Synthesiser and Backing Tracks for Musicians' Jam Sessions Lionel built this valve-operated synthesiser using parts generously donated by the electronics store "Elequip" in Christchurch in the 1970s. Recycled parts included components from an old telephone exchange, a radio station, a 'plane cockpit and the keyboard from an old piano.  The piano frame, strings and tracking mechanism were all replaced with home-made switches (one for each key) made from strips of brass.  It was made to create the sound track for a stage production in the Christchurch Civic Centre. Because it used 251 radio valves, it required several cooling fans and they made too much noise to enjoy the sound directly and so he wired this to an 8-track Akai tape recorder, recorded the sound and then played it back without the synthesiser. He mastered around forty diverse continuous-loop backing tracks using this home-made synthesiser and licenced them for public performance.  The synthesiser was donat...

12-volt Jewellery Sander Lionel was asked by a friend to make him a miniature electric sander for shaping and smoothing small items of homemade jewellery. The jewellery sander in these photos was made from a recycled fan from a computer, mounted on a block of pine with a plastic box housing a socket to receive 12 volts from a conventional plug-pack.  A plastic disk cemented to the fan blades has been covered with a disk of fine sandpaper.  (Lionel said that this idea was not original with him.) The fan blade underneath was left intact as the fan helps to suck away from the surface the fine particles of waste material that sanding inevitably produces. Photo and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .

Three-monitor Presentation Screen . This portable system was used occasionally by Lionel for family-life seminars in Nerang (Qld).  It consists of a metal stand on wheels with a very large screen on one side (facing the audience) and on the back is a video monitor showing the presenter the view from a recording video camera, and a second screen (the lower one) that is a clone of the large screen to show the presenter what the audience is seeing on the big screen. If the presentation is not being filmed, then the video monitor, which has a built-in DVD player, can be used to screen a video which is able to be cloned on the large screen. All the connections for power, video, computer audio, etc. are all centred in one place at the back to save having a tangle of cables in all directions. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley.  Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley . Update: Unfortunately, this was completely destroyed by a deliberate act of...

Digital Piano Cabinet   This cabinet is shaped like an upright piano and not only houses a digital piano, it also has a computer screen for sheet music and midi recording.    Underneath the keyboard is a pull-out drawer with a cut-down laptop that uses the screen above the piano keyboard.    The digital piano is connected to this laptop via Midi USB allowing for both recording and playback in Midi format.   The screen is also a DVD player and in addition has an HDMI Android micro-computer attached on HDMI2 with an air-mouse for displaying sheet music when the cut-down laptop is not in use.   A power strip is concealed below the screen and single switch under the keyboard switches everything off when it is no longer in use.   The chair has since been replaced with a home-made piano-stool. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Posted with Lionel's permission by The Friends of Lionel Hartley .  

 Nature Sound Effects Generator This stage or film/video recording sound effects generator, built into a handy storage box has a volume control, Stereo RCA output and runs on 240volts AC. It has a continuous unlimited loop of rippling brook & bird sounds that are stored on a pre-programmed computer microchip and played through a small built-in amplifier and speaker or sent directly to a sound mixing desk (or both). The sound track was recorded by Lionel in the Watagan Mountain National Park in NSW and transferred to a microchip wired to and using a compiler written for an Atari ST computer. Photos and description courtesy of Lionel Hartley. Published with Lionel's permission by the Friends of Lionel Hartley . Video by the Friends of Lionel Hartley