's not made to be super fancy (des bois precieux des gravure etc) it seem as it's fall all naturly in place. here it's the (because of the packaging) form of the string who give this feeling. 10 years ago I made some didjeridoos in plastic, the first one did have this almost organic even though it was vacuum cleaner and leaf blower tube (i suppose) it all seemed to fall in place, the made with pvc tube didn't had this vibe. But it could also be the confidence and smile you present the instrument with that could be a part or the origin of this impression. ( association implicite?) Either way thanks for sharing all those idea!

[@cbmtrx]

You've given me a lot to think about. Merci.

[@cainanlove8432]

The final song sounds like something out of earthbound. Awesome!

[@gustavgnoettgen]

I recommend one or two Floyd Rose saddle for tuning this easier. Maybe with extra screws to push the wires up.

[@echodelta9]

Try using one of those tiny electret mics as a contact pickup on the base. They work wonders, or get into MEMS mics even more up to date. Then amplify it and have the amp drive a low resistance coil with a iron core and place it close to the wire. In one phase it will be deep and the other hookup it will rival a water-phone or anything to score a space movie. This is how the e-bow works, it's rather simple.

[@Resomius]

I am impressed how much bell sounds you get with that metal pices. What is awesome!

[@hDansRandomCrud]

You are a madman! I love the electric kalimbass, and I need to know more about the rotary pan pipes and "trombone flute".

[@NicolasBras]

I will have the occasion to work again on those systems! And the bass pump flute is already in my ebook

[@uisato_]

My god, so much work is being put into this videos! Amazing, Nico!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot! I try!

[@Davett53]

Way to go....we're having fun now. Keeping doing your thing,....always a delight.

[@petermoriarty4674]

I LOVE these sounds! So inspiring... thank you!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@frankH117]

Just amazing bro! I never thought of this idea. good job

[@deborahsennedot4523]

So Floydian the beginning ! All you do is great, go on ! Vous êtes passionnant, un mixte entre un génie et Jason Momoa :D Bien à vous.

[@NicolasBras]

Grand merci!

[@stevenmayhew3944]

wall-mounted grandfather clocks use a coiled wire for the chime, hence the colorful sounding gong sound. Cuckoo clocks use the same thing followed by two whistles. Your instrument sounds bell-like.

[@divyajnana]

EVERYTHING here is absolutely, totally cool. Thank you.

[@Chaddilaculus]

I love this bit! The finished instrument sounds a bit like 8-bit video game music but in higher resolution if that makes sense. If I wasn’t inspired by your other projects already, I definitely feel like I need to mess around with magnetic and piezoelectric pickups now and sample some ASMR type stuff! Kudos! Thank you for the great content! This is quickly becoming one of my favourite channels!

[@eighthourlunch]

OMG! I wind my own guitar pickups, and this idea never once occurred to me. Thanks for the video and the inspiration!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks, and have fun!

[@billbergen9169]

probably the best instrument u built so far

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@Redjimon]

I have an old wind up clock that uses a coil spring as a chime and sounds similar too it. Hits it with a small brass hammer

[@newtonframes]

Cool idea

[@p3u1]

Nicolas, this video was very well edited, I can definetely see a nice bump in the quality of your content

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks! I try to learn from every video!

[@Raku777]

Thanks for sharing. Happy to see that you are still breaking new ground! I like bass sounds a lot and like how the instrument sounds. I also liked the smaller coiled ones too. There is a lot of potential here.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@DRsewage]

6:00 fun in that is it sounds like chords being played just by one string and they are all minor chords (or I just hear it like that)

[@NicolasBras]

There is a lot of overtones, and non inharmonic overtones, I usually follow the feeling of the moment and try to use feeling instead of musical theory, the results are better for this kind of instrument!

[@devtank]

Wow that really reminds me of the 90's band Laika, their first album Silver Apples of the Moon. So good man! Really love it.

[@NicolasBras]

Thank you!

[@azlandpilotcar4450]

Would make an excellent wind chime!

[@man-ham-city]

Impeccable.

[@prestonashworthmusic]

Brilliant, as always.

[@rodericklopez9850]

Very creative! Very musical! Great job!

[@arsenbaiken4345]

Keep going on! You'll hit a trend one day

[@NicolasBras]

Working on it!

[@robomatrix4582]

i'm not surprised this works, this is pretty much an electronic piano, except with a very small sound board. i'd like to hear this being used to play something like, the theme from i dream of genie.

[@evilanno3394]

Great work.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@clemmcguinness1087]

Love your work. Please do more

[@NicolasBras]

Thank you! Will do!

[@thislittleunknownband]

Very nice work and music! Intersting to watch this!

[@brewcewillis8328]

I think for these kind of experiments you should opt for an active pickup. i think it will produce a more powerful and clearer sound - possibly even other frequencies that a passive pickup can't capture.

[@timeltdme4355]

i really liked the sounds in the start of the video, but the end result was so different. not sure if it was the pickup or much softer body of the instrument compared to the vice, or a combination of both. overtones were suppresed and long drones were gone as well.

[@glebpalamarchuk9087]

Now I know how to make an insane speed woodwind arpeggio, nice

[@anonymouscoward9643]

The way you tune this is to project the desired frequency upon the instrument and carefully trim the string in question until you get the maximum output. Even with overtones, the fundamental will be the strongest...

[@AndreasKoch55]

What a nice idea! Great work!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@joemug4079]

Love your channel, fellow musician.

[@KEPHALLE]

As guitar player myself, when I saw you used a Seymour Duncan pickup for this experiment it suddenly came into mind the scene from Back To The Future when Marty tells Doc "Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?" Cool experiment though!

[@Darkstar96X]

An absolute genius idea... The final composition sounds like a track from Earthbound or some survival/horror game from before the 2000s

[@OscarUnderdog]

Hahahaha man this is so damn cool, I love how much dedication you show here! Wicked sounds too!!! 💙

[@Sludgebucket69]

Good sounds love it

[@milododds1]

"Electric Antennae" - I love it!

[@tomasribeiro3697]

the music reminded me of felix colgrave's animations, the wheel of flutes in particular.

[@tocodelray]

Wow I just found your channel and this is amazing! I'm so inspired to sample sounds from random things around the house!

[@lotmom]

Yess! New Nicolas instrument!

[@zanerichter3806]

Love your work, just wish you would post more often!

[@NicolasBras]

I'm working on a Short serie that will come more often, and those coming weeks I'll experiment a full time on KZbin, a lot more is coming!

[@zanerichter3806]

Can't wait!

[@onno-paulfrodobijlmer9445]

This is amazing. If you ever going to extend one to an octave (OR BEYOND) might consider diverent gauges. Pianowire have plenty. Cheers.

[@michaelsmusicinstruments9980]

great idea, as always very innovative, sounds a bit like a controlled theremin with vibrato

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@n.h_minh]

Good! Keep going Nicolas!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks, I will!

[@francismoore3352]

Love it! Just looking at that bike wheel - could you create some kind of jet of air that angles in the right way to play them to get clearer notes? Could be a fun challenge!

[@NicolasBras]

It is possible to get the pan flute sound, I just prefer this one!

[@saifmanman]

ahhhhh man i love that you cut the workshop sounds to be on beat

[@NicolasBras]

I always have fun mixing the workshop's sounds with the background music!

[@daniandres3211]

Amazing! I loved it.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@philippe-lebel]

Great. As always.

[@NicolasBras]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@ernst-filipmichel9744]

Reminds me of the music in the DJ booth in warioland 4

[@Cerafem]

So many inharmonics in each string, absolutely sounds like some strange ethereal kind of bell. I wonder if that's the free end's motion that lets it ring and not maintain direct harmonics? Might be worth experimenting with containing the string gently but leaving a free end to ring.

[@Cerafem]

Tuning by feel is probably the only rational way to go about it, there are just so many dissonant overtones that aren't going to cooperate with each other but will still line up in interesting ways

[@Cerafem]

Reminds me of some Portal 2 music; Haunted Panels, maybe some others

[@orbik_fin]

Strings create harmonic overtones when under tension so that they carry transverse waves. Without tension they mostly carry bending (flexural) waves whose speed of travel depends on frequency. Technically they also have longitudinal waves which should be harmonic, but they are weaker, have much higher pitch and aren't picked up by the magnetic pickups.

[@ni1661]

the track at the end is VV DOPE

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@mehdisahaby6430]

That music piece was insane 🔥nice work man 👍

[@Nic-tg2ei]

Best video on youtube.

[@shanksket3343]

You and Chad Zuber are probably my two favourite “chiseled straight from heaven” kind of creators, lol

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@rays7805]

That instrument makes music that sounds like avant garde stuff from the the early or mid 20th century. But that music had to be constructed with lots of tape editing. Your instrument does it live.

[@NicolasBras]

Yes very electroacoustic stuff!

[@datavalisofficial8730]

This is insanely good

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@AlanSamuel]

Tu t'eclates, mec!!! C'est de folie ton truc, impressionnant! Bravo!

[@Mgr.PiotrKogut]

perfect for drum and bass techno etc.

[@YannGuillermou]

The fundamentals are clearly below the audible range (you can see that it takes about one second for some wires to oscillate), I wonder what it sounds like pitched up a few octaves (like 5 octaves) to hear the lowest frequencies!

[@NicolasBras]

I didn't try, but now I want!

[@hhhobby]

it's nice to watch and listen 👍

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@knasterask1]

Very nice design❤

[@bottomfeederbluescbgs4132]

Get a spring, stretch it out to 2 screw hooks or posts on a peice of wood and throw a humbucker under it. Plug it into an amp on distortion setting and use a slide to play it like a lapsteel. Trust me. You won't regret.

[@NicolasBras]

I will try!

[@skinisdelicious3365]

The song you mar with all those intruments legit is what plays in my head when i take acid. Music liek that. I love it

[@raymondo162]

if you twisted the wire to make a flat disc-type shape, you would have what is inside a cuckoo (and other) clock. it's called a gong wire. you are very welcome

[@IsaacKuo]

I wonder whether pitch could be adjusted by operating the instrument upside-down and dipping the wires in water. Maybe just a single wire or a few wires, and a violin bow to keep the sound going (otherwise, the water would dampen the sound too quickly, I think).

[@NicolasBras]

I have to try now!

[@MarcWeertsMusic]

Very cool project, very interesting sounds!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@WilliamSaadGuitar]

Very interesting Nicolas!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@JackRazer]

Nice.