Collaborative design project proposal

[Harry Bissell]

A point in favor of the CD is that people could access the information without trying
to remember... now whose site was that anyway. I've been able to memorize who built
which synths... and can usually get to where I need to go. But as a newbie and before
I discovered this list it was hit and miss for a long time.

Fer instance...as a newbie  I downloaded just about everything from Anders Sponton
(sp??) web site.
Over a phone line... from the USA... on a 19.2K modem... It took forever and I'd lose
the connection RIGHT at the end !!!

Now I have lots of friends (thanks..all), but for someone new... they keep
re-inventing the wheel...

Maybe we could sport "scholarly" papers... which discuss the engineering merits of
various commercial designs... with "illustrations" (read schematics...) for
"educational"
purposes only. I for one would like a JH (ya hear JH???) dissertation on the Volts per
Hertz issue for the technically and non technically oriented... maybe with that fine
Korg clone VCO he did.

And a definitive "Expo Converter" paper, with the options of heater, tempco, why and
why not...

And a "Filters of the World"... with such things as the difference of resonance in the
"state variable" vs the "ladder",  what "poles" are and why we should care....

Maybe Mr. Bergfors could provide his EXCELLENT VCA comparison chart. It is the bomb
!!!

and maybe even a "How to get your E!ectr0notes in less than a year..." (can you do
that?)

The only trouble is how to distribute the CD's. How does a newbie get it...(do they
get it ;^)

There are some rock groups that have CD pyramid schemes... Phish does for one... You
receive a CD, dupe it (yeah I know not everyone has a writer...) and send out three
copies....

BTW I think the capacitor faq was mine... Please don't use "G*D" that title is taken.
"Prince" will do.... naw... "Ruler... because a "prince" is just a prince... but a
Ruler is twelve inches....)

H^)  harry

Batz Goodfortune wrote:

> Y-ellow Magnus 'n' y'all.
>
> At 01:28 AM 02/13/00 +0100, Magnus Danielson wrote:
> >From: "Batz Goodfortune" <batzman at all-electric.com>
> >Subject: RE: Collaborative design project proposal
> >Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 13:29:53 +1000
> >
> >> Y-ellow Y'all.
> >
> >Batz, you nutty guy,
> As a fruit cake. :)
>
> >>      Ok. For some reason today I'm firing on all cylinders so I kinda have what
> >> may be a better and simpler idea here. Not that Dr. E's idea is bad. Oh
> >> contrare. Just that Paul P and I were just discussing another matter and an
> >> interesting artifact came out of the mix as it were.
> >>
> >> Why not simply produce a Synth-DIY CD-ROM?
> >
> >Yes, but no.
> >
> >The idea to collect usefull information for Synth-DIY people is a definit go.
> >However, I am not sure that a CD-ROM is the best medium. I would rather see
> >that we make a better effort on the web instead, providing material so that
> >you can use your HTML browser, get PS and/or PDFs for pretty printout etc.
> >We can make a tar-ball for people to download if they think that is a usefull
> >trick. It does not require all material to be available at the same place, so
> >material may be scattered as suitable for the editors to be able to make easy
> >updates.
>
> People already have their DIY web sites. There is a DIY web ring. And all
> that works very well. The only problem with that is that the web is
> dynamic. Meaning that things change all the time. For example. Whilst the
> AEK site doesn't have much synth-geek stuff on it right at the moment,
> every year I have to fight for the resources to keep it going for another
> year. I try and justify this in terms of self promotion to sell CDs. This
> doesn't work of course but somehow, each year, and for the past 5 years,
> I've managed to find the money to keep it up there. but things could change.
>
> Of course the beauty of the web is that it's dynamic. As new things come
> along it can be added to and amended. It's the most up-to-date resource in
> human history. In this regard I feel that the body of work from Synth-DIY
> people is far superior to that of EN.
>
> However, despite the fact there is an archive for the information that
> comes across DIY every day, there is no sorting, indexing or filtering. The
> real gems of information are buried in amongst the noise. Such as this
> message it self. Which has no bearing on actual Synth/Electronic information.
>
> I cite the Capacitor FAQ. Without going and looking at my downloaded copy I
> wish to get on bended knee and thank the person who wrote it. You are a
> GOD. And there are heaps of things like this that if they were in some EN
> type format that people could refer to (a) off-line and (b) for years to
> come, would probably wind up being the most valued synth-electronic
> resource on the planet.
>
> All other issues aside, this is the main thrust of my argument. I realize
> that people would have to pull their fingers out. That people have day
> jobs. That people procrastinate and I'm probably the worst of them all. I
> realize that A CD is easily copied and all that. But it's also something
> do-able. Certainly more do-able than photocopying a truck load of tree
> every time.
>
> There is probably an easier way to do this though. Initially anyway. That
> is, Everyone contribute their web pages (Or just the parts which are
> relevant) and put them all on A CD. Which we could distribute among
> ourselves for the cost of copying and materials. IE the cost of the CD. At
> that point no-one would have an issue about copy protection and all that
> because it's all available for free on the net anyway. Only this way it's
> all in one place and accessible through any CD drive in any computer.
>
> Note here that this is exactly what National Semiconductor Corporation do.
> I have their  second latest CD here. It's basically just a copy of their
> web site but it is searchable and has all their data sheets, app notes and
> articles. If I want to look something up in a hurry I just slip in a CD.
> They send me regular updates on what's happening via EMAIL so I should only
> need a new CD about once a year.
>
> And for the record. I'm only bandying these ideas about. I'm grateful for
> the  discussion and the cautions. These are all  good issues that we need
> to be aware of.
>
> But after all said and done, I kinda hoped it might give us all a little
> bit more focus in a way. I for one would have more incentive re-writing my
> mixer tutorial stuff if I had more focus. Would anyone else find this?
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Be absolutely Icebox.
>
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