an idea ... (and a good one!)

[Matthew S. Padden]

Hi..

Jeurgen wrote:

...
>Now, there's something that *I* would like to have, and others may find
>it useful, too: I'd like to have a programmer module for general 
>applications.
>I'd like to use it for home-built FX devices and synths, and it should
>only do what evey old storable analogue synth does: Scanning voltages,
>storing them in a buffered RAM, putting them out over multiplexers
>again. Plus all the handling: Edit mode, compare function and handling
>of memory locations. 32 MUX channels would be good, 64 would be
>better. Maybe it could be expandable: Solder one MUX into the
>pcb for a small FX device, and all MUX chips if you want to make
>a large synth storable.
>
>I am sure that this is easy for anybody who
>writes uC programms, and well it is implemented in many synths,
>but I'd *love* to have a little stand-alone module that does exactly
>this.
...

This is really interesting, as it would/should be very straightforward to 
fit to an existing design. Just add an extra input (via resistor) to each 
control point, and run these back to the processor module. The wiring might 
get a bit untidy internally if there's a lot of links, but that's not really 
a great problem (apart maybe from crosstalk). 

	Having just read back what I've written above, I realise there's a problem 
with this; that you won't necessarily get the same patch each time, due to 
any other patches between modules (silly me, forgot about summing 
inputs...). Still it's a good start. Reminds me in a way of the patcher 
module that Digisound did, whcih provides a set of preset (but adjustable 
internally) voltages which you can clock through or connect anywhere.

--
Matthew S. Padden
Computer Music Research Group
Music Dept.
Huddersfield University
Queensgate
Huddersfield
England HD1 3DH
p: +44 1484 422288 x2402
f: +44 1484 472656
e: m.s.padden at hud.ac.uk