THE INFAMOUS SINGING MASKS
Fun with talking telephones
by Mad Martian®
The Phone
First you have to find these at garage sales, thrift stores, or auction sites. Here's what they look like:
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KC Bearifone II
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KC Bearifone II (cheaper model)
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Spud Phone
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The two models of the bear are identical inside. There is also a "KC Barkifone", but it is the hardest to find. It is a little larger than the others and you may be able to utilize the ear moving mechanism in your mask. Note that the Spud phone was more difficult to convert, so I would only use that one if you find one cheap. There were a plethora of copycat phones in the 80's, so you may find others.
Unscrew the bottom and remove the fur.
The Mask
Choose a mask with a lightweight and mobile lower jaw. If you can't move it VERY easily with your hand, it won't work on the phone. If the jaw is too heavy, the mouth won't close.
The Mouth Extension
Cut a piece of plastic to fit inside the lower jaw of your mask. How big depends on the size of your mask. The smaller the better, since lighter weight provides better movement. You may want to put a piece of foam in the lower jaw and cut a slit in it for the plastic piece to fit snuggly. You can attach the plastic anyway you like. I chose 3 small nuts and bolts.
The Stiffener
This is optional, but necessary for most masks. Your phone comes with a spring between the jaw piece and the mechanism. This allows children to abuse their phone without breaking the mouth piece. It also allows too much slack when something heavier is on the jaw piece. I replace it with a piece of rigid plastic tubing or a steel PC board spacer. Both are available from most electronic supply places. The key is to get a size that fits snugly and exactly, so bring the part with you. Be careful not to break off the nub from either part.
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jaw piece with spring still attached.
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Jaw piece with broken upper nub! Be careful.
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Jaw piece with rigid plastic spacer installed.
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Here's what you'll have, ready to attach your mask:
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Completed unit.
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Plastic attachment.
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Now you can attach your mask! Stuff it until it sits right for the best mouth movement. You can now talk to your mask while on the phone. Interesting, but we're missing a key piece.
The Transmogrifier
This device converts standard audio signals for use with the phone. If you can't find the commercial unit, called the "Kidzmo", you'll have to do some soldering.
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The commercial unit, if you can find one.
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Our home-built one without all the features.
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You will note 3 inputs on the home-built unit - power, audio, and phone. The home-built unit runs off 9 volts just like the phones do. You can use a power y-adapter to run the phone and transmogrifier off the same power supply, minimum 400 miliamps.
Now you're probably wondering how to build the transmogrifier. Well, I have the schematic somewhere! I will post it when I find it.
To make the unit work with music, you need to have the original music on a separate track from the signal used to make the mouth open. There are several ways to do this. The cheap way is to record separate left and right channels on an audio cassette, with the original music on one channel connected to a speaker and a signal to make the mouth open on the other channel connected to the phone. You can also use a y-adapter to run two masks that sing together.
Making the signal is easy - use any sound that makes the mouth open. I plugged in an electronic keyboard and played different notes until I found one that worked best, then I created the signal track by hitting that key along with the singing in the music track.
Once you have one unit working, you'll want more! Get a multi-track recorder. Use track 1 for the original music, track 2 for the lead singer, track 3 for backup, and track 4 with a y-adapter for the chorus for a total of 4 masks. The more tracks you have, the more masks can sing different lyrics, but remember you have to program each track, so I would stick with a 4-track recorder.
And now here's a demo! This is part of a video I sent to apply to be on "Survivor".
Survivor Song
I'll post more demos with different voices eventually.
Copyright © 1995-2006 Mad Martian® All Rights Reserved.
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