Midwinter Modular Meeting

 Thanks to everyone who attended the Midwinter Modular Meeting.

(aka modular on the lounge).

Some pics:

A big thanks to Chris K who came all the way from Bega with his video synths

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elk elektronik - Synth meeting Nov 20, 2021

 Thanks to Ed for hosting the latest Synth meeting last Sat arvo.

These are regular synthesizer & electronic music meetings held in Wollongong, 1.5 hours drive south of Sydney.

 

It was a blast to see my old friends again, listen to some synth talk, live electronic music and see video synths.

 

 Thanks to Chris for bringing & performing with his great LZX setup

It's been many months since the last meeting. COVID has caused the shutdown of much of NSW lately.

Our state is now over 90% double vaccinated so hopefully life can get back to normal & this is the beginning of a open & healthy 2022.

 

Thanks to Andrew for showing us and performing with the Eowave Quadranto Swarm.

Cute puppy ;-)

Thanks to Lachlan from Earthling Designs for the demo of his latest pedal.

https://www.earthlingdesigns.com/store/p4/GLISS_DRIVE_-_GD.01_%28BLACK%29.html

 

 

I think these meetings are being held every 2 months (the 2nd last sat of  the 2nd month).

So the next meeting will happen I understand on the 22nd Jan 2022.

Check Elk Elektroniks for updates & details:

https://www.elkelektronik.com.au/ 

https://www.facebook.com/elkelektronik/  

Youtube

Instagram

 

Address: Shop 3/266-268 Crown St, Wollongong NSW 2500

Synthesizer Logic Modules - The 7 gates

Logic gates are great ways to create interesting rhythms or combine triggers from various sequencers.
Recently I've been using them to trigger drum modules.

Some logic gates also work at audio ranges.

There are 7 basic gates: OR, XOR, AND, NOT (inverter), NOR, XNOR, & NAND.

To make things even simplier, the 3 basic fundamental gates are OR, XOR, AND.

They use the inverter (NOT) to make NOR, XNOR, & NAND.

 

One final grouping of gates is what is known as Universal Gates

A universal gate is a gate which can implement any Boolean function without need

to use any other gate type.  

The NAND and NOR gates are universal gates.

These 2 gates are the basic gates used in all IC digital logic families. 

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OR gates
Output a high signal whenever one or more of its inputs are high.
Useful if you wish to combine several gate signals into one.

You can use this instead of a mixer or multiple.

In1	In2	Out
0	0	0
1	0	1
0	1	1
1	1	1

XOR Gate (Exclusive OR gate)
Will only output a high signal when one input is high and the other is low.
It allows the signals to pass Except when they happen simultaneously.
It's like when 2 people try to squeeze through a narrow door at the same time.

(use this for your two snare drums - to prevent them triggering simultaneously)

In1	In2	Out
0	0	0
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	0

AND gate
Outs a high signal when all its inputs are high.

(If only one input is high it will output a low signal)

In1	In2	Out
0	0	0
1	0	0
0	1	0
1	1	1

NOT gate

The above 3 gates are available as inverted versions (N = not):

In	Out
1	0
0	1

OR -----> NOR

XOR -----> XNOR

AND-------> NAND

NOR Gate

This is a OR gate followed by and inverter.

This is quite a useful gate to have, as it's possible to build the other basic logic gates

using only NOR gates.

In1	In2	Out
0	0	1
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	0

Its output is "true" if both inputs are "false." Otherwise, the output is "false."

XNOR

This is a XOR gate followed by an inverter

In1	In2	Out
0	0	1
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	1

NAND Gate

This is a AND gate followed by an inverter

In1	In2	Out
0	0	1
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	0

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For most Eurorack modules:
Low signal = 0V to 1V (usually)
High signal = greater than 1V to 5V (Usually)

Many logic modules respond to continuous CVs like LFOs .
They are reading the CV as a high gate when it exceeds 1V (usually) and a low gate when it is below.
So they can be used as comparators with a fixed threshold.

The logic synth modules you can buy or build will either use discrete diodes, transistors & resistors,

or use integrated circuit chips. TTL and CMOS are the most common types of ICs.

TTL IC’s may often be labeled as the 7400 series.

CMOS ICs are commonly marked as 4000 series.

Eurorack Logic Modules
+ Elby ED132 - Boolean Logic (Also a Serge Version)
+ Erica Synths - Pico Logic
+ Mystic Circuits ANA
+ Intellijel OR, Plog, Spock , uMod II
+ AniModule  LogicOgic, XX_OR
+ 2HP - Logic
+ Mutable Instruments - Kinks (OR & AND gate)

+ Doepfer A-166 (Dual Logic Module) .... AND, OR & NOR, plus two inverters.

+ NLC - Bools, Neuron, Chopper, 8 bit cypher,

+ RYO - Boolean Logic

+ Ken Stone's Quad Logic Module

+ CGS Funky Drummer

+ CGS Boolean Logic

+ EMW Logic 101, Logic 202

+Wiard /Malekko - JAG

+ Snazzy FX Ardcore

+ Synthrotek - Either-OR Eurorack OR Module

+ Pittsburgh Modular - Logic Banks

+ Analog Ordnance - Logiplex, OR gate,

+ Ladik B-010 Bool2, B-020 Bool3,

+ Circuit Abbey - ANDY, ORY, XORY, VERTY

+ Synth Cube Dual Logic

+ Temps Utile

+ LZX - Castle 100, Castle 101

+ AE modular - Logic

+ Pulp Logic (1U tiles) -Logical AND, OR, Diode-OR, XOR

,,,

Plog - Intelligel

This has AND, OR, NOR, XOR, NAND, and XNOR gates

RYO

NOT, XNOR, NOR, OR, NAND, AND

Links

+ Yusynth

Castle Patching 001

This is a patch I read about on the LZX community site.
https://community.lzxindustries.net/t/castle-patching-001-digitizing-luma-video-sources/746

The aim is to digitize a video source and create a posterize effect.

It's really simple.
I'm using the visual cortex to input the video. It is a luma source.
It's also supplying a sync signal to to the Cadet I.
If you don't have a Visual Cortex, use a Cadet III for the video input. 

"The Gain control on the ADC goes from non-inverted on the left through zero to inverted on the right. Set the gain to around 9 o’clock. Adjust the Bias control on the ADC " (PBalj)

Patch 001a

The Luma input is plugged into the Castle ADC.
The ADC's 3 outputs are plugged into the 3 inputs of the DAC.
And the single Lumin output of the DAC goes into the Cadet II (RGB encoder)
The Cadet II is an output module.
It has 3 inputs ... red , green & blue. Plugging the lumin input into each colour will give the corresponding colour out.

If you plug the lumin into a mult and put each out into the R,G & B input you will get a B/W image.




LZX - Castle
Introduction
00_000 ADC - Analog to digital converter
01_001 DAC - Digital to Analog converter
02_010 Clock VCO
03_011 Shift Register
04_100 Multi Gate
05_101 Quad Gate
06_110 Counter
07_111 Flip flops


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Video Index page

LZX Patches - Castle Shift register - module 011

Some additional patch notes for using the LZX 011 shift register module.
This is a DIY module in Eurorack format.
The patch is a basic experiment using this module. Please let me know if you have any other patches worthy to document.

The lumen out of the Visual cortex  is going into the input of the ADC module.
The ADC has 3 outputs. Take one of these (experiment with each as each has a different feel)
and plug into the shift register input. Clock the shift register with the VCO clock module .
The three outs of the shift register are plugged back into the VC (channel B)..... thats it!

patch video

LZX - Castle
Introduction
00_000 ADC - Analog to digital converter
01_001 DAC - Digital to Analog converter
02_010 Clock VCO
03_011 Shift Register
04_100 Multi Gate
05_101 Quad Gate
06_110 Counter
07_111 Flip flops

Links
+ LZX Shift register patch 1
+ LZX industries
+ Vimeo - video
+ CMOS 
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Video Index page

lzx Video Synth - 110 Counter module

These are some build pics of my DIY LZX 110 counter module.
It's part of the Castle series of digital modules designed by Philip Baljeu of Toronto.

I am in no way affiliated with LZX. These are pics to help me (and others) to trouble shoot.
Other modules in the Castle series are:

LZX - Castle
Introduction
00_000 ADC - Analog to digital converter
01_001 DAC - Digital to Analog converter
02_010 Clock VCO
03_011 Shift Register
04_100 Multi Gate
05_101 Quad Gate
06_110 Counter
07_111 Flip flops

One of the great things about building these modules is that the schematics are included.

It's described thus:
"The Counter is a 4-Bit clock counter/divider. Each successive output from Q0 to Q3 is half the frequency of the previous."

It also generates a sequence of numbers in binary counting order from 0000 to 1111 (0-15) in response to the level changes of a single clock input. After the counter reaches 1111 the next clock pulse will return it to 0000. At the end of the count (when it reaches 1111), there is a output pulse at RCO.

The Counter will take an oscillator signal from the vidiot and give you four divided outputs. /2, /4, /8, /16. And a fifth output that puts out a pulse when the counter has reached the last number in its count.(Philip)

Finally when used in conjunction with the Clock VCO and the DAC , waveforms can be synthesized.

The Counter module uses a inexpensive SN74HC191N -- it's a TTL Counter/Multiplier/divider logic IC.
It has 4-bit synchronous, reversible, up/down binary counters.

Links
+ ADC overview - LZX
+ LZX industries
+ CMOS
+ TTL chips
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Video Index page

LZX Castle - shift register patches

Just experimenting with the LZX Castle shift register... module 110
Some quick patch notes ...............

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The module has three inputs. Clock, data & reset.

This is my first patch ... really basic.

Lumen from V cortex ------> input of ADC
Data out from the ADC ----> data in of the Shift Register
Clock is from the VCO clock
Reset - use a second oscillator... eg prismatic ray or a sequencer

There are 4 outs.
I plugged three into the V Cortex (no particular order).

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Thanks to Chris for the following patch:
"put a ramp shape or camera input in to the DATA input. clock vco to CLK. take d0 out to your monitor. note the position on the screen. take d1 and it should be one clock cycle to the right from d0. etc with d2 and d3."

I tried a version of this:
i took the lumen out (from the VC ) into the data input of the shift register.

....
patch 2

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Video Index page