Friday, 12 October 2018

Soma Lab Lyra-8 DIY build - Part 1

Some pics of my Soms Laboratory Lyra-8 build.
This synth comes from Russia. Soma describe it as a "Organismic Synth".

It's 8 voice, totally analogue, with built in delay & distortion.

Each voice can be tuned independently.


It's making me reconsider what a synthesizer actually is .... Soma don't desciribe the voices as VCOs..
rather they are organ style voices that are triggered with circular touch contacts. This does not have a regular keyboard. There is no 1V/oct input.
(I'm actually using some circular screws I got from my local hardware store).

" Each voice produces raw waveforms that can be shifted from triangle to square. Acting in pairs, they serve as carriers and modulators in a rather mind-blowing form of knobby, interactive FM synthesis." (SOS).

The frequency of each voice ranges from LFO can be triggered via the touch contacts to form chords, drones etc.


I owe much to radio engineer Vlad Kreimer for making this possible.



This has been an on-going build for quite a while.


Many of the parts can't be sourced from my regular suppliers like mouser , etc so I've resorted to Ebay ... so who know how good the quality will be.
So far the build has been easy - it's all thru hole, and the components are well spaced.
Lots of room for future mods.


Most of my time has actually been consumed with translating the BOM to parts which are easily available in Australia (digikey, mouser etc).
Also I was initially confused with the different PCB revisions

It has stalled for the moment as i'm waiting on a front panel (from a friend which may never appear ???).
I may resort to hacking my own DIY panel.

Part 2 of the Lyra Build can be found here:
https://djjondent.blogspot.com/2020/03/lyra-8-build-part-2.html

Part 3 is here
https://djjondent.blogspot.com/2020/03/lyra-build-part-3.html

Part 4: Making the Lyra Panel face plate

Links:
+ Lyra FX eurorack module
+ Soma Lab
+ Muffs DIY kit
+ Muffs - modded lyra ?




Luxor Temple - Egypt

In Luxor (ancient Thebes) there are several great temples on both the east and west banks of the Nile.
 
This temple is located on the east bank of the Nile River and construction was begun 
by Amenhotep III (1390-52 BC) but completed by Tutankhamun (1336-27 BC) and Horemheb (1323-1295 BC). It was later added to by Rameses II (1279-13 BC).
Peristyle colonnade of the Luxor Temple. Notice the Papyrus topped columns.

The temple has been in constant use throughout its history
Toward the rear is a granite shrine dedicated to Alexander the Great (332-305 BC).


During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.
Later it was a Christian church and a mosque.


Unlike the other temples in Thebes, Luxor temple is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the king in death. Instead Luxor temple is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship,
This is a view of part of the processional entrance to the temple

 

The entrance to the temple itself is known as the first pylon.  It was built by Ramesses II.

An avenue of human headed sphinxes of over one and a half miles (3 km) once connected the temples of Karnak and Luxor. 

The twin of this obelisk resides in Paris.
Obélisque de Louxor in the centre of the Place de la Concorde

The obelisk is 23m high. Its made of yellow granite and weighs over 250 metric tonnes). It is decorated with hieroglyphs exalting the reign of the king Ramses II and decorated with reliefs of his military exploits, including the Battle of Kadesh.

The obelisk was originally fronted by six statues of Ramses II , four seated and two standing, but only two of the seated figures and one standing remain.
 



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Wednesday, 10 October 2018

New Sound Waves - Meeting 2

This was held on Sat Oct 6th Oct.
Lots of fun !!!


sOME LZX cyclops lazer action




A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on

Come to the next meeting.



A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on

Tuesday, 9 October 2018

Voltage Processor - CVP - Build

Though not the sexiest module in your modular rack, the voltage processor is very useful and in fact essential to get the most out of your system.

I've got a quite a few in the Buchla format.
These are great pages concerning the Buchla CVPs
++http://buchlatech.blogspot.com/2008/10/musings-on-voltage-processors.html
++ Muffs = 257r build

Serge also have many voltage processors. These links should get you started
++http://www.serge-fans.com/m-class-cv-processor.cfm
++Random source
++http://djjondent.blogspot.com/2015/11/voltage-processor-cgs-81-build-notes.html
++Elby ES14
++ Serge.net -R1 The paperface dual voltage processor

Today I'm building a Euro CVP From Manhattan Analog
The build notes are here


Pretty easy build. the components are marked on the PCB.
The trimpot is 20k

The two ICs are basic Op-amps ... a TL074 & 072


There are two 50k and a 1M pots , The 50k are Linear.
I've seen builds of this with the 1M being either audio or linear (P3/Glide is the 1M.)
I'm building this with 1M linear.
I'll build another one with a audio pot and see how it behaves.









The anode of the LED goes into the square hole.

to be continued......

 

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For more Euro DIY builds click here:
http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/diy-index.html
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Saturday, 6 October 2018

LZX Cyclops - Lazer projector interface

Last night at the NewSoundWaves meeting I was mesmerized by the LZX Cyclops in action.


Many thanks to our fearless leader, Ilya for the demo.

This module converts EuroRack modular signals to the International Laser Display Association (ILDA) specification for laser show projectors.




A post shared by jono (@dj_jondent) on
My understanding is that the computer control signal is convertered to ILDA by a Digital Analogue Converter (DAC), also called "ILDA Interface", combined with laser software.
The ILDA control signal uses a very dense transmission structure, as it has to control every single color change and every re-positioning of the scanner. This is entirely different to the DMX system which transmits only low level information.

There are 5 channels:
The X and Y CV inputs accept different ranges of signals: (+/-5V)
The red, green & blue takes 0-5V.
Each CV input has a dedicated attenuator and bias knob for precise modulation control, and both the X and Y inputs feature switches for inverting the CV.
There are selectable low-pass filters on X & Y channels with settings for 20KPPS and 30KPPS projectors & filter bypass.
Finally, a master scale knob allows for the adjustment of the overall projection size. Patching oscillators (especially quadrature VCOs) into the modules CV inputs allows for the creation of oscillographics and lissajous curves".

 The module uses a standard DB25 serial connector port.


Links
+ LZX official page
+ Lazer software
+ NewSoundWaves Facebook

Saturday, 29 September 2018

Video Stuff - Index

My video pages are scattered throughout this blog and can be difficult to sort out at times.
Thus this index.


3TrinsRGB+1 - Video Synth by Gijs Gieskes
(This wonderful synth is mostly DIY)
+ Banana break out box 
+ 3trins to LZX 
+ 3trins with FetidEye's Comparator
+ Triple 3Trins Haliburton case - building the enclosure
+ 3trins patches 1
+ 3Trins - build pics & initial tests


3-Trins Plugins
+ 2xSPDT & 4xSPST
+ SPST & SPDT
+ 2xVideo in Negative
+ Video in Lines

Critter & Guitari
+ Cellular Automatia

Cat Full Of Ghosts

Korg



Live Performance
+ NewSoundWaves - 21st March 2015 -Roland V8 mixer, P10 clip launcher, ex security camera, Video Synthesizer and modules: LZX, MVIP and Geiskes 3TrinRGB+1c

LZX
+ Basic LZX patches
+ Sat arvo Jam - 10th Jan, 2017 (Vidiot)
+ The Putney and LZX Visual Cortex
+ Function Generator- build pics
+ Cyclops - Lazer Interface
+ Visual Cortex - Composite vs Component inputs

LZX - Cadet
 + Cadet I - Video Sync Generator - Build notes
 + Cadet II - RGB Encoder - Build notes
 + Cadet III - Video input - build notes
 + Cadet IV - Dual Ramp generator - build notes
 + Cadet V - Scaler - build notes
 + Cadet VI - Fader - Build notes
 + Cadet VII - Processor -Build notes
 + Cadet VIII - Hard Key Generator - build notes
 + Cadet IX - VCO - build notes
 + Cadet X - Multiplier - Build notes

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

Monitors
+ Looking for the prefect monitor/scope for Rutt-Etra
+ Tektronix 620 monitor
+ Tek 620 - first attempt at Vector Rescanning / Rutt-Etra

Scanimate 
+ Matrix switch panels

Youtube Channels
YouTube 1 - main channel
YouTube 2 - experimental
YouTube 3 - test videos

Vectrex
+ Initial explorations - just playing Minestorm
+ Vectrex - Hack
+ "Curling" effects - vector rescanning attempt 1

Vidiffektor - build notes

New Sound Waves synth meet # 2

The next synth meet is in 1 week.
Come along if you like synths, modulars and electronic music.


The Facebook link is here
Saturday, October 6, 2018 at 5 PM – 9 PM
Monster Mouse Studios
9 Gerald St Marrickville