JonDent - Exploring Electronic Music: February 2018

Sunday, 25 February 2018

Wasp - Synth tests.

This synth has been midified. I used the Elby Designs miniMIDI-WASP interface

Using a Korg SQ-1 to trigger.

LOvely sounding filter....12dB-per-octave VCF that has a range of about 3Hz to 16Hz.

It's CMOS based, using the 4069.

The CD4069UB (unbuffered) consists of 6 CMOS inverter circuits.
The digital inverters are used as an op-amps causing distortion and that "dirty" sound we all love.

The "EDP Wasp" was built at end of the seventies by the UK company "Electronic Dream Plant". The designers were Chris Huggett and Adrian Wagner.
The Wasp was probably the world's first battery-operated, portable, digital synthesizer.

Chris Huggett who co-founded Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) also founded the Oxford Synthesizer Company (who made the OSCar).
He is currently a design consultant for Novation .
https://global.novationmusic.com/novation-heritage

Adrian Wagner is the great-great grandson of the famous nineteenth-century opera composer, Richard Wagner.

The sounds of this synth can't only be due to the filter. It has to be due to the combination of the VCOs and VCF; the sound is very impressive. The VCO source is surprisingly analog. A couple of 555 timers!. If I'm reading the schemo correctly, their outputs appear to be converted to digital (four 4013) and then eventually fed into a couple of phase locked loops (4046)
The VCF sounds great when filtering a sawtooth wave, especially if modulated by the LFO random output and Envelope Generator.

The modulation controls are unusual in that in the middle position they do nothing. Twisting them clockwise will increase modulation. Twisting them anti clockwise will invert the modulation voltages.

If you ever come across the deluxe Wasp give it a go. Apart from the lovely wooden exterior, it boasts a external input, plus a volume control for each VCO.

Links:
+ CMOS
+ Ken Stones CGS page on the twin CMOS VCF
+ Schematic
+ Elby Designs miniMIDI-WASP interface
+ Jasper - DIY clone of the wasp
+ Muffwiggler jasper build thread

Saturday, 24 February 2018

Make Noise Krell patch

Reminds me of the old Buchla Krell patches.
The name originates from the film Forbidden Planet

Its a 1956 American science fiction film produced by Nicholas Nayfack, directed by Fred M. Wilcox and starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen.

This is self playing.

#makenoise0coast #krellpatch #krell #random #roland #rolanddemoradelay #rolanddemora Selfplaying synth patch. Reminds me a bit of the buchla krell patches.

A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on Feb 24, 2018 at 7:39pm PST

The Make Noise only has one random voltage source and one VCO, but it's still very flexible.

The film was groundbreaking as the first of any genre to use an entirely electronic musical score, courtesy of Bebe and Louis Barron.

Links:
+ Krell search

Wednesday, 21 February 2018

CMOS cookbook

Awesome book.

#cmoscookbook A very useful book

A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on Feb 20, 2018 at 2:50am PST

I think this is an essential text on all things CMOS.
The author is Don Lancaster.

"TTL Cookbook was equally solid!"

Others in this series are :
The IC opamp cookbook

and Lancaster's "Active Filter Cookbook".

Notes:
+ CMOS page
+ DIY page
+ TTL page

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

dIVISION 6 - Business Card Sequencer

A very easy build. The PCBs came as a kit with components.

I'll definitely buy the bigger one.

I bought this as a kit, with all parts including the microcontroller.

#division6 #businesscardsequencer #sequencer A quick and easy build. Very useful.

A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on Feb 20, 2018 at 2:55am PST

Links:
+ Division6
+ BOM and assembly

NLC Eurorack power distroboard.

Some pics of the nonlinearcircuits distroboard.

What is covfefe? The tweet by Donald Trump that baffled the internet ...

(n.) When you want to say "coverage" but your hands are too fat and small to hit all the letters on your keyboard.

Back to the build.

Notice the noise reducing capacitors.
These are decoupling capacitors. They filter out unwanted noise from power supplies.
"A decoupling capacitor is a capacitor used to decouple one part of an electrical network (circuit) from another. Noise caused by other circuit elements is shunted through the capacitor, reducing the effect it has on the rest of the circuit". (Wikipedia).

In a eurorack system, each module shares a common path to the power supply.
So changes in the current drawn by one one module may produce voltage changes large enough to affect the operation of others. The decoupling capacitor works as the module's local energy storage. The capacitor is placed between the power line and ground. It provides a bypass path for transient currents reducing the chance of voltage spikes and fluctuations.

I used 3.3K for the LED resistors

The build notes are here:
http://www.synthrotek.com/kit-assembly-instructions/modular-circuit-assembly-instructions/noise-filtering-power-distribution-board-assembly-instructions/

i ADDED +5V to this PSU using a simple 7805 voltage regulator and two 0.1uF caps.
The value of the caps could be 10uF or 1uF. I used 0.1uF mylar as I had these on hand.
If you decide to use electros, the negative end of the cap (cathode) should contact ground.

Another good alternative Power bus:
The Bastl instruments Juice Bus. This has onboard 5V

You may wish to add other voltages to your circuit. eg: 9V, 3.3V if you are prototyping circuits:
So ideas:

I haven't tested all these circuits, but notice that the input voltage is always higher than the output voltage.
Experiment with the capacitors
Most linear regulator datasheets suggest tantalum capacitors as they have higher ESR.
Remember that electrolytic capacitors (including tantalum) are polarized.
Best to read the datasheet and follow their instructions.

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Tiwanaku - Bolivia

This is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia.
It was discovered in 1549 by Spanish conquistador Pedro Cieza de León.
It's near Lake Titicata.

The Gate of the Sun. This megalithic solid stone arch is constructed from a single piece of stone. The weight is estimated to be 10 tons. The inscriptions found on the object are mysterious. They are believed to be either of astronomical and/or astrological significance.
The Gateway is 2.8 metres high and 3.8 metres wide.

The lintel is carved with 48 squares surrounding a central figure. Each square represents a character in the form of winged effigy. There are 32 effigies with human faces and 16 with condors' heads. All look to the central motif: the figure of a man with his head surrounded by 24 linear rays that may represent rays of the sun.
Some historians and archaeologists believe that the central figure represents the “Sun God”, while others have linked it with the Inca god Viracocha.
(Wikipedia).

Most archieologists appear to date the site to around 300BC to AD 300.
The area around Tiwanaku may have been inhabited as early as 1500 BC.

Ponce Monolith.

Such statues perhaps represented the race of stone giants which first populated the world in pan-Andean mythology. Gold pins and traces of piant indicate they were once clothed in textiles and decorated with bright colours. The statue is 3.5 metres tall and dates to c. 300 CE.

The figure holds a kero (qero) or tall beaker in one hand and a staff-like object, perhaps a sceptre or coca snuff tablet, in the other.

Another mega statue.

Kalasasaya, Tiwanaku. This walled compound of sandstone blocks creates a sacred space used for public and religious ceremonies. It measures 130 by 120 metres. Standing in the precinct is the Ponce Monolith.