VGA AUDIO/VIDEO SYNTHESIZER

2011

The VGA Audio/Video synthesizer is an instrument I created for live audio/video performances with modified VGA computer monitors. I’ve performed with it solo and alongside Kyle Evans as part of Cracked Ray Tube. The synthesizer consists of a hacked VGA cable in which the red, green, and blue pins are driven by the output of a sound mixer set up to do no-input mixing. The instrument is housed within a 1978 TRS-80 Microcomputer monitor and contains audio inputs connected directly to the red, green, and blue wires of the vga cable, potentiometers to discretely mix and control the brightness and intensity of the red, green, and blue channels, potentiometers controlling the horizontal and vertical sync of the vga monitors, and audio input and outputs with potentiometers to control the volume of the no-input mixing signal before it is sent to the speakers.

The instrument creates a wide range of imagery as the vga cable interprets the raw voltage from the no-input mixer into visual material.

TUTORIAL: Hacking a VGA Monitor to Bend Audio Into Video