Sunday, January 9, 2011

Long time no see


Just a little up date after a long time. I've finally had some time to do some electronics work while on christmas break. I worked on my SK-5 a little bit. Check out this tutorial I put together for the Oceanus Drum Mutator Mod>

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/board/index.php?topic=2528.msg13542#new
While looking at this pic and thinking about how to incorporate it into the final build, I'm concidering that the rotary selector switch, in the picture, can change 25 pins with one click (5p2t at 5 layers?). I salvaged that one from an old DB25 printer selector box. I have had some luck reconfiguring smaller switches from 2 poles to 7 . Maybe I can reconfigure it to reroute the 8 bits in predetermined patterns. I'll use the patch bay to find what combinations of patches I like and take notes. Then it's just a matter of wiring it up.
Another option I've considerd its using some kind of gate to invert each bit, and using a switch to decide if the bit will be inverted of not. Here's another possibility: It probibly isnt to hard to create an 8-bit message from a kids computer or some similar device, and if it's that easy, maybe it can even be sequenced.
I've become really fond of using the DB25 and other vintage computer ports. Keeping the SK5 modular has ben a priority for me, so the ease of changing conections for panel modules and eventually, controllers, has ben fun. Eventually ill have to learn to make ribon connectors.

Well, I'll try and get back to posting regularly, but as the semester approaches, this seems kind of bleak.
Later!

Friday, April 9, 2010

casio sk-5 mods



I just picked up a Casio SK-5! First thing I added was a seriel port. This makes it way easier for me to make tons of bends, while playing.
I think I will use this as a prototyping tool to see witch bends i will use often,
and then build them in to a more control oriented break out box. I'm also considering adding a seperate port so I can trigger other sounds in the SK with a sequencer.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010


I've been waiting all month for this!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

sequencer update!




posible panel layout:



some wiring:

Get LoFi Sequencer!


I'm atill waiting on some parts for the SN module. In the mean time I got my blast fed disaster up and running! Gonna change some things around, and possibly get more range out of it. But for now, I'm working on a simple control voltage sequencer.

My sequencer is based on the project available from getlofi.com . It's designed to trigger circuit bent toys and the like. It's pretty awesome. My project has ben layed out so anyone can do it on strip(ver0) board if they want. Its not working yet but I think I have an idea whats going on.

If your here, make sure you check out the GetLoFi website!

www.getlofi.com/sequencer

Thursday, March 11, 2010

the voice

My tape organ has been kludging about, so I decided to throw it on the back burner while I concentrate on my SNvoice. I Populated the board today, check it out:














Just need to order a handfull of parts and make a face plate. Notice the old school, can-package super mached transistor pair! Get Psyked!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

on the bench

currently on my bench!:

First, the SN voice is a complete synth, based on an old chip from Texas Instruments.
This chip was used in a lot of Atari games, from what I've read, and is interesting because it has most of the elements required for making sond right on board.

In the picture, my tape loop organ is basically an old tape deck that I will hack with a piano-type keyboard, which will control the speed of the playback. The loops can also be played in reverse. I'm hoping to figure out a way to play both tapes at the same time for some "chords."
Also, I'd like to make a double cassette, and use the unit as a delay, with modulation of speed and feedback! The space where you see the circuit board will have all the controls and patch points, I"m hopiong to incorperate: tape direction for both tapes, record/erase enable, lfo modulation, master spead, and feedback for the delay.

Last but not least is a modified Atari Punk Console (aka Forest Mims' Stepped Tone Generator). This version of the circuit, by Squarewave Parade, is called "Blast Fed Disaster". Mine has to be rebuilt, but I'm really happy with the modular style layout, and am looking forward to bulding more modules in this fasion. The 3 holes on the bottom are cv inputs and the output