As you have been previously warned, this blog is now mostly about my analog synthesizer adventures. I'm building an old-school modular synth (from thoroughly modern components, mind you). There will, of course, be missteps along the way.

One of those hit me the other day, as I was test-fitting modules into my DIY cabinets.

I'd forgotten to purchase screws to mount the modules to the rails with.

Well, this means I need to GET screws, now doesn't it?

So, do I know where to go shopping locally for the exact size of screw, I need? (BTW, it's a #6 x 1/2" black-oxide coated, round head wood screw) No, I do not.

TO THE INTERNET!

And now I have a shipment of (get this!) 1,000 black-oxide round-head #6 x 1/2" wood screws, headed my way. Total cost: $23.60 with shipping and tax. Yes, that's $0.0236 per screw. Will I use all of them? No idea. I really have no notion of how large this synth could grow with time, whether additional cabinets will be in the same format, or use wood rails like my DIY cabinets do... But, at least now I'm prepared.

It's a GLORIOUS mixer....

And here it is with the pre-existing modules (plus a blank panel).

Some of my sins against good cabinetry are showing in that shot, but I'm nonetheless sufficiently proud of my workmanship to show it off. Yes, that's the power supply from way back in this post.

When I placed the order for modular synth components, I knew I was working with small, and even single-person shops, and that the delivery times would be measured in weeks, if not months. Waiting, however, is hard.

So, today I'm going to take some time to put the finishing touches on the cases, and maybe later, post some photos.

There are plenty of details and loose ends.

I need eight 3.5mm TS to 1/4" TS cables in several lengths, for which I need to find a source.

The Expert Sleepers ES-1 module mounts to its case with a metric-standard screw that were not provided. I only need four, but will likely have to purchase in 100-quantity. Ick. Hate that.

The Mac Mini has a single Firewire-800 port. I have a Firewire-400 cable. Ooops. Need an adapter or adapter-cable.

The "square" cabinet corners, aren't exactly so. In order for them to fit on the cabinets, the cabinets will have to be given a slight rounding over, particularly at the corners.

At any rate, this adds up to a day of shopping, setting up a work-space, and other mindless fun, with no synth goodness in sight.

So today, I get a quote from Synthesizers.com detailing the modules I've ordered and quoting me a price. The good news is that all these modules together plus tax, and shipping came in just UNDER $2500.

I'm a fool and I've parted with my money. Hopefully, we'll get some music out of this and the world will be better for it.

Here's the list, just the modules (I'm leaving off the power components, wiring harnesses, patch cables, etc.)

Q103 DC Power Interface
Q105 Slew Limiter
Q106 Oscillator
Q109 Envelope Generator
Q110 Noise
Q112 4 Channel Mixer

Q171 Quantizer Bank
Q172 Quantizer Aid
Q960 Sequential Controller
Q961 Sequencer Interface
Q962 Sequential Switch
Q963 Trigger Bus

Since I have two cabinets, the main power supply will obviously reside in one, with the need to carry DC power between the two. The DC power interface will mount on the back of the upper cabinet right over top of the AC power interface on the main cabinet, with a 24" cable connecting the DC out on the main power interface to the DC in on the DC power interface. Simple, huh? The rest of the modules all go on the front of the cabinets.

Starting with the lower cabinet, we have the following:

Slew limiter. No synth should be without one, it's how you get that nice portmanteau (or "glide") between notes, it's also useful as a crude low-pass filter, and has some other uses as well. It will take up a slot at the left side of the bottom cabinet.

Next we have the bog-standard Oscillator. Doubles as an LFO. Sine, Triangle, Saw, and Variable Pulse waves (with voltage control for pulse-width modulation). This will go right next to the existing oscillator, its identical twin.

Envelope Generator! Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release. Of course a true Klingon never needs anything beyond "Attack", but for functionality we have to include all four parts of the basic envelope. This is the twin of my existing EG module and will go next to it right before the VCA at the right-hand side of the bottom cabinet

Noise Source: Simple White/Pink noise generator. Goes on the left hand side of cabinet next to the existing sample and hold module.

Mixer: Front and center bottom cabinet, just after the oscillators, but before the filter, envelopes, and VCA.

WIth the exception of the Suit & Tie Guy mixer, and the Cyndustries Zeroscillator, that's it for the bottom cabinet for now.

The top cabinet is mostly the sequencer and its associated modules.

Sequential Controller: This is a functional clone of the Moog 960 sequencer. It's not the most powerful and versatile sequencer, but it's true to the heart of what I want to do, It's a 8-note by 3-function sequencer which with the...

Sequential Switch: Turns the Sequencer above into a 24 by 1 sequencer, has other uses as well.

Sequencer Interface: does logical OR on the input gate signals. basically takes a set of gate signals in, and puts one gate signal out, representing the OR'd sum of the input gates.

Trigger Bus: Switches, which allow the altering of sequencer output on the fly.

The Quantizer Bank and Aid are the final two modules in the sequencer picture. The quantizer forces the sequencer into notes on a scale (This simplifies tuning the sequencer) The quantizer aid provides a set of predefined scales and is programable via MIDI (This is my sole use of MIDI on this synth. There isn't even going to be a MIDI keyboard interface).

That should leave several spaces free on the top cabinet.

I promise pictures next post.

I've had this analog modular synth sitting here as a project for the longest time now, and have finally decided that it is no longer worth just sitting here staring at it. The cabinets will not magically fill themselves with modules. I'm going to have to finish this thing and start making sounds with it.

And so, the day before Christmas, 2010, I'm finally off my lazy butt, ordering modules for this anachronism. A voltage-controlled, monophonic, modular analog synthesizer. The kind of synthesizer that instantly went out of fashion with the advent of digital-FM synths in the 1980s, at which point all keyboard parts in every band everywhere started to sound more and more alike. Only in the last decade or so, has the depth, richness, and down-right fun sound of analog slowly crept back into the public consciousness... but even then it's mostly in purely digital recreations... so-called "analog modeling" synths. These are fine, but part of my brain says there's something dishonest about calling a completely digital simulation of an analog sound "analog". I'm clearly not the only one, as borne witness by the explosion in purely analog synthesizers, and the return of old synth makers like the late Robert Moog, and folks like Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith.

The new analog builds on lessons learned. The originals were cantankerous beasts that wouldn't hold in tune and seldom produced the same results twice. Why would anyone want to return to that? So, what we do these days isn't to slavishly copy say, a Moog System 55, but to create a modern equivalent, similar in function and spirit, but not, by-and-large using the exact same circuits.

My first step, in ordering modules for this synth was to go to synthesizers.com. The ordering process isn't a straight-forward online order form. No, this is boutique electronics, done OLD-SCHOOL. First you ask for a quote, then someone contacts you. This human interaction isn't some needless anachronism, it's a necessary part of the process. Because you're ordering an assemblage of parts, you're going to need some hands-on from the manufacturer to ensure that what you get, WORKS.

---

My second step involves looking for unusual or fun modules to fill in the gaps. Thankfully there are any number of small, or even single-person shops who specialize in just this sort of thing, Like Suit & Tie Guy, who has a variety of useful re-creations of classic synth modules and a few new ideas (and also reads my blog, thanks!) I think his take on the Moog CP3 Mixer from the early Moog Modulars would be a good addition, so I've placed an order for one. Read that page. Listen to that sound sample. Know that how a mixer distorts is just as important as its normal mode of operation, and perhaps more so. Now, I'm also ordering a four-channel mixer from synthesizers.com, but mostly because there's a slightly longer wait for the mixer I want, and in the end having nine channels of mixer with two sets of different responses lends itself to more possibilities.

Step three I haven't done yet. At this point, I have a two-oscillator synth with no dedicated LFOs. It's musically useful, but could use at least one more oscillator. So why don't I go all out and make the insane, money-no-object purchase of the single most amazing and powerful oscillator one can fit in a 5U modular system?

Why not buy a Cyndustries Zeroscillator?

Yeah, $1000. I'm a fool with money, soon to be parted from it. Yeah, I'm crazy. Like a fox. This isn't any ordinary bipolar UJT oscillator circuit. This is a full-blown quadrature oscillator with through-zero operation for voltage-controlled time-reversed insane you-can't-do-that-in-analog-can-you FM synthesis. This is our Klingon synth-builder taking a bat'leth to your auditory canal. It's where our amps go past eleven into "IT SHALL BE GLORIOUS" realms of sound. So, yeah, $1000. It's not like I'm outfitting the synth with a truckload of them.

More later...

Livejournal reminded me the other day that I have a blog here.

So, I've decided to make use of it. While daily incidentals will go over to Facebook where they're more appropriate, I'll be using this place for larger posts, and to say things in detail about musical side projects I'm working on.

At the moment, I have nothing more to add. I'll be back shortly with news.

Wolfram Alpha is working on definitive answers to those really hard questions

Here and Here

I'm on a roll.

Same two patches, same chord progression more or less. Notice how playing the chords in a high register and shifting the Moog to a low bass completely alters the mood.