Proposal for Biologically Modulated Analog Synthesizer
Posted on August 21st, 2007 at 9:29 pm by Collin
I am beginning research in utilizing simple bioelectrical readings to be used in place of an LFO circuit for a traditional analog synthesizer. My desire is to use EEG readings to influence the sound produced by a musical instrument. Unfortunately the very delicate and precise nature of EEG readings make the related hardware relatively expensive and difficult to construct. (although the OpenEEG project’s research is diminishing that fact) ECG hardware is much more approachable in terms of budget and experimentation. I will begin by constructing simple ECG and VCO circuits and then adapting the ECG output to conform to standard LFO control voltage parameters. My hope is to create an instument whose voice is dynamically augmented by the physiological state of its user.
more to come . . .
The Superior Photo-Resist
Posted on August 19th, 2007 at 12:06 am by Collin
I have to say - photoresist is the way to go when etching a pcb. I have my eyes on the developing direct inkjet process, but for now I’m sold on photolithography. Processing the board pictured took under an hour even with all my ‘first time’ errors and fumbles. I highly reccommend the Datak Premier Presensitized boards. I only used one 15 watt daylight bulb for the exposure!
Dark Red/Black positive transparency
15watt daylight bulb 4-6″ away
6min exposure
10:1 hot water:developer
develop ~30sec
sweeten to taste, and serve.
Oh, I almost forgot, the subject matter of aforementioned pcb - the Baby 10 sequencer. I’m pretty sure I flubbed this prototype while rushing to test the photo method but I have high hopes for the final design.
Well now I’m off to make some rent money - later on.
ArduinoSynth alpha
Posted on August 7th, 2007 at 2:12 am by Collin
The ArduinoSynth is my first attempt at microcontroller programming( and pretty much any coding at all beyond a little html). It took me a bit to get started but it’s turning out to be a fun way to learn the language.
So far it’s a 12-note monophonic synth with transposition selection via one 10K pot. I’m using a gutted toy keyboard for the switches and a simple low pass filter to smooth the output a bit. Here’s the schematic:
Features I’d like to add:
- Another octave (maybe add a transpose switch on each of the next octave, then they can share pins with the first)
- Last note hit priority
- Portamento (note-slide)
- Real sine wave out (no external filter, please)
- Polyphony (I had it working badly, need better math)
- any real keyboard feature in existence(or not) attack, decay, waveform, vibrato, etc.
Source can be found here.
Audio sample here
Sample with no LPF here
The Old Requests Project
Posted on August 3rd, 2007 at 7:15 am by Collin
Aaah . . . Arduino
Posted on August 2nd, 2007 at 12:05 am by Collin
I recently attended an Arduino class at Lemur here in Brooklyn. It was fun and moved at a brisk pace. The Arduino programming environment is pretty damn friendly and intuitive.
I’m a bit staggered by all the possibilities microcontrollers open up but keep wondering - how do I turn this thing into a synth? Well I seem to be making pretty good headway via hacking bits of others’ sketches. Will report back soon.
