PolyModular

[jh]

Hi Barry

thanks for your critical points - you're certainly right in some way.
Only that *I* cannot do microcontroller stuff. (And aren't uC's
somewhat outdated as well, in the age of DSPs ?)

I don't see much reason for a uC within the modules. But if someone
can make a keyboard interface that has *all* the old OB-FVS
features (plus velocity added ?), or a Midi interface like this,
using a uC, I would be very pleased. 

As for tuning, I think with linear VCOs I can do well without 
autotune. My CS-50 is rock stable for example. I have not
tuned it for years, and the tuning is still perfect.
For the Modular, 5 tiny tune pots will do for a VCO module.

The bus stuff is indeed important here. In my JH-3, I had no
busses at all: I had to make every CV and Gate connection
with patch chords. This will not do for a PolyModular, of course.

JH.

-----Original Message-----
From:	Barry L Klein [SMTP:Barry.L.Klein at wdc.com]
Sent:	Tuesday, May 04, 1999 2:16 AM
To:	synth-diy at mailhost.bpa.nl
Subject:	RE: PolyModular



What do you think ?

JH.

I think its not the implementation of the voicing hardware that is the problem.  The
problem is the limited capability using architecture that is 30 years old.  Get some
microcontrollers in these modules to do tuning, multiplexing, syncing, etc.

Instead of one envelope generator per panel, figure out how to do 10 in the same space, as
an example.

Then figure out some way to give each "virtual pot" an address so anything can "talk" to
anything else and you can manually tweak things in real time as well as record settings
and issue sequences.

Try and make the bus interfacing generic as possible so multiple modules can hook into it.

I don't want to make a modular Prophet 10.  


Barry