Saturday 26 February 2022

herbs and stone - liquid foam

 Some build pics of the Herbs & Stone module.
This is from a company in Italy called Liquid foam.
 

It's a monophonic analog "groove box" that revolves around a dual sequencer designed to encourage complex pattern exploration

This version uses uses bananas, though there is a 3.5mm jack version.
The panel size is neither 3u or 4u. so it wont fit into a euro case (unless you have the eurorack version) or a serge case

Gianluca, the  designer,  posted a PCB and faceplate to me.
I'll need to find the parts myself., build it, then make a case.

Looks like a straightforward build. I think this is suitable for a beginner. 
There are no SMD components. The parts easy to find & are well spaced. etc
 
Lots of CMOS ICs which I mostly already had in my little store of parts.
What I didn't have was purchased from Tayda & Mouser


Links
Here’s a pdf of the manual.
+ Herbs and stone Liquid foam - instructions (personal)

All component values are screen printed on the PCB apart from diodes (1n4148) and NPN transistors (2n3904) which have only a symbol to indicate the component rotation.


The liquid foam uses a 9V power supply. I understand that this version uses a LM7805 regulator. (I found that I was able to power it with an old 6V DC adapter).
The build notes say you can use a LM7809 regulator if you are using a +12V  power supply


Get the IC sockets on first.
These are the ICs needed.
cmos:
40106  ... logic Ic ... Hex Schmitt - trigger inverter
4069UB .... hex invertering buffer   ,,,unbalanced
4070    .... XOR gate
4040
......  divider/ripple counter/Binary counter.
4052
..............Dual 4 channel multiplexer
4053 1x - on order
4015 .....
8 position shift register.
\----------------------------------

op amps:
lm13700 1x yes
lm358 2x yes
lm324 2x yes
----------------------------------------

diodes (1n4148) and NPN transistors (2n3904) ..
solder these on next .

----------------------------
Resistors next
 






-------------------------------

Capacitors.... longer lead into square hole.
The white half is -ve
 
 


Voltage regulator:
LM 7805

lm7805 (TO-220) or lm7809 (if you use a 12VDC PSU)

Surface components are mounted.
next push in the ICS... into their sockets
TThe Pots go on the other side of the PCB, as do the LEDs.

Its wonderful when everything just works the first time.

+ Herbs and stone Liquid foam - instructions (personal)

Voices from Ukraine

 The situation in Ukraine is desperate.
 
 
One can only hope for peace to prevail.
This is the instagram of Daria Kolosova, A DJ in Kiev.
 
 This is the instagram of Nicola Dudich.
He is a Ukranian Painter whose work often features electronic instruments.
 

 

ii

 
 

Thursday 17 February 2022

Allinaire Jondent - HARD MOOG

....

Some '4 on the floor' from Moog featuring the DFAM, Subharmonicon and Matriarch.
About 95% of the track is all MOOG goodness (with some additional percussion and processing in Ableton). A collaboration between Allinaire and Jondent, put together from 2 live jams in Sydney and Wollongong during Feb 2022...

Allinaire's Bandcamp

Jondent's Bandcamp:

Saturday 12 February 2022

Aristotle's Logic & Reasoning

As a musician with an interest in electronics my first encounter with logic was with analog computers.
However I've realised that the foundations of logic lie not with the early mathematicians, but with the ancient philosophers. Western logic originated in ancient Egypt and was further developed in Greece.There are Indian & Chinese schools of logic.
 
So what is logic?
It's a science that deals with rules & processes used in sound thinking and reasoning.
 It's often defined as "the study of techniques of valid inference". (wikipedia)
Inferences are steps in reasoning 
 
In ancient Greece there were many great thinkers such as Zeno, Paramenides, Socrates, and Plato.
They laid the foundation for Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322BC.

There are actually two great systems of logic in the classical world.
Stoic and Aristotelian.
 
This page, covers Aristotelian logic.
 
Aristotelian logic, is a loose name for an approach to logic that began with Aristotle and was developed further in ancient history.
It's also known as Term Logictraditional logic & syllogistic logic.
His ideas developed the study of reasoning and argumentation.
(An argument consists of 2 parts:
Premises (what we presuppose) & the conclusion.
Aristotle was concerned with the breaking down of a proposition into its components.
 
Aristotle's logical work is collected in the six texts that are collectively known as the Organon. 
 
The basics concern these concepts:
1. The Term.
2. The proposition
3. The syllogism 
 
1.The term is a part of speech representing something. (eg a Man or a Musician).

2.Propositions are composed of two terms .
   A proposition is a sentence that signifies truth or falsehood.
   Eg: Don Buchla likes Electronics.
          Or
         Robert Moog is a Musician
       These are sentences that are true or false.
      Note that Commands or Questions can't be propositions because that can't be true ot false.
      eg: Build your module (this is a command)
     or
       have you finished the circuit design? (this is a question)

   Traditionally, there are 4 types propositions:
        a-type: Universal and affirmative ("All men are Greek")
        i-type: Particular and affirmative ("Some men are Greek")
        e-type: Universal and negative ("All men are not Greek")
        o-type: Particular and negative ("Some men are not Greek")
 
 3. Syllogism
     This is the final conclusion that is drawn from two given or assumed propositions.

eg:  1st Proposition (Major proposition) :All men are Musicians
        2nd proposition (Minor proposition): Don Buchla is a Man
        Syllogism (conclusion) : Therefore, Don Buchla is a Musician

This is an example of the a-type Universal / affirmative proposition.
This can be put in mathematical form:
  
All A is B
All C is A
All C is B
 
When you are debating, you have two ways to refute an argument.
Either 
1. Prove that one of the two propositions is false
                          Or
2.  Show that the conclusion doesn't logically follow from either Proposition


 + Philosophy index  

 

 

Thursday 10 February 2022

Wednesday 9 February 2022

Nermal - Neutral Labs - build notes

 These are my personal build notes for the Nermal Eurorack module.
Looks like a fairly easy build.
No SMD.
 
I purchased this as a kit.

 

Everything is very neatly packed in labelled bags.
Nice. so well organised.


resistors  & diodes first.
BAT 85 x 10, 1n4148 x1
watch the polarity of the diodes,

IC sockets
 


caps
c12 is bipolar



 
Plug the ICs into their sockets
Ne555 - u4

The Op-amps:
U3 - TL072
MCP6004


H11F1 x 3  - these are optocoupliers.
These are unusual - 6 pins and white



RV1 - RV3 ... all 10K linear pots
and jacks first

LED

Short leg is the cathode
Place into the holes ... but its the last thing you solder



Switches. Just leave the lower nuts on.
All are SPDT



All done.





Monday 7 February 2022

Fez 2 _ Morocco - leather tanning

 There are 3 tanneries in Fez, Morocco.
The entire leather production process comprises manual labor only.
 
 
The Chouara Tannery is almost a thousand years old. It's amazing to think that the process hasnt changed in a millenium.
 

If you want to buy Moroccan leather, Fez is the place to come to.
 

hides are first soaked in a mixture of cow urine, quicklime, water, and salt. This caustic mixture helps to break down and soften the leather
 
 

The tannery consists of
numerous stone pools filled with different coloured dyes and liquids

The men stand in the pools of dyes.
Its hard work in the hot sun.
...They use their bare feet to kneed the hides.

The hides are first soaked for two to three days to prepare for tanning.and dyeing.
The ingredients are mostly natural. Components like pigeon poop contain ammonia

dying pits contain natural vegetable dyes..
 Saffron for yellow,  mint for green, henna for orange.










Saturday 5 February 2022

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

 

Flowers for Algernon is the title of a science fiction short story and a novel by American writer Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960.
 

In 1981, this book was banned from an AK high school because it described the sex act in explicit four-letter terms.
 
d it touches on ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled 
 

Charly
(marketed and stylized as CHAЯLY) is a 1968 American drama film, directed and produced by Ralph Nelson, and written by Stirling Silliphant. It was based on Flowers for Algernon,  
 
 Robertson was nominated for and won Best Actor at the 1969 Academy Awards.for his role in the film Charly.

Driscoll Synth - some old panels - panels 4 & 5

 In the "to do" box.
I thought I'd upload some pics of an old Driscoll synth which is in need of restoration.
 
I've already got 3 panels 
 
so Ive decided to call these panels 4 & 5.
 
Panel 4
 

These are fairly rare.
The Driscoll was designed & built in the 70s by Australian composer/designer/engineer Julian Driscoll.
 at La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) between 1977 and about 1982. 

 

Its good I think to document things before I start tinkering around.

D-slope module  closeup x 2

An envelope generator 
Very much like the Serge DSG
Can be used as an oscillator, EG, ... lots of things
Very flexible module.
























 This panel has 8 D-slope generators
 

 



 
The RVG (random voltage generator) module contains a comparator, sample and hold, white noise, pink noise, low frequency noise, and a glide circuit.  
 
The sample and hold ....
 
This one is a bit odd..  It seems to hold while the clock input is high, but lets the input signal pass when the clock is low.  
 
Great for modulating the PWM on the clock signal
 
 Also, I think the comparator hi/low state is inverted ... need to check this..
A comparator is like a switch.comes in handy for converting changing voltages into binary low/high states.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is the boat for the above panel.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panel 5
 

A VCO, 2 x envelope generators
and a mixer section





A close up of VCO 1


PSU is +/-15v, +5v
CV is 0-5v
Oscillators are +/- 2.5v































The VC Stereo Mixer/Panner



These dual mixers are cool.
Thanks to Phil - J for his questions regarding the mixers
 

They each have three inputs.

My guess is that Hi Out stands for high impedance

And that LO OUT is 
Low Impedance

UG in stands for Unity Gain in ??

Unity Gain suggests there might be an op-amp in the input with a gain of 1

























Links