[sdiy] Embedded micros

[Bill Keys]

The Optigan was _Very_ cool! I remember playing one somewhere sometime that 
seems a reallllly long time ago. Of course, (sadly) my el-cheapo Yamaha 
PSR-CRAP does more and with higher fidelity....

I also remember reading somewhere sometime that seems even longer ago in a 
book which proposed something similar to the audio film track method of 
generating waveforms you mentioned. If I remember, it was a monophonic 
proposition intended to allow more than just square, triangle and sawtooth 
waveforms - probably before cheap RAM and ROM was available.

+_+_Yes, honey, I know there are 25 boxes of electronic junk cluttering up 
the attic. They will, one day, magically be transformed into a modular 
synthesizer cluttering up the attic.... www.mp3.com/OriginalSimulacrum _+_+

>From: "Dr Strangelove" <phdinfunk at hotmail.com>
>There are some formats of movie film that have an optical audio track on
>them, they use photoresitors to translate this optical audio track into
>amp-able waves.  I once thought an organ of some kind could be made by
>making a seet of plastic that had one of these kind of tracks on it for
>every key, more or less whatever sound was desired for that note.  You 
>could
>have a small motor which turned a shaft and rolled the sheet (which would
>have to be in a loop), over some photo diodes.  It would be sort of like a
>Mellotron.
>
>Later I read that the Optigan uses disks to do something like this, the I
>saw one at the audio playground, they soud pretty cool.  Since you mention
>using drills to drive a drawbar organ, maybe an optigan-like system could 
>be
>created using a small motor like that.  The only thing I see as a problem 
>is
>somehow isolating each audio producing track from every other audio
>producing track for photoresistors to distinguish them without somesort of
>bleedthrough.  Also, creating a disk with a bunch of opague to clear
>gradients which were perfectly calibrated to make musical scales at a
>particular rotational frequency would be a bitch.
>
>         -=<Jonathan Pratt>=-
>       (Phdinfunk at hotmail.com)
>
>
>
>
>>From: Glen <mclilith at ezwv.com>
>>To: Paul Perry <pfperry at melbpc.org.au>, synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>Subject: Re: [sdiy] Embedded micros
>>Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 00:23:41 -0400
>>
>>At 10:58 PM 8/20/01 , Paul Perry wrote:
>>
>> >I look foward to any synth-diy posts whether they are analog,
>> >digital, or mechanical.
>>
>>Hmm...  Mechanical...
>>
>>That would include what? Making your own reverb plates and springs?
>>Building one's own variable-speed-drill-powered, tonewheel oscillator
>>synth? What else? How about a treadle-powered, mechanically bent and 
>>bowed,
>>musical-saw "theremin"?
>>
>>Am I even close?  :)
>>
>>...but seriously, I DO agree with you.
>>
>>
>>Later,
>>Glen
>
>
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