This is a heavily modified Atari Punk Console. Modifications include pitch and mod Cv inputs, resonant low pass filter from the Ray Wilson's Weird Sound Generator, dual low frequency oscillator with cross feedback, selector knob for up to six different capacitor pairs ranging from control frequencies to high pitched oscillator frequencies.
I finished an analog 10 step sequencer based on one of Ray Wilson's designs with some modifications. For one thing I made it based on 9V so I could use my standard power supply. I used a 555 for the clock instead of Ray's clock. I ended up leaving most of the gate generating part which I later regretted but I would need to add a daughter board to fix it. I used ten different colored LEDs on this device. The 10 knobs control the voltage sent to the left output. The knob by the left output controls glide, the knob by the right output controls step time. The right output is supposed to be a gate but it only works if you have every other switch up and down.
Another issue is that it outputs a voltage from 4.5 - 9 V rather than 0 - 9V or -4.5 - + 4.5 etc which is problematic with most other synths. In the next revision I would try to change that as well as a few other things.
Anyway, not too bad for a first prototype. The videos demonstrate how it sounds:
And another:
Accompanied by a Yamaha CS01 analog synthesizer using a breath control to modulate filter cut off and processing both through a Lexicon Vortex. The sequencer is modulating a modified Atari Punk Console that is part of the Thing 2 device. That device also has a NAND synth, noise generator and starve features.
I added a resonance knob to the CS01 as can be seen in the video.
Here are some pictures of the sequencer in progress.
In this video I do an improvisation using my Thing 2 NAND/APC/Noise drone box and Steam Drone box.
The Steam Drone is on the left. The system combines a NAND synth with a resonant low pass filter based on the LM13700 OTA. The LEDs use two transistors and capacitors to do flashing lights (yellow and red). The knobs control the frequency of the three NAND oscillators as well as the level of audio sent to the filter. It turns out the filter performance depends somewhat on the input level. the next set of knobs include Q, filter cut-off, and output volume. The knob on the far left is a potentiometer that the input voltage passes through. When this is all the way to the right it passes the voltage unaltered. As you move it to the left the input current has to pass through more and more resistance essentially starving the circuit of voltage. Starve is one of my favorite effects because the circuits get into a mode where they don't behave like they are supposed to, before they shut down completely. Three of the switches control are used to link the NAND oscillators directly to the output, the other switch turns on the power.
The box on the right is the Thing 2 system. This is a board I made by combining the following circuits: NAND synth, Atari Punk Console, low pass filter, zener diode noise source, blinking light circuit. I had a bunch of layouts drawn up so I decided to combine all of these on a single board. The noise part of the circuit was not making any noise so I kept increasing the resistor value over the op amp to increase the gain but it still would not make noise for me. I noticed however that the whole circuit was producing noise so I settled for that. This box has additional inputs for the control voltage of the 556 which basically controls mod and pitch. I also added an input for the filter to process an external signal since the noise wasn't working.
Something interesting occurs on the Thing 2 when you starve the circuit. The noise starts to become enhanced and the LEDs start having a big impact on the sound. I was originally disappointed with the flashing light part of the circuit because the flashing of the lights is not related to the sound the device makes. As you starve the circuit though, each time the lights flash they make a sound. So I ended up really liking this circuit. It was sort of a whim to combine all of these circuits on one board but I like the results a lot. I ended up with two other indicator LEDs, yellow and green, in addition to the flashing ones, blue and red.
I had photo cube from Michael's which was big enough to hold the circuits and the knobs and I had used a photo cube for the Thing 1 device. I came up with the idea to cut pieces of Fresnel lens and mount them on the inside surface of the photocube. This gives a really cool effect when the lights are out.
Hadronistics involves the study and application of Hadristors; gravitational devices which which play an essential role in FTL (Faster Than Light) transportation.
Took this one down.
This piece was done by improvising four different long sounds using home made boxes including the Thing 2 device depicted in the image. The Thing 2 device combines an Atari Punk Console, a NAND Synth, an Odd Filter and a noise source in a single box with four LEDs, two of which are blinking. The walls of the box are covered with fresnel lenses to give the impression of something which look larger on the inside than it does on the outside (TARDiS). Other instruments used are an APC expanded with a capacitor array and odd filter used as input to a Bass++ drum trigger for rhythm patterns.
The Thing 1 noise source, NAND Synth 1 and 2 with VCF LPF 1, some signals were processed through a Motif with chorus, reverb, phasing and delay. The entire sound was processed in Reaper with Apple reverb and Voxengo Elephant for compression.
These are some pictures of some current DIY synthesizer projects. This first one is a 10 step sequencer with a 555 clock. I used different colored LEDs for each step (not sure if this will mess up functionality yet).
The next one is my DACPOD. This will be mounted in a case and combines a simple resonant VCF with an Atari Punk Console and my blinking light circuit to give it two flashing LEDs.
This circuit is supposedly a snare drum but it needs a couple of capacitors and a transistor yet.
This is a Rossler Attractor chaotic oscillator circuit. Should have put some caps on the outputs for this one.
This circuit combines (left to right) a control voltage mixer, a voltage controlled resonant low pass filter, and a NANDsynth oscillator as well as blinking LEDs along the top. This circuit ended up as my Steam Drone box.
This is my layout for my Atari Punk Console. This is about as compact as you can probably make this device without going to surface mount. The + and - go to a switch to the battery. The P+ supplies the positive voltage to the two pots (right side), the PP goes to the wiper of the Pitch Pot, the PM goes to the wiper of the Mod Pot, CvR provides a voltage to the two control voltage RTS 1/4 jacks and should connect to the ring of both jacks. This will allow you to use an expression pedal to sweep pitch or mod. Note the resistor presents too much current from flowing if you short out the connection. The CvP goes to the tip of the pitch control voltage quarter inch, and the CvM goes to the tip of the mod control voltage quarter inch jack. The output goes to the tip of the 1/4 right of an audio pot 10k-100k. The wiper goes to the tip of quarter inch jack. The sleeve of the jacks should all be connected together and grounded.
This design makes use of both modulation connections on the 556 chip so you can modulate pitch and wave shape.
This setup has the following additional components:
2 stereo 1/4 inch jacks for control voltage or expression pedal input
1 mono 1/4 inch jack for output
2 500k - 1M linear taper pots (either work) for pitch and wave form modulation
1 10k-100k audio taper pot (either should work) for volume
1 SPST toggle switch for on/off
1 battery clip or 9V supply connecter (or both)
1 case of some type, a lot of options here but I like the "Really Useful Box" series from Office Depot because they are easy to drill holes in.
Here is a video demonstration of this device:
You can use this to make a PCB. You will have to scale to the correct size. The spacing between the pins on the chip should be 0.1 inch. The output will be the contact on the far right.
