Tuesday, 1 March 2022

The Giant's Ring - Belfast

 Some pics of a trip I made to Ireland ages ago.
I hope to return soon.
This is from a very special place in Northern Ireland , just outside Belfast.
 
This site dates from the Neolithic period and was built around 2700BC...
 

 
It's older than the pyramids
 
 
It's like hundreds of other passage tombs built in Ireland during the Neolithic period, such as Newgrange,  
... of course not as big.


It is near the Shaw's Bridge crossing of the River Lagan,
 

 A scan from my diary.


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.