DIY Digital Synth

[Glen]

At 10:19 AM 09/18/2000 , Jim wrote:

>Back when the DX-7 came out several people I know got one, 
>I myself went for the TX-816 (same thing, more of the same).  
>Of everybody I knew that had one, I am the only one that still 
has one.  The big complaint was "It is impossible to create your 
>own patches!".  I tried to show a few people how to program 
>he thing, but unless you know what it is that FM really does, 
>t is somewhat difficult.  But, I guess that is another topic.

I'll admit that the DX-7 was harder for me to understand than the analog
synths commonly available at that same time. I once watched a training
video about programming the DX-7, and suddenly a lot of things made sense
to me. That was the only time I ever watched a training video about
programming a synth, but in the case of the DX-7, it really helped. I'm a
technician, so if I had some difficulty with the DX-7 at first, I'm not
surprised that people less technically oriented than I am, also had some
trouble.

I also want to say that I've been following your thread about a DIY digital
synth, and I find it very interesting. I hope you follow through with your
ideas, and create something really interesting. When you're finished, do
you intend to share the design with the other people on this list, and let
us build one also?

Final question: Is there such a thing as a "modular digital" synth? I'm not
referring to a virtual synth that mimics an analog modular synth. I mean to
actually have digital *hardware* that can be expanded in a modular fashion.
I think a digital synth that is also expandable and customizable through
hardware additions seems like a very interesting idea.


Later,
Glen Berry