Holy Grail of Synthesis, The Middle Ground DIY Kit.

[Paul Schreiber]

It's coming, I'm going to do it. Just please wait until late fall!

Paul Schreiber
Synthesis Technology


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From: 	Jay Vaughan[SMTP:jay at teklab.com]
Sent: 	Tuesday, June 17, 1997 8:54 PM
To: 	analogue at hyperreal.com
Cc: 	synth-diy at horus.sara.nl
Subject: 	Holy Grail of Synthesis, The Middle Ground DIY Kit.

I just had a thought:

I really wish there were more kits like the PAIA FatMan, only bigger and
better.  Not exactly ASM-1 level, but something that relative novices could
put together and enjoy constructing as much as playing.

This to me is the Holy Grail of Synth Kits - The Middle Ground.  I've
scoped out all possible (I think) net resources on the subject of DIY synth
kits, and have stumbled through some of the amazingly arcane and esoteric
project descriptions in an attempt to come up with something I can build
when I get back home to the States so I can feed the habit that was formed
by the FatMan construction.

And yet, there is very little out there.  Isn't there?

Is there anyone else in the same boat?

I for one would like to put it to the various wizard members on these
lists, (AH, and Synth-DIY) the ones who are the true genius electronic
engineers amongst us, that there is a great deal of demand for something
like this.  

There are a lot of musicians out there that *love* the cool and edgy new
analogue/hybrid digital synth technologies that are being put out at an
awfully slow rate, very large and unruly hordes of germanic teenagers that
issue forth gargantuan quantities of finger twitching saliva at synthy
things with names like "NordhoepfferaldorfenBoardenKey-1", who would gladly
enjoy the opportunity to build and customize their own uber-synth,
particularly if it's Lego-esque in nature.

So why hasn't anyone taken the opportunity to design the kits to feed the
masses?  Or am I completely missing something?  Perhaps the opportunity
exists with projects like the ASM-1, etc. and yet nobody has the time
and/or patience to turn it into a truly idiot proof DIY kit with pretty
pictures?  Maybe that's it.

But surely I'm not the only one that realizes that there's a great
potential amongst the new breeds of musicians forming out there, the ones
that love synthesis and all things to do with electrons.  I think there's a
parallel forming to what we've seen in the past with the electric guitar
crowd -- the "customized over/under Fender strat with a double whammy bar
and 4 varieties of pickup going straight to my modified Marshall
superstack" mentality that makes places like The Guitar Center viable.

Please, oh please, won't someone agree with me that the time has come for
some company (*) to throw down the gauntlet, issue forth the rallying cry
"hey, we can really save on the manufacturing costs, The People want to
Build It Themselves!" and instantly start releasing the new
"NordhoepfferaldorfenBoardenKey-1" kits to the world, thus heralding a New
Age of Synthesis, where nobody's music uses the same patch twice because
everyone's synth sounds just a little bit different...

(* - PAIA - where is your former glory?  C'mon now, don't retire on us!)

Anyway, my soapbox hath crunched to the ground, I return back to humble
meek old me mode...


j.

--

Jay Vaughan          
jay at teklab.com