The simplest possible circuit to generate a sound... (beginne r)

[Rory McDonald]

I think the kits by Paia are a good way to learn about synths and building-
they have easy instructions, good support and good bang for the buck. You
might want to start with a couple of the "electronics for musicians" kits
that they distribute; but you will need the book that goes along with the
projects. A good synth to build is the Paia FATMAN, it is fairly easy to
build, and will give you a nice monosynth that has a lot of documented
modifications. Check out www.paia.com 
Also John Blacet makes some nice kits, such as the Klangwerk (ring
modulator) and the Dark Star Chaos (noise modulated synth). Check out
http://metro.net/blacet/music.html
The radioshack books by forrest Mims are good intro electronics books, and
THE ART OF ELECTRONICS (author?) is a well respected book.
-Rory Mc Donald
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Andrew Schrock [SMTP:aschrock at cs.brandeis.edu]
> Sent:	Thursday, June 03, 1999 7:29 AM
> To:	WahwaH
> Cc:	synth-diy at mailhost.bpa.nl
> Subject:	Re: The simplest possible circuit to generate a sound...
> (beginner)
> 
> On Thu, 3 Jun 1999, WahwaH wrote:
> >       Lately I got myself very much interested in building my own
> >       stuff to synthesize a sound.
> >       As I am just a beginner, all the schematics I have seen so far
> >       are very complex and I don't think I could build anything like
> >       that.
> > 
> >       For the beginning I would like to ask you:
> >       What is the simplest circuit that would generate a sound (any
> >       sound - saw, square, sine... doesn't matter)? Could someone
> >       please show me schematics of such circuit?
> 
> You could try a very basic "theremin" circuit, there are a few floating
> around. I shouldn't even call it a thermin, it's far too simple. 
> 
> You could also go for an LFO and change the timing capacitor to something
> smaller to increase the frequency. Then basically you'll have an
> oscillator which you control the frequency of with a potentiometer. 
> 
> Toms site at www.mindspring.com/~vco has a lot of simple circuits. Look
> around and check it out. You should be able to breadboard any of the
> circuits there. 
> 
> >       I mean it should say "ZZZZZZZ" when I turn it on, and also
> >       hopefully there would be a potentiometer to control it's pitch...
> > 
> >       If I build it correctly, later I would step into filters.
> 
> Actually, filters can be fairly complex, depending on what you're working
> on. 
> 
> >       Please understand me, right now it is terribly hard for me to
> >       look at these complex schematics for generating beautiful
> >       sounds. I need something simple to generate a beep or zzzz.
> > 
> >       Also, would this be possible with a 9V power source? (If not -
> >       that's ok, I'm just asking). ;-)
> 
> Sure! 
> 
> FYI The three things I think you need to start synth-DIY are: <drum roll> 
> 
> 1) An antistatic wrist strap to keep you from zapping parts. 
> 2) A good soldering iron. (I found a meat&potatos weller for $20 at a flea
> market) 
> 3) A simple DMM, radio shack will do. 
> 
> Optional: An oscilloscope and a well-stocked parts drawer. 
> 
> Andrew
> 
> -| Andrew Schrock | aschrock at cs.brandeis.edu |-
> 
>