Saturday, 16 April 2022

Mutant Hot Glue - part 2 - build notes

 Finally getting the parts together which I need to finish this project.
Covid, the war in Ukraine, etc are really slowing down my builds.
 

Part 1 of the build is here:

Finally have a 576k resistor.
 


The THAT 4301p is super rare.
 
So is the THAT 2180. This is a VCA


cAREFUL with the orientation

Finally there.
 


Part 1 of the build is here:

links

+ Modular Compressor -using eurorack modules 

ARP 2500 VCOs

 The Arp 2500 has 3 "types" of VCOs

1004‑T: Single Oscillator Module
1004-R: Single Oscillator Module
1004-P: Single Oscillator Module

The 1004-P

P stands for Potentiometer.

This is a Voltage Controlled Oscillator with a range
 from 0.03Hz to 16kHz.
This module can function as a VCO or an LFO. 
It features separate outputs for each of its five waveforms 
(sine, triangle, square, sawtooth, and pulse)  and a final
mixed output.
There are 6 CV (control voltage) inputs (3 at the top and 2 at the bottom of the module)
 
Input #4 is a CV input for Pulse Width Modulation.
 
The pots allow for gradual shaping of the waveforms.
You can easily mix different volumes of each waveform with one another to sculpt your sounds


The 1004- T

T stands for Toggle

This is a Voltage Controlled Oscillator with a range
 from 0.03Hz to 16kHz.
This module can function as a VCO or an LFO. 
Its core is identical to the above 1004-P.
 
It features separate outputs for each of its five waveforms 
(sine, triangle, square, sawtooth, and pulse)  and a final
mixed output.
There are 6 CV (control voltage) inputs (3 at the top and 2 at the bottom of the module)
 
Input #4 is a CV input for Pulse Width Modulation.
 
The toggle allow for quick shaping of the waveforms.
You can easily add and remove different waveforms from the final mix to sculpt your sounds.
 
The toggle version also allows you to add/remove inverted waveforms

1004-R

R stands for Rocker.

This is a Voltage Controlled Oscillator with a range
 from 0.03Hz to 16kHz.
This module can function as a VCO or an LFO. 
Its core is identical to the above 1004-P & 1004-T
 
It features separate outputs for each of its five waveforms 
(sine, triangle, square, sawtooth, and pulse)  and a final
mixed output.
There are 6 CV (control voltage) inputs (3 at the top and 2 at the bottom of the module)
 
Input #4 is a CV input for Pulse Width Modulation.
 
The rocker switch allows for quick shaping of the final mixed waveform.
You can easily add and remove different waveforms from the final mix to sculpt your sounds.
 
This is a simplier version of the 1004-T however its the rarest of the bunch

Wednesday, 13 April 2022

Guitar pedals & effects 2

For more info on pedals that work with synths:

Guitar pedals and effects 1- that work well with synths

 This is Boss's 1st pedal


The CE-1 
Musonics Phaser
Mu-Tron Phasor II
Phase shifter
1977
Six phase-shift stages provide a maximum of 1080 degrees of phase-shift 
The feedback circuitry (first introduced on the Mu-tron Bi-Phase) produces a distinctive, pronounced sweeping effect

MXR Stereo Flanger

16 second digital delay
Electro-harmonix
This is a early digital sampler
Able to record parts on the fly, and then replay them at the touch of a button, 

Strymon
Echo
El Capistan

Ekdahl Moisturizer
Reverb & Variable state filter
Control (CV) over freq and res.
Also Cv control to pick which filter .. LP BP,HP

Strymon bluesky
reverb

zoom MS-70CDR
Multi effects
 
 
Boss OD - 3
overdrive
.

Boss TR-2
Tremolo
.
 


For more info on pedals that work with synths:

Guitar pedals and effects 1- that work well with synths

Saturday, 9 April 2022

Zabreg - part 2 - Croatia

 Some pics of Zagreb.
 
The Meštrović Pavilion, also known as the Home of Croatian Artists.
Its an art gallery, a cultural venue and the official seat of the Croatian Society of Fine Artists located on the Square of the Victims of Fascism in central Zagreb, Croatia
The Pavilion was completed in 1938.
 
The pavilion functioned as an art gallery for only three years before it was turned into a mosque in 1941, at the beginning of World War II. Three minarets measuring 45 m (147.6 ft) in height were placed around the pavilion, but the exterior of the building was not altered.  In 1949, the minarets were demolished and the interior decor was removed to make way for the new Museum of the Revolution.
 

Statue of August Å enoa in VlaÅ¡ka st. 
This is located few minutes from main squire. 
August Å enoa is famous Croatian novelist.
 
Cathedral of Zagreb.
Roman Catholic
Gothic Revival architecture. Built in 1906  


 St Marks Church, Zagreb
Trg Sv. Marka 5, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
Completed 13th Century.
Altered 14th Century
Part Romanesque (13thC) / part Gothic (14thC)

The roof is particularly beautiful.
It features 2 coats of arms.
 and the city of Zagreb (right).
 

The Zagreb Funicular 
situated in Tomić Street, connecting Ilica (Donji Grad
with Strossmayerovo šetalište (Strossmayer promenade).
Built in 1888.
First propelled with a steam engine.
In 1934 its steam propulsion was replaced by an electrical engine.
Being only 66 meters long, it is the shortest funicular in the world.
 


Thursday, 7 April 2022

Strega - Make noise - getting started

 I just got my hands on a Strega.
(thanks Jonathan).
Most of the videos I've watched show it to be a great drone synth, though I hope I can get more out of it. 
It should be good for processing external instruments and generating control voltages for use with other gear.
These are my personal notes to help me get acquainted. As I learn more about the Strega I'll adjust the notes.
Do let me know if I have made any mistakes.
 
 
The Strega was designed by MakeNoise & Alessandro Cortini.
Strega is Italian for "witch" .

 
At first glance its very confusing. I think that the designers intentionally wanted the synth to be obtuse and mysterious. Maybe this was to inspire experimentation.
 
The patch inputs and outs follow the same convention used in the 0-coast and 0-ctrl
 
There are in addition lots of touch points (11) which also encourage physical interaction.
 

The circles / squares are patch points for sources and destinations.
Instead of using cables, you use your body.
 
circle = source
square = destination

Maybe I can use these patch points with external gear ???

Experiment by connecting more than just two touchplates with your fingers. 
Try using your whole hand or two hands to make connections.

Basically there are 4 components:
1.an oscillator with a waveshaper.
2. Lo-Fi Delay 
3. Multi-mode Filter
4. Function Generator / LFO / EG
 
In addition , there is an external audio input & a suboctave generator output. 
(at the top of the pic below). 
I think the various touch points with the squiggly lines are related to this output ??


I think another way to look at this synth  is to divide it into two halves.
 

The left half is the sound source with a external audio input. This feeds into the right half which is a filter/ delay, feedback.
 
Turning the blend knob fully counter clockwise , you will hear the raw oscillator Tonic side only.
As you turn clockwise, the right (filter/delay/mayhem) comes into play. 
 So its basically a wet/dry effect knob.


The sound generation section (TONIC) on the left is brought to life with the activation section
 

ACTIVATION
It's a triggered, 4 quadrant, bipolar VCA.
It can be opened up by a control voltage.
It's also responsive to the TIME control. 

Use this activate some noise.

To start things off, just turn up the activation knob.till you see the 4 leds start to flash.
 
 Increasing Activation interference adds an element of  chaos to the oscillator.
 
 
 
 
TONE
The sound generation section in addition to Activation, 
also has TONIC & TONES pots.
 
You can think of TONE as an oscillator.
It has a variable waveform control.
 
Tonic controls the oscillator base frequency while
TONES controls harmonics using PWM and wavefolding

On top of this, Strega adds a sub-oscillator derived from 
the fundamental pitch (mentioned above).
The jack at the top is one way to access the sub-oscillator.
The other way is via some of the touchplates 
(The circles are outputs, the square are inputs)





The delay is really noisy ... in a good crunchy Lo-fi way.
 
 My understanding is that it uses lo-fi chips often used in karaoke machines. PT2399-based ???

There are 3 controls:
TIME, Decay, Absorb.
Adjusting TIME  takes you from super short repeats to long overlapping, evolving delays.
The Decay & Absorb knobs give more subtle control over the 
delay signal
 
I think the absorb knob controls the amount of the delay signal that enters the filter
 ..... ????
 
 
 
It seems that the only way to tame it a bit (though this would be a shame) is with the filter & absorb control.
The filter control is for cutoff.
I think that Absorb comes before the filter in the signal chain. ???
 

 The filter's cutoff can be modulated with the Function generator.
It's hardwired, though this connection can be broken with a patch cable . Turn the knob to "+"
to see the effect.
 
The white squared input jack is where you plug external CVs to modulate the filter

In some of the Makenoise videos they call the FG an agitator.
 The Agitation Function Generator can be an LFO, a triggered function G, or a voltage-controllable sound source.
 
 
 
Don't forget that this synth can also be used  as an effect module.
Try plugging in a drum machine. I read somewhere, that the preamp is inspired by the EMS synthi.

 Links

ST-Modular EFI filter

This is a multimode filter.
It's loosely based on the Korg MS 20..
 
The ST modular website is here:
 
I started of with this module as it has a very low part count so should be a easy build.
Plus I like small filters.
The world needs more 6hp filters

The filter has both high pass & low pass modes.

I like to start with the ICs
LM 13700M
these are pretty common op-amps


 The diodes aren't the exact ones from the BOM.
I had lots of spares of these from my NLC builds.

 


 
The parts are all 0603 SMD




Many thanks to Ed from Elk Elektronics for the kits and help in trouble shooting the build.



nice ... almost there




finally we are there
 



Links
 
GitHub
 
.