new to list

[Magnus Danielson]

From: Doctor Eternal <doctoreternal at yahoo.com>
Subject: new to list
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 13:42:32 -0700 (PDT)

> Hello. I am new to this list. I have been working with
> synthesizers for many years after falling in love with
> them when I was 8. My main interest is in writing
> orchestral film music, but I dabble in analog
> synthesis for fun.

Wellcome!

Glad to have you.

> I am looking for a very basic beginner analog synth
> DIY project. I have a very basic understanding of
> electronics, and a limited budget, so simple is good.
> Any suggestions?

Many suggestions will come up, among those you would find Tomg's stuff etc.
My experience is with the ASM-1 that Gene Stopp done. From him you buy the
circuitboard, the components you buy yourself. Along with the PCB (Printed
Curcuit Board) you also get drawings and building instructions. The ASM-1 is
a set of modules which shard the PCB and powerfeed, you decide how they should
be interconnected. You could either hardwire it, provide some modularity/
insertion jacks or go the full way and make it modular. You will not have to
stuff the full PCB for it to be usefull either, so you can do incremental
building if you are on a tight budget. If you feel like going for a strict
wiring first, it will be a simple thing to change that towards full modularity
by simply rewire the interconnects. Many people seems to build it as a modular
synth.

There are cheaper projects than the ASM-1, that I admitt, and I am sure that
several prominent people on the list will advocate for these (infact, I am
happy that they do that).

I maintain a homepage for the ASM-1 at
http://home.swipnet.se/cfmd/synths/friends/stopp/

I would spend some extra money on good components for the ASM-1, like the
MAT-02 pair in the oscillators.

>From my experience is the ASM-1 fairly simple to get up running, and many
people on this list (including Gene Stopp) can help you out with hints based
on thier experience of building it.

A MAT-02 based ASM-1 VCO sweeps over a very large frequency range (I clocked
mine at 19.7 octaves) so you can use them for alot of things. Personally I do
miss some waveforms, but you can build those from the available waveforms
using various standard tricks.

If you want a modular which is hevier than the ASM-1, then look at
Paul Schribers MOTM project. It is becomeing increasingly tastety. However,
the MOTM is at a diffrent price-scale than the ASM-1.

Cheers,
Magnus