How to build a microphone in times of financial crisis and economic upheaval

I could spend hours praising the many possibilities of a Piezo transducer. I also have in the past used them for many purposes.
for those who don't know what a transducer is, a brief background;

A transducer is a device or object that converts one form of energy to another. they are in your headphones and in a pickup, part of an electro-acoustic instrument. Of course, there are many types of transducers that work with different types of energy.
The transducers we're going to use are Piezo discs, which convert vibrations into electronic signals.

Piezo Disc with wires attached

Piezo discs can be found in almost any hardware store, and are normally pretty cheap. Maplin stocks them in Dublin beside the jervis street shopping centre. I'd imagine most hardware stores should, otherwise they pretty much fail at life.
The best ones to look for are the ones that have the wires already attached to them, they save you having to solder them yourself. Plus, in my experience Piezo discs are pretty delicate.

So, on to the building of the microphone.......

How to build a microphone in times of financial crisis and economic upheaval

The materials needed for this are pretty basic, in all it should cost a lot less than the €6 guitar which you can read about by clicking here. In all, what you need is:

• Piezo disc (like above)
  You can glue it to a bottle cap for extra support if you want
• 1/4" input jack
• an empty Coke Can
• wire mesh
• Polystyrene/foam/sponge/insulation.

the can you use doesn't make much of a difference really, but it will give your microphone a different tone depending on the size, shape and material. Personally, there is something iconic and strikingly recognizable about a coke can. 

And, for added bonus, people would be like "Hey, look at that guy singing into a coke can".

The steps in making the Coke can microphone are as follows;

1. Make sure the coke can is clean and not sticky in any way shape or form.
2. Using a cordless drill, drill an 8mm hole in the base of the can.
3. Using a sharp stanley knife, cut around the top of the coke can and remove the top.
4. Solder the piezo disc cables to the input jack. The signal wire going to the outside notch and the ground wire going to the ground notch. If this requires an extra length of wire, any audio cable will suffice.
5. Screw the input jack to the 8mm hole in the bottom of the can. The jack is threaded in order for a nut and washer to be screwed on.
6. Stuff the bottom of the can with whichever foam or insulation you gathered. I just used part of an old mattress. The idea is you want to fill out a bit of unwanted space without muting it entirely. like when drummers put pillows in their bass drum.
7. Place the piezo transducer inside the can and duct tape it in place so that it doesnt move around.
8. Cut some wire mesh that will lightly fit over the open top of the can. this is your pop shield.
9. Shape the wire mesh and duct tape it in place.
10. Plug the mic into a heavily distorted amp and scream your ass off.

Congratulations, you've now made your own garage microphone. If you've also made the 1 string slide guitar, you are legally qualified to be called a one man band.
Go forth and be rad.

Coke can microphone in all it's iconic glory

I suppose some of you reading this might be intrigued to hear what the microphone sounds like so I've provided a couple of sound samples of my own below.

Sittin' on top of the World (First verse) 

Salute your solution (last verse)