Showing posts with label NonLinear Circuits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NonLinear Circuits. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 May 2014

What U is that synth ??? - Modular synthesizer sizes.

Confused with the different sizes and dimensions that modular synth manufacturers use? 
Well here is a brief break down of how they measure up with one another.

Most synth manufacturers use varying widths, but standardize when it comes to height.
The dimensions they share stem from  rack mounted equipment (audio & computer).
Modular synths between 3U and 6U are the most common.
Width and height are the most important factors.

Width is usually measured in units of TE (TeilungsEinheiten, german.) or HP (Horizontal Pitch)
One TE/HP = 5.08mm = 0.2inches or 1/5"

Height is usually measured in terms of  HE (HöhenEinheit, german.). or units (U, english)
One U =  44.45mm = 1.75 inches.


                  *******************************************************

 


1U (1.75 inches or 44.45mm) Not a very common size when it comes to modular synths.It is used extensively in audio gear. Some synths that use this format are Thomas Henry & erthenvar
Dopefer also produced a few 1U synths like the MS-404. Not a modular though.

Erthenvar sell 1U PulpLogic modules such as this Sample & Hold.
Very handy if you have limited space.

2U (3.5 inches or 88.9mm) Again, this is not a very common size when it comes to modular synthesizers. This height is more common with audio gear. Some rack mounted synths that are are sold in this size include the Paia Fatman and the Waldorf Pulse. And one of the most popular digital synths to ever come from Roland the JV-1080 took the 2U format.
Wiard does produce a 2Unit 311C Dual JAG Controller

 3U (5.25 inches or 133.4 mm) This is probably the most common size when it comes to modular synths.
It includes the the huge Eurorack/Doepfer range and all Frac-Rac, Blacet, Wiard, Metalbox, BugBrand, PlanB, Livewire, Bananalogue, Analogue Solutions, Analogue Systems, NonLinearCircuits (NLC), Synton, Paia, Metasonix, etc, etc etc
An assortment of 3U Eurorack modules from different manufacturers. (Blue Lantern, WMD, ADDAC, Snazzy effects).

Doepfer's 3U mini synth voice the A-111-5 (it's the eurorack version of the Dark Energy) next to Din Sync's modularized Roland TB 303 filter.

4U (7 inches or 177.8mm) Serge - STS , polyfusion
(out of production), NonLinearCircuits (NLC) , Driscoll & Buchla

Three Buchla 200e modules:281e, 292e.261e. Each is 7" high and 4.25" wide

A panel of Driscol modules. Width varies but height stays the same (7").


An early 70's era Paperface Serge 4U modular panel (7" x 17").

The 4U NonLinearCircuit Cellular Automata sequencer panel.

 5U (8.75 inches or 222.25mm) MOTM - Synthesis Tech, Moog, Synthesizers Dotcom, Encore, Modcan B series, Metasonix. 


The Moog modular synthesizers use the 900-series of modules.

(almost) 5U Modules : Cyndustries  Format A & Modcan  A
Modcan A modules are 9" high (5u is 8.75 inches) and single width modules are 2.25" wide
The most compact packaging is the Cyndustries sixpacks (13.5" x 9" x 7"). These are entirely different from the dimensions of 19" racks.




6U (10.5 inches or 266.7mm) Wiard 300 series. They are designed to fit in a 19" rack mounting frame (6 across)

9U (15.75 inches or 400.05mm) - A Real Monster of a Synth  : Technosaurus

 

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

ARP 2500
 
ARP 2500 modules don't follow a "U" convention.
At exactly 8 inches high, they lie between 4U & 5U 



 


                      *** For any corrections or mistakes please email me *****

Saturday, 24 May 2014

Buchla 296e - Dual morphing filters

Demoing the filter programming & morphing capability of the 296e.
The 296e Spectral Processor is a very complex 16 channel bandpass filter. It has 16 VCAs and 16 envelope followers (but more about this in another post). Just focusing on the filter morph/program today.


By pressing the  DISP switch on the top right we can jump between the two level inputs A & B.
Programming each spectral shape is done via the touch potentiometers.

By using the morph control you can pan between the two spectral shapes. The actual net filter response can be viewed by selecting “progrm”.

A control voltage can rapidly alter the degree of morphing. I'm using a LFO from the modulating VCO of a 259r.



Harmonic Oscillator (262v) & NLC 4x4 Binary Logic

An experiment using logic gates to trigger the Verbos Harmonic Oscillator.
I'm using a NonLinearCircuits 4x4 binary logic module.

Some pics of the setup:




Adam's beautiful retro 112 touch controller/sequencer.
And the 121d. Love that joystick. :-)

Friday, 23 May 2014

NonLinearCircuits 6 panel portable case

I commissioned  this case to house some of my NLC and Serge panels.
I wanted a portable case to carry to gigs with enough space above the panels to be able to close the case
without having to remove patch cables.
Many thanks to Nathan for his excellent work.



Solid construction.



Panel 1:                                             Panel  2:                                         Panel 3:                        
New Timbral Oscillator                   Random Source                               Sequencer
Precision VCO                              Smooth/Stepped Generator               ASR
+ N Comp                                     Dual/Transient Generator                  Active Processor
Pulse divider                                  Dual Processor                               Dual VC Clock
Triple Wave Shaper                        Dual Universal Slope Generator        Pulse Divider
Audio mixer                                  Quadrature Oscillator                       Boolean Logic
X Fader                                                                                              4 Stage Sequencing
Variable Q VCF                                                                                   Programmer
Universal Audio Processor


Panel 1:                                      Panel  2:                                         Panel 3:                        
NLC VCO 1                            ADSR 1                                           It's a 555... Resonator
NLC VCO 2                            ADSR 2                                           Bleeding Gate 1 & 2
Mixer                                     CV Processor                                  Jerk Off 3 & 4
VCA                                      Conjoined Transient Generators         Spam Filter
LFO 1                                    Jerk Off 1 & 2                                  Arp Filter
LFO 2                                    Neuron 1, 2, 3 & 4                           Divine CMOS
Envelope Generator                Transient Generator                           

Thursday, 15 May 2014

The Boolean Serge

Testing one of my NLC (NonLinearCircuit) modules with the Morley Serge.
I'm mainly using a 4x4 binary logic module in this video.


Here are a few pics of the setup:
The 4x4 is receiving pulses from the Great Divide & 8-bit Cipher.

And some pics of the Paperface Serge:
These are the filters & reverb. The 4x4 logic module supplies all filter & VCO modulation control voltages.

The oscillator section. There is something very very special about these old VCOs.

The nonlinear circuit (NLC) 4x4 logic module is made up
of 4 identical circuits. Each has a different CMOS chip... which will produce related though different sequences & triggers. These kinds of modules are great for triggering drums.

Suitable ICs for use in these circuits are
4081 AND
4071 OR
4001 NOR
4011 NAND
4077 XNOR
4030 or 4070 XOR

A bit about  Binary & Boolean Logic
Boolean logic was first conceived by George Boole (1816-1864). He was an English mathematician & philosopher.

He is now regarded as one of the founders of the digital computer and indeed of digital electronics itself.
In computer programming Boolean data uses binary code: True / False, on/off, or 0/1. His system
consisted of the three most basic operations: AND, OR, and NOT

With all the AND & OR operations there are 2 inputs and one output.

Firstly, the AND gate:

The AND gate is a basic digital logic gate.
You will only get a output if both inputs are 1 (or "high" or "on" or "yes")
If either or both inputs is 0, then the  output will be zero.


















INPUT     OUTPUT
A     B        A and B
0     0             0
0     1             0
1     0             0
1     1             1

The 4081 IC looks like this:
As you can see, it has 4 AND gates that can be used independently or cascaded together.
A four-input AND gate can be configured using the 4081


The OR Gate
The 4071 IC in surface mounted form looks like this.

Here is the pin layout:

Again you can see we have 4 OR gates that can be used independently or cascaded together.The output of this gate will be "high" (1) if any or both of the inputs are "high" (1).
The output of an OR gate goes "low" (0) if and only if both inputs are "low" (0).

INPUT    OUTPUT
A     B     A OR B
0     0            0
0     1            1
1     0            1
1     1            1

The NOT gate is also called an inverter.
It outputs the exact opposite digital signal as what is input.
It's not part of the 4x4 binary module but I'd thought I'd include it for completeness.

Friday, 25 April 2014

NonLinearCircuits 8-Bit cipher

The NonLinearCircuits Cipher is a set of clocked shifted registers.
Very much like a ASR (Analog Shift Register).



The first CV out provides pitch CV for the 262v.
CV outs 2,3,4 modulate harmonic scan & tilt

The operation of a cipher usually depends on a piece of auxiliary information, called a key. It's used a lot in encryption. There are 2 data inputs and 4 CV & 8 pulse outputs. The data is encrypted to a new form.

Couldn't resist the opportunity ... here's a pic of an World War II Enigma machine.


This aux info is encoded to produce a new rhythm.

The 8-bit requires a clock and 1-2 Aux signals. This can be anything crossing 1V. I'm using CV from Adam's excellent mini 112 retro touch sequencer.


The unedited video is here:



Below is an earlier video using a Serge Creature & Elektron Analog 4 :

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Buchla format 262v - Verbos Harmonic Generator / Oscillator

Can't get enough 262v.
It utilizes waveshapers to create 9 more harmonics above the fundamental.
Each harmonic can be individually voltage controlled.


I'm using a NonLinearCircuit bindubba1 shift sequencer to control the 262v mixer


The bindubba1 is a 4 stage sequencer with 16 control voltage outputs (CV).
(divided into 2 rows: left & right).
The 4 yellow knobs set the voltage of each stage.
The left row are 'normal' CV operating from 0V to 11.5V
The right row is the inverted version, operating from 0V to -11.5V.


The 8 CV outputs give different patterns.
output # 1 (the top one) will give a pattern of ABCD (or 1234)
output # 2 will give a pattern of BCDA (or 2341)
output # 3 will give a pattern of CDAB (3412)
output # 4 = DACB
output # 5 = DCBA
output # 6 = CBAD
output # 7 = BADC
output # 8 = ADCB

The switches turn off certain outputs for shorter or longer periods.
See Andrew's manual for more info:
http://www.sdiy.org/pinky/data/SEQUEN...

The full patching (from start to finish) video is here:



 And an earlier 262v video:

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Non Linear Circuits meets Buchla

Sexy new case ... inspired by  Buchla's 200e.
The synthesizer end cheeks are brushed aluminium (not the standard wood).
Many thanks to Frank (a.k.a. ModularFreak).

The case is housing 3 NLC panels:




The NLC panels are:
1. CELLULAR AUTOMATA
2. CMOS PANEL
3. SEQUENCER PANEL

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Cellular Automata & Music

Much of the primary research into cellular automata (CA) was carried out in the 1940s at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, USA. by Stanisław Ulam and John von Neumann.



They were studying crystal growth and of all things, self-replicating robots.

The picture of the above shell is of a Textile Cone or the Cloth of Gold cone. It is a venomous species of sea snail. The colour pattern of its shell resembles a cellular automaton named rule 30

And of course above we have some terminators.:-)

So what has all this got to do with music?

Well, CA exhibits the properties of reproduction and evolution which can readily be observed in nature (and in self replicating robots). Rules 30, 90 & 150 appear to be of special interest among many researchers when applied to music as they produce complex evolving patterns from very simple rules.


Above is panel # 9 from my NLC (Nonlinear Circuit) synth. (The case is under construction at the moment).
It's a analog sequencer based upon the principles of CA.
In 2014 I should have it fully up and running.

There are basically 6 cells/ sequencers. They produce 18 different CV patterns that can be
simple or very complex.


The cells can either be isolated or they can be made to affect their neighbouring cells/sequencers.
You can do this by patching from one into the other/s.

The blue sockets are inputs, and the red outputs.
The the top blue socket on each cell receives the clock (which can be from the same
or a different source). A clock divider will make each cell run at a different speed.
The blue sockets below the clock(CLK) , labeled left & right receive gates.
CVs from each neighbourhood can be summed or subtracted from others.
Here is the user guide.

The sequencer is primarily designed to operate a Serge synthesizer (or a NLC synth) but as most
of my Serge is currently under restoration I've have to test it with a Buchla.
It's interesting though I'm looking forward to testing it with my Serge in 2014.






Here are a few more examples of CA applied to music:
The Nintendo DS (with the R4).



And a Novation Launchpad:

...

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can find more NLC builds here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Sunday, 8 December 2013

The Warren Burt Serge/Driscoll Synthesizer


Warren Burt, one of the early pioneers in Electronic Music is among my favorite composers.
Many of his early works from the late 1960s & early 70s used the Moog Modular and Buchla 100 synthesizers. In 1973, he built his first Serge synthesizer.

Many of his recordings can be found on his website: Warren Burt.com.

Warren emigrated to Australia from his native America in 1975 to teach at La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia). He still lives in Australia, in beautiful country Victoria.
Over a period of roughly 10 years, he put together 3 Serge synthesizer systems of which this one (built between 1977 and 1983) is the last.


It started with just 4 panels, but when I purchased it in 2013 it had grown into this12 panel beast.

The 12 panels are made up of 3 Julian Driscoll panels & 9 Serge panels.

The top two boxes of six panels are the earliest and consist of the following modules:

    Box 1:
  • 2 Original Oscillators
  • 4 VCA
  • 1 Triple Waveshaper
  • 1 Phaser
  • 2 Dual Analog Shift Register
  • 3 New Timbral Oscillators
  • 1 Triple Wave Multiplier
  • 1 Original Serge VCF
  • 1 Extended Range VCF
  • 4 Interface Convertors
  • 2 Handmade VC Low Pass Filters (Ladder)
  • 2 Dual 3in-1out Mixers
  • 3x Dual Processors 

    Box 2:
  • 2 Dual Positive Slew
  • 2 Dual Negative Slew
  • 2 Smooth and Stepped Function Generators
  • 1 Dual VC Slew Generator
  • 1 Peak and Trough
  • 2 Envelope Generators
  • 1 Triple Bi-directional Router
  • 1 Triple Comparator
  • 1 Schmitt Trigger
  • 1 8x Interface Connectors
  • 2 Homebrew Joysticks
  • 1 Mic Preamp
  • 1 Ring Modulator
  • 1 Homebrew Dual Additive Programmer
  • 1 Quad Panner
  • 1 Original VC Filter 




And some pics of the rear of these two boxes:

These panels are currently being restored by Andrew F of NonLinearCircuits.
Andrew has a blog devoted to the restoration.