Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Seven Minutes - Buchla, Euro & a CR-8000

This track heavily features the Roland CR-8000 with some glitch.
Also very present is the Buchla 208r and Eurorack Braids. 
It's a mostly live performance which has then been tweaked and enhanced in Ableton.


Also used is the Abelton formant filter on some random recorded TV conversation.
---- it is almost unrecognisable as human voices.


The majority of the drums is the modded CR8000 with some extra Ableton glitch added here
and there for good measure. Individual outs have Boss Echo
and Reverb pedals applied. The CR-8000 is manipulated in real time.


 Extra percussion is  provided by the Tiptop 808 modules processed through the Buchla 267e band pass filter utilising random voltages - they no longer sound like an 808!.


Trigger Riot is slaved to the CR8000 (on 16 pulse out mode) and controls the 808 modules and timing of the 208, 262v and also pulse's Braids.




The main Sequencer is the 208r on 5 step mode but tapped separately on the 208 and the 262v harmonic Oscillator, which is processed by the 288v Time Domain processor - that is that deep echoing sound.

The choices joystick is modulating the 208 and Braids.
Braids itself is used in a number of modes which are switched live on the fly.
Including the pulsing 'chord' sound and the Vowel setting.

Tuesday, 17 March 2015

Roland MC 505 - Groove box

The Roland MC 505 came out in 1998.
This is much larger & heavier that the MC-303 which kicked off the
GrooveBox family for Roland in 1996. It's starting to become collectable.
I picked up this on Ebay for $300.
There is a long list of notable users such as Beck, Radiohead & New Order.

The 505 has 64 voices (the MC 303 had 28) and the sequencer has 714 preset pattern,
200 user patterns, 50 user songs.

There are also 256 user sounds & 26 rhythm sets which include some picked from  Roland classics such as the CR-78, TR-808, TR-606, TR-909, TR-707 and R-8.

I use mine mainly for its 8-track MIDI sequencer. You can record up to 32 bars per pattern.
As a midi controller it's quite flexible. The sequencer is easy to program and can be recorded in real time or step time.
You can input notes three ways : from the MC505's own black/white keyboard, the D-Beam controller or from an external MIDI keyboard.  All knob & fader movements can be recorded just like in today's Elektron synths. --- all this knob & fader tweaking can be "exported" via midi to external gear, making this a very powerful midi controller.  Ie, the 505 transmits MIDI Controller & System Exclusive data. WOW !!!!
(The MC-303 didn't have this function).

The heart of this synth is a 64 voice polyphonic digital subtractive synthesis engine that is based on the Roland JV-2080. It's all based on samples & is actually a compact version of the Roland JX-305 Groovesynth without the full set of 61 keys. There are 251 different oscillator, acoustic and drum sample waveforms.


There is built in Reverb, Delay and 24 different EFXs - they are not too bad.
 The verb & delay are pretty standard. The Verb has the usual settings of Room, Stage and Hall. An interesting delay effect occurs when you sync your delays to the patterns.
The EFX includes a 4-band EQ,  compressor, overdrive, phaser,  chorus, flanger, etc etc.
I quite like the phono setting which adds pops & crackles - like on a vinyl record. There are 33, 45 and 78rpm settings.

The nfrared D-Beam controller for hands-free sound modulation is very cool. You can tweak you sounds in real time by passing your hand over the beam. You can control one parameter (eg filter cutoff, pan resonance) at a time. The movement can be recorded into a Pattern - its a bit like the parameter locks you will find in most Elektron gear.


The mixer section is very useful. The faders let you control the volume of the 8 sequences.There are 7 synth sequences & one drum sequence
R = rhythm / drum part. 
The faders also control panning, keyshift and effects. At the bottom of each fader channel is a select/mute button



There is a a headphone socket and six outputs.
You can use these as three stereo pairs or as six individual outs.

RAM card slot at the rear (2Mb or 4Mb SmartMedia cards).
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more info on the history of Roland Drum Machines click here

Nazcar Peru - Chauchilla Cemetery

Nazcar is famous for two things:
The Nazcar lines (more about this later) and the Chauchilla Cemetery.
The Chauchilla Cemetery contains mummies - some dating to 200AD.
The bodies are well preserved due mainly to the dry climate 

Much was plundered over the centuries. It's protected by Peruvia law.

The bodies were clothed in  cotton and then painted with a resin. it's thought that the resin slowed decomposition.

The tombs are made from mud bricks.





2000 year old corn.

Fresh Corn. And it's white - we don't see this variety in Australia.



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Click here for more travel postcards

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Ace Tone / Roland - Rhythm Ace FR-2L

This beautiful drum machine was produced in 1967. It was the second drum to be manufactured by Ace Tone, which was destined to become Roland (1972). The Rhythm Ace was developed by Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Ace Tone.


In 1967 the Hammond Organ Company also distributed Rhythm Ace products under the Hammond brand. The Ace Tone FR-2L was also sold as the Hammond Auto (1972).


The Cymbal, Claves & Snare buttons are very useful on the FR-2. In comparision the FR-1 had voice cancelling buttons for Cymbal, Clave, Cowbell and Bass Drum.

The sound of this machine is wonderful. It's very closein tone to my FR-1. It's warm analogue tones are as beautiful as any of my drum machines ... even the CR 78 and TR-808. The circuit boards are all discrete components.


The controls are as simple as they come. Just 2 knobs for volume & tempo.
The rhythms are all preset. You can push two buttons in at the same time to create more complex patterns.

Looks like this was meant to sit on top of an organ. It's lovely to behold.
As far as I can tell, the FR-2 came in 2 models The FR-2L which you can see above &
the Hammond Auto Rhythm FR-2D which came out in 1972. The FR-2D is almost identical to the 2L apart from having a solid wood book stand & a black face plate.


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For more info on the history of Roland & Ace Tone Drum Machines click here

Non Linear Circuits - NLC - Index

My build notes, videos & posts for my NLC Eurorack & Serge modules are all over this blog.
They are sometimes hard to find. So I thought it would be good to put them into some sort of order.
Thus this index:

ARP 2500   

1. Introduction ARP 2500 & NLC
2. The official NLC blog covering the 2500 restoration
    The DIY modules 
         +DIY modules #1 - reverb
         + DIY modules #2 - clock 
         +DIY modules #3 - fixed bandpass filters
         +DIY modules #4 - dunno 
         +DIY modules #5 - matrix mixer?
    The 2500 modules tests & restoration   
         +1023 dual VCO 
         +1006 Filt/Amp 
         +1027 sequencer 
         +tanties be gone! 
         +1033 Dual Envelope Generator 
         +Mix sequencer module 1050 
         +Side cab power supply 
         +Waveforms from the 1004-T oscillator 
         +Signals from the 1036 S&H/random voltage 
         +1047 Multimode filter 
         +1016 dual noise / random voltage generator 
         +1046 Quad EG
         +1005 Modamp
         + Power Supply

4U Format - Serge/Buchla.
1.  NonLinearCircuits - panel 7 & 8 installation (Vox & Drum)
2.  A visit to Non Linear Circuits - Perth, Western Australia
3.  Harmonic Oscillator (262v) & NLC 4x4 Binary Logic
4.  NonLinearCircuits 6 panel portable case
5.  The Boolean Serge
6.  NonLinearCircuits 8-Bit cipher
7.  NLC Sequencer 1 & Buchla 262v - Verbos Harmonic Generator. 
8.  Non Linear Circuits meets Buchla
9.  Cellular Automata & Music
10. The Warren Burt Serge/Driscoll Synthesizer
11. The NonLinearCircuits Synth Project
12. Power (PSU)
13. NLC Binbudda 1 & 3 sequencers with Kilpatrick Phenol
14. Kilpatrick Phenol & NLC Divine CMOS
15. The αρπ Filter (alpha-rho-pi) with a kilpatrick Phenol
16. Dual Drum - NLC - Build notes
17. Buchla 265 - Sauce of Unce

3U Format - Eurorack.

4.  Jerkoff Chaos module - Build notes
5.  Neuron & Difference Rectifier - Build notes
6.  Low Pass Gate - Filter/VCA - Buchla Style - Build Notes
7.  ADSR 312 (Aires inspired Envelope Generator) - Build Notes
8.  4SEQ - Sequencer build notes
9.  Timbre (Buchla inspired wavefolder) - Build Notes
10. DP Filter - (Opto-isolator ladder design) - Build notes
11. 4SEQ -Piston Honda & VC303 - video & notes
12. Bools - slew - quad logic - build notes
14. Vactrol PiLL - Build notes
15. Hyper Wein Chaos - Build notes
16. The CellF Project - Human Neurons + Synth
17. Delay no more - Build notes
18. Two LFOs - Build notes
19. Collude - envelope follower and very very high gain amplifier (from 2x to 20x) 
      - Build notes
20. 1050 sequencer - Muff notes
28. Doof Drum - Build notes
29. BaDum Tiss Drum - Build notes
30. Squid Axon - 4 stage analog shift register - Build notes
32. 1050 Mixer Sequencer - Build notes
33. Cluster Matrix Mixer - Build notes
34. Multiband distortion - build notes
35. PSU - NLC large board - build notes
36. PSU - NLC small board - build notes
38. Plague of Demons - thru zero VCO - build notes
39. Router - like the Serge bi-directional router - build notes
40. 8-bit cipher - Buchla SOU - random Cv & gates - build notes
41. Feague - 4 pole filter and Quadrature oscillator - build notes
42. Wagernumb -  build notes
       + Frequency Tracker + Frequency / Clock divider - down to 1/4096 + VCO
       + Random or Burst generator
43. RingPull/Ringmods/Rimples - ring modulator with a phase locked loop 
      - build notes (prototype 5)
44. Divine CMOS - CV & Audio divider & mixer -build notes
45. Giant B0N0 - noise module - build notes
46. NULL-A - mini synth - 2VCOs, 2 filters, etc - Build notes
47. Numberwang - gate generator - pattern generator - Build notes
48. Envelope Follower - build notes
49. CEM3340 VCO - build notes
50. Brain Custard - build notes (Chaotic Audio Oscillator version)
51. CellF Action - build notes
52. Sly Grogan - build notes (Envelope Generator)
53. Divide and Conquer - build notes
54. ARSEq - build notes (sequencer / envelope generator)
57. Eurorack power distroboard (with noise reduction caps)
59. Bong0 - Bongo - Drum / VCO build notes
60. Hyperchaos Deluxe - CV & gate generator
61. Resonate - Korg 3100 Resonator - build notes
62. Splosh - CV & audio mixer/generator - build notes
63. CellF Voice - build notes
64. Dual Timbre - build notes (Timbre & Timbre)
65. Statues - multiplexor/multiplexer - build notes
66. Dual LPG - build notes
67. hYPSTER - Ian Fritz' hyperchaos module - build notes
68. Mouge Mixer/VCA- build notes
69. SPASM - LDR controlled jerk chaos module - build notes
         Part 2
72. Balter - a delay -- for gates
74. GENiE - audio distortion / manglier / effects processor - build notes
75. It's 555 - resonator & drone source - version V (eurorack SMD)
77. Dispersion Delay - build notes (part 1)
         +Dual LFO/VCO - part 2
79. Mobius Pill - Build notes (PLL Chaotic VCO/filter)- part 1
            VCAs - part 2 - build notes
             Bongo Fury - Part 2 - Build
89. Big Jobs - Build notes   - chaotic signal generator PLL            
           NLC Product - build notes 2
95. Intimacy - build notes part 1
           Poultry in Motion - build part 3 (COMPLETION)
101. Frolic - NLC Build notes - part 1 
         NLC Fourier module DIY-- part 2

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For more information check out these NLC sites.
+Old (2019) NLC Blog: NonLinearCircuits 
+ New NLC Blog 2020 +
+ Facebook
+ NLC Builders Group on Facebook 
+ Youtube Channel
+ NLC Website 
+ NLC Data Page - contains BOMs & Build info

+ NLC list of modules.  - loosely sorted into primary purpose
+ NLC Wicki
+ ModularGrid
+ NLC Mouser carts 
+ GitHub - VCV Rack ports of Nonlinear Circuits modules ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

+List of integrated circuit dimensions
+Surface Mount Nomenclature & Packaging.
+SOT (Small Outline Transistor dimensions)
+Voltage divider, LED resistor calculator 
+SMD / SMT resistor code
+Desoldering tips - Belltone

Friday, 13 March 2015

Super Sloth & Chaos - NonLinearCircuits - Build notes

A nice and easy build today.
The NLC Sloth/Chaos is a really cool module to have.
I have one in Serge format but it's equally useful for my Eurorack gear.
I can best describe this as a very slow LFO. Cycles can last between 15 secs
& 15 minutes. Andrew has two versions.: Slow or Super Slow. I'll probably
build both, but this page will be for the Super Slow Version.

Three-toed-sloth (Bradypus variegatus), Lake Gatun, Republic of Panama

Here is a link to Andrew's NLC website where you can purchase these Sloth PCBs.
His main website is here.
And his blog.
Muffs Thread.
The Build notes & BOM for the Sloth are here.
2nd muffs thread.

First some pics of the virgin panel & PCB:

.IC and Power headers first:

Resistors & Caps next.

The components for the Sloth & Super Sloth are different. 
For the Super-Sloth version, C3, C4 & C5 must be bipolar/non-polarized 10uF capacitors. 
For the standard Sloth these can be regular 1uF(not-electrolytic)(4.5mm spacing) caps.

The LED is also not your standard one. It's a 2 pin bipolar to show positive & negative voltages.

The two huge caps used are C1 & C2 - 1000uF electrolytic (polarized) / 35V
The 3 smaller caps are for C3,C4 & C5. They are 10uF/50V - NonPolarized.


LED next
The LED must be a two pin bipolar type to show positive and negative going voltage.
It's one colour when the voltage is +ve & another when in the -ve zone.


The final piece is to pick the LED resistor. It's marked RL on the PCB. Andrew suggests values in the range 330R to 10K

The 330R seemed too bright for my LED and 10k too dim.
Experimenting with a few different values of the LED resistor.
I finally went with a 1K resistor.

The LED is a 2 pin bipolar. It will change colour to show positive & negative voltages.

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I was really amazed how the sloth does go to sleep.
At times it is inactive or an hour and you can be forgiven for thinking its not working.
Then suddenly things happen.

So decided to build a standard Sloth today.
This uses 100uf caps for c1 & c2
 The LED resistor is 560 ohms.
 C3,C4 & C5 are  regular1uf non electrolytic.(You can prob try using surface mount here).
 C6 & C7 are surface mount.10uF (16V)

Works a treat :-)

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Click here to return to the NLC Build Index:
http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/non-linear-circuits-ncl-index.html

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Korg DDM 220 - Drum machine

This drum was the big brother & the complement to the Korg DDM 110 (Super Drums).
It's full name is the " Korg DDM (Digital Drum Machine) 220 Super Percussion.
The  Korg DDM-110 had the sounds: Bass (kick),  Snare, Rimshot, High Tom, L Tom, Closed High Hat, Open HH, Cymbals, Claps (Trig).
The DDM-220 was more organic in flavour. Its sounds were Hi Conga, Lo Conga, Timbale, Wood Block, Cowbell, Hi Agogo, Lo Agogo, Cabasa, Tambourine (Trigger).
It was produced in 1985. Korg were trying to make a simple & affordable drum.
This was the same year that Roland produced the TR-727 (the TR707 had come out a year earlier and the TR-909 was produced in '83). The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer was released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use digital samples and retailed for $5k.
So you can see where the competition was coming from.

 The knob "cabasa/tambourine" doesn't set the balance between the two sounds. 
Rather it's a volume level for both

Digital was all the rage. Sadly, with sampling rate of  around 15khz, the 220 used measly 8-bit PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) samples. Because of this, the drum gets lots of flack. I constantly see it being described as "cheezy" in a derogatory way. I think this is undeserved.

Yes...I agree that the sounds are dated and smell of the '80s. They stink like Gorgonzola at times but I do like my cheeze ... esp the stuff that smells like your joggers after a half marathon.

 The Cabasa & Agogo are kinda nice and hiss at you when you distort them by turning the volume all the way up. The drum really comes alive when to put it through phasers, delay & compression.
I wouldn't go as far as saying that they sound realistic. In fact, I can't say that any of these sounds recreate their real acoustic parents but I still like them in a kitsch way. 
Music at the moment is so clean and safe and "cool" ... this breaks the "mould".
For less than $80 I can't complain. 

And yes, programming is a pain in the arse. There are definitely too many shift+key+start/stop+key combinations.

The trigger out is handy for syncing it to external gear. 



There is DinSync (Korg not Roland Sync). Looks a lot like MIDI but it's not. 
This type of DIN-sync is analogue rather than digital. And to make things more confusing there are 2 types of DINSYNC. Roland uses 24 PPQN (Pulses Per Quarter Note). Korg uses 48 PPQN.

The Din-sync on the KORG 220 can be either master or slave. If you are hooking it up with other Korg gear (like a DDM-110 or KPR-77) syncronization is a breeze. But if you use Roland gear it will run that gear at twice the speed if the Korg is master. If the Roland gear is the master, then the DDM-220 will run at half the speed.
 Very complex rhythm patterns can be created with 2 synchronized units. The DDM-110 & DDM-220 are especially well suited for this purpose since they enable a combination of drums & percussion.

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For more info on the history of Korg Drum Machines Click Here