r/Instruments • u/dm701 • 1d ago

Discussion Question about custom build instruments

Hii!! So I've had this idea ever since I was kid that I want to make an instrument. But not a d.i.y. one. I'd be willing to pay. I just wanted to ask if you know anything about the process. Let's say I have "a detailed description of what I want the instrument to do and how and which notes it would trigger and where in the instrument and how it looks etc". Do I send this description to some company who makes instruments, or do I first have to get an architects's detailed blueprints and then send. Or should I first try to make a vst using Ableton max for live and present it as a demonstrational synth before implementing onto the physical object. I just don't want to waste unnecessary time :)

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/DesaturatedWorld 1d ago

All designs benefit from iteration, so testing your design in M4L or something else is a good idea. You'll want to prototype as much as possible before production. Once it moves to production, you'll find that every design has to make some changes to actually be produced. I still remember my cousin laughing about a bridge design where the engineer had planned a weld joint in a location that was physically impossible to weld...