I go to school (again) and in our physic lessons we’re learning how very basic circuits behave under alternating current. In the next days one of my classmate will give a presentation about simple oscialltor circuits, which i’m looking forward to. My secret plan is now to use one of these simple circuits to build a very basic (low frequency) oscillator that can be used as modulation source for the voyager, for example to get a light and slow pitch modulation.
I’m new to electronic circuits, so it could be that i lost sight of something. What do you think about it?
You can build an oscillator circuit with a simple 555 timer chip, a couple of caps and resistors. About $3 worth of parts. And they can sound REAL REAL good. I did some of these some years ago. That’s probably what you’re gonna do. From there, the real works starts, more circuitry to vary pitch, some more circuitry to make different wave shapes, add a VCA, and so on…
If you want to build something more elaborate yourself, you figure it all out, buy single parts one by one but it will cost you. You can save a lot of money and get something already figured out for you. Look at the Fatman synthesizer from PAiA, a real synth with gorgeous sound. Music From Outer Space also has interesting kits, one of which I don’t remember the name but sells for less than $100. It’s more of a noise maker (it’s actually a real synth, but not calibrated for music) using funky terms to describe it’s components. These kits sell for much less than what you would pay for single parts, shopping’s been done for you, no hassle.
The point about these kits is that they can serve as a tutorial in electronics and synth building. Also, if you need parts, get a kit with knobs and everything, and use the parts to build what you want. It’s still a saving over buying singles.
Edit : Edit : darn you and your ideas. Got the breadboard out, a 555 in and a square wave out. Gonna turn this into a ramp, tune the timer for low frequencies, hopefully insert the CV out into the Voyager later this afternoon, then maybe move on to an op-amp sine wave circuit. lolll I meant to do something like that for a while, you just sucked me into it lollll
I just started reading the “formant music synthesizer” ebook from 1977 (avaible on www.elektor.com ). Unfortunately I couldn’t find a german version of this book, but that will improve my english skills.