Thanks to Ed of Elk Elktronics for his excellent work on bringing this baby back to life.
The CR 78 is a classic.
JonDent - Explorations in Electronic Music, Sci Fi, Art & Travel (but mostly electronic music)
Thursday 26 August 2021
Saturday 21 August 2021
NLC - Build notes for the Cellular Automata - Part 2
This is part 2 of my build notes for the CA module
This is the build so far
Trannies next
There are 16 x BC 847s
Finally got the 072 op-amps on.
Final caps and resistors
L4148 diodes next
Rectifiers to prevent accidental damage if the module is plugged in backwards
Headers,
Lots of jacks ..24
....
The CA is really beautiful to behold. The visual patterns are hypnotic.
Plus I like that it outputs both CVs and gates.
Use a quantiser if you need precise CV values.
....
The clock input was a bit fussy.
Seems to prefer a square wave.
The CA works really well with the NLC 4seq
The 4seq has a clock divider.
The first division was patched into the CAs clock input.
The other divisions into the seed inputs.
The other module I like to use this with is a sequential switch.
If you patch the gate outs through the switch, you can get lots of variation
Links
+ BOM
+ Wiki
+ NLC blog
Thursday 19 August 2021
ENNER – BODY-PATCHING SYNTHESIZER
SOMA have a new synthesizer.
It's called the ENNER .
The name's origin is a combination of two words : Inner & Energy
As an instrument, ENNER is a unique analog synthesizer with the key principle being that all signals that make sound pass through and are managed by your body.
Your hands become the central part of the circuitry.
The central idea is that as you touch the different contact pads with different parts of your fingers and palms (with different amounts of pressure) you are letting signals pass through your body. This defines the mixing, volume, timbre, feedback and other parameters of synthesis.
Human skin has much more complex electric properties than we think.
Our skin provides not just resistance but also some capacitive properties and even
nonlinear dependence of conductivity from current, its direction and time during which the current was applied.
All of this affects the sound, making you the key part of the synthesis process
This makes the ENNER a very expressive sound tool.
It is great for generating bits, pads, FX, noises, clicks and glitches.
It even functions as a unique vocal mic with built-in analog FX and much more.
It even functions as a unique vocal mic with built-in analog FX and much more.
The main concept was to create an instrument that’s closely connected to the performer's
emotional state, our inner energy. This idea belongs to the founder of SOMA Vlad Kreimer
and Danish sound artist SiSTOR, Dalin Waldo, the designer of the instrument.
emotional state, our inner energy. This idea belongs to the founder of SOMA Vlad Kreimer
and Danish sound artist SiSTOR, Dalin Waldo, the designer of the instrument.
She created the design of the front panel (pads layout and handwritten inscriptions) and she came up with the name ENNER.
ENNER is a unique electronic instrument that offers pronounced possibilities for sound
extraction. ENNER reacts to the nature of touch, creating many subtle nuances of sound.
For example, two taps on the same pad, but with different pressure, speed, or angle, will
produce different sounds.
extraction. ENNER reacts to the nature of touch, creating many subtle nuances of sound.
For example, two taps on the same pad, but with different pressure, speed, or angle, will
produce different sounds.
Technical features.
All pots of ENNER are metallic and also function as inputs or outputs. So touching a pot canchange not only the parameters but also patch audio signals.
The wooden housing is cutom made from the Ash-Tree.
It's not only beautiful, but also provides the necessary acoustic properties for the electro-acoustic part
of ENNER.
of ENNER.
" It has a piezo pickup attached to the front panel that captures sound
from the casing itself. There is a metallic spring and you can attach
rubber bands to the panel to create various acoustic sounds. The piezo
mic can capture clicks and scratches you make with your fingers, and it
also allows you to create filtered feedback."
The top panel is constructed with a high-quality PCB with golden metalization of the
conductive pads. The instrument is available in black and red.
conductive pads. The instrument is available in black and red.
The triangle section in the centre consists of a modulated stereo delay at the apex followed by a direct stereo input and then a series of filter arrays.
The filters consist of
HP (left/right)
BPF (high, left/right)
BPF (low, left/right)
LPF (left/right)
The bottom of the triangle (NOISE pad) is the output of static pink noise.
On either side of the triangle are two synths.
The left one has one master generator, the output of which is divided six times by two
with individual outputs for each stage of division (PULSE 1-6).
This
synth is aimed at creating rhythmical clicks, basses and octave tones.
The frequency of the master generator is defined by the TEMPO knob.
The
output pads &1,2,3 are logical multiplications of different PULSE
outputs giving additional and more complex rhythm combinations.
On the right side of ENNER, there is a five-voice synthesizer with individual adjustment of frequency for each voice
TUNE knobs are also the outputs of the voices, so by touching them you can patch the voices to the filter’s inputs.
The synthesizer has separate output pads for each voice (pads OUT 1-5),
individual modulation inputs (MOD 1-5) and ring modulation outputs (the
RING 12, 23, 34 numbers indicate which voices are sources for the ring
modulation).
Connecting MOD and OUT pads of one voice with your fingers will pitch it
up. The fifth voice has an additional modulation pad MOD 5- which can
shift the pitch of the fifth voice down (connect it to +12 pad or any
pad that has some positive signal including the output of the fifth
voice).
External in (EXT socket and EXT pad) lets you send an external audio
signal to ENNER and process it through the array of filters, delay and
other ENNER stuff
Availability and price.
ENNER is produced exclusively by the Russian division of SOMA. The price is 440 euros(excluding VAT, shipping, etc.).
You can order ENNER from the SOMA website, in the future it will be available in stores.
Building the Klee sequencer - Part 3
This is part 3 of the build process of the Klee Sequencer.
I've been intending to build this for many years.
It's a pretty deep and unusual sequencer which uses shift registers.
You can set it up to be two 8 step sequencers, one 16 step se or an 8 step & 16 step.
There is a random section, it features gates & triggers.
It's been described as a Music Thing Turing Machine with more control.
These notes are just my personal record of the building process as I encountered it.
I'm not a professional technician.. just a hacker. I use these to help trouble shoot should I encounter any probs. If they help someone else, that's great too.
I've divided the build into 3 stages
Here are the first two pages:
Klee build - part 1---------------------------------------
This is the top of the daughter board.
Im about to populate it with pots, sliders, switches, LEDs etc.
The slide Pots sit on top ..All the slide pots are 50K
There are 2 types of switches
27 x On-On
16 x on-off-on
---------------
There are 3 x 1M pots
& 3 x 100K pots all linear
Im soldering some of the on-off on switches first.
I think they have the second highest profile.
The jacks are the tallest components.
Everyone has their own way of installing components so that they slot nicely into front panels.
I like to do it a bit at a time.
The switches make positioning the face plate tricky.
Getting the faceplate finally on was a really challenge.
The shape of the switches makes it extra hard, but it finally went on
---------------------
I forgot to install the 1K resistor
So I added this on the rear of the daughter PCB
It made all the difference.
Finally, the knobs are all on.
Looks great and works too
----------------
Now that I've finished the building bit, its time to work out what all the controls do.
Much of the sequencer is pretty straight forward.
However there are some unique sections which need a bit of research.
Invert B
A bit about the Invert B function.
We have two eight bit shift registers called A & B.
They can either be tied together to form one
giant sixteen bit shift register or each of these shift registers can recirculate its own eight bit pattern.
The
8X2/16X1 switch takes care of this.
Shift Register B has a switchable inverter on its output.
It's a unique way to create a 32 bit pattern out of a 16 bit pattern.
There are 3 modes in which Inverter B can be used:
A. 8X2 Pattern
B. 16X2 Pattern
C. 8X2 Random
A. 8X2 Pattern
Shift Register A circulates an 8 bit repeating pattern
Shift Register B circulates 16 bit repeating pattern
Output A produces a unique 8 step Pattern
Output B produces a unique 16 step Pattern
(The last 8 bits are the inverted first 8 bits)
Output A+B produces a unique 16 step pattern
B. 16X2 Pattern
Shift Register A and B are joined together, circulating
a 32 bit repeating pattern
Output A produces a unique 32 step pattern
Output B produces a unique 32 step pattern
Output A+B produces a unique 32 step pattern
C. 8X2 Random
Shift Register A circulates a random, non-repeating
pattern
Shift Register B circulates a 16 bit repeating pattern
Output A produces a random, non repeating pattern
Output B produces a unique 16 step pattern
Output A+B produces a random-non repeating pattern
with a repeating element supplied by Register B
The inverter essentially inverts the active bits in the register as the sequencer steps along.
(turns all the high bits into low bits or vice versa)
You can get really interesting results esp from the A+B output.
-----------------------------------------
LOAD Bus 1
Load Bus 1
There are a few ways of triggering the bit load function:
1. Manual - press the top green button
2. load input jack... a clock signal from a clock divider seems to work fine.
3. load bus 1
So it looks like Bus 1 can trigger the load function.
This doesn't always happen..
It only happens when there is a change in bus... eg the klee steps from bus 3 to bus 1 .
-----------------------------------
Merge
This is how you tie notes (legato).
You also un-merge triggers from gates.
"when the merge switches are off (down position), the gate of each stage will stay
high for as long as our clock signal is high.
If the clock signal has a very long “on time”,
then our gates will be on for the same long period of time.
If the clock signal has a very
short “on time”, again, our gates will be on for just that short period of time. Already, we
see an advantage here – the length of the notes produced by the Klee can be varied by
varying the duty cycle of the clock"
"The merge switches provide a way to manipulate the gate bus even further by altering the
number of triggers and gates present on a particular bus, and by altering the width of the
gates on a particular bus.
It does this by ‘merging’ adjacent gate signals together"
The gate ontime (width) is now no longer proportional to the on-time of the clock
(Know the Klee manual).
--------------------
The CLOCK
The clock you use to drive the Klee is important.
Actually any fluctuating voltage ... random or rhythmic will do.
It can be a sine, triangle, saw or pulse. It could be an envelope generator, a VCO or an LFO.
The only impt thing is that its transition
includes going from below 2.5V to above 2.5V and below again.
"Ideally, for rhythmic Klee duty, a pulse signal that can be varied in width would be ideal
if one wanted to vary or adjust the unmerged gate time."
-------------------
Random input
The Euro Klee is a bit different to the standard Klee which needs an input of something like an LFO to work.
The Euro Klee has added a steady positive voltage which has been normaled to the random circuit.
This allows for two
modes of Random operation:
No input vs Yes input.
"No input to the Random jack:
With the switch down, the Random LED will not light unless you turn the
Random Reference all the way down (to 0V). With the switch up, a
voltage is normaled to the Random Level pot which then passes into the
Random Reference. Set the Random Reference knob below the Random
Level knob and the Random LED will light, passing the Random signal to
the sequencer. This allows the Random switch to function as an on/off
window switch when in Random mode".
Signal input to the Random jack:
With the switch up this functions just as normally described in the Klee
manual.
Flip the switch down and the Random signal will not pass"
-----------------
Wednesday 18 August 2021
Todgha Gorge in Morocco
These are some pics from the Todgha Gorge in Morocco
They are a series of limestone river canyons, or wadi, in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco
Oasis in the distance..
Tinerhir is the capital of Tinghir Province
Its a good place to base any trecking of the gorge from.
The city of Tinghir (jamaate tinghir) has a population of 42 ,000
The city is at the center of one of the most attractive oases in southern Morocco.
Lush palm trees cover about 30 miles (48 km) on 500-to-1,500-metre (550 to 1,640 yd)-wide tracts along the Wadi Todgha.
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