20100122

SynthZilla Is Complete!


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It started as the OrcaSynth (a mod of a HackADay project), turned into the DigiSynth, and now has finished off as SynthZilla!

The final build includes control over pitch, duty, portamento, 2 LFOs, tone, body, gain, vol, 8-step voltage sequencer, and more!


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Below is the schematic I used. Not all the components are labelled and I didn't draw in the bypass jacks for all the knobs, but you get the idea. Let me know if you'd like a cleaner, complete schematic and I will happily oblige.

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A couple notes: I used a quad-amp simply because I was out of single amp ICs. Also, the tone/body filter only works well through headphones or an external amp, not the onboard speaker.

20100118

Video-Making Time

I finished Synthzilla! I will post that asap; but for now, enjoy these videos I made just for you.


20100104

Monsters in Jars & WIP Panels

Well every time I promise something is "upcoming" I get side-tracked. So today I have something completely different to appease you.

These are two monsters I sculpted as gifts for a couple friends. More info in the set.

Here are some incomplete projects:



Top two are my Digisynth panel being built. Bottom left is a WIP Circuit-Bent Casio CZ-101. Bottom right is a MysteryMonster; any ideas as to what it does?

20091210

Stay Tuned for 3 New Projects!

Hello! I am about halfway done with 3 new from-scratch noisemakers. Just as a sample, here is the confusing front panel for the HANd SOLO:
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The small red dots are banana jacks, and the small yellow dots are touch points.
The second upcoming monster is version two of this little groanmachine I made for the chap who first got me into noise and electronics:
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It makes awful clicks and squeals and is very sensitive to organic interference, but oddly not electronic interference.
The third is a square box with 23 controls that makes hellish noise!
Stay tuned for schematics for all three monsters. (For starters, the brains used in these monsters are 7805, irf510, 40106, 555, 4017 and lm324).

20091121

The Pantom Quartet Pre-Prototype (plus SMD to DIP conversions)

The Phantom Quartet is an idea I've had for quite some time. I put together a schematic which incorporates Pete Edwards' step sequencer. My original post with the schematic can be found here; and Pete was kind enough to post it here and here.
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I noticed that I already had a few 4017s so I wanted to finally have a go at making a sequencer. The only downside was that I accidentally ordered SMD 4017s (a mistake I used to make often) instead of DIP. So to get around it, I crafted the little monster pictured above.
Once that was done, I used the counter to sequence 9v charges into pots which lead to my orcasynth. It actually worked! Here is a clip of the voltage sequencer in action:

I am expecting the parts for the actual step switches and everything in the next few days. So stay tuned for prototype A!