[sdiy] new guy - how did you start

[Tim Parkhurst]

Hi there and welcome to SDIY. 

 

I first got hooked on synthesizers by listening to Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
This was around 1974, and I remember being blown away when my older brother
brought home an eight track tape (molded in pink plastic) of "Trilogy".
Living in a small, remote town (500 people, 8,000 feet up in the Sierra
Nevada mountains) made it next to impossible to get info on synthesizers,
but a trip to visit relatives in Los Angeles got me a visit to a music store
where a few friendly people turned me on to a PAIA catalog and the location
of a bookstore that stocked the Alan Strange book on synthesizers. It wasn't
until 1977 that I saved up and bought a PAIA Gnome. I learned how to solder
on that little bugger (first joints were awful, but I got better as I went
along), and despite soldering in the LM3900 backwards (I spotted the error
and was able to fix it before applying power), I got the thing to work and
spent many happy hours recording bloops and bleeps onto tape. I still own
that Gnome, although I haven't fired it up in a couple of decades. It had
(and may still have) an odd quirk: When the batteries ran down a bit, the
VCF and VCA would oscillate and make an audible tone. I could duplicate this
any time by running it off of + and - 7.5V (instead of 9), and I had a three
oscillator synth! No filtering or other processing, but it made cool synth
type noises. I also remember hooking up a microphone to it and processing
the family piano through it. I got some neat filter and tremolo effects.
Anyway, it was a cool box and a good introduction to electronics.

 

I still think the PAIA kits are a good way to start, and the Fatman comes
with good instructions and many good recommendations. Easy and cheap to
build, and it makes wacky noises. 

 

Tm (nostalgia) Servo

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: wood [mailto:buck75 at easydatamusic.com] 
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 7:55 PM
To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
Subject: [sdiy] new guy - how did you start

 

hey everybody, i have been on the list for a several weeks now and have
enjoyed all the information so far. although alot of it is way over my head,
i think this forum is right up my alley, as they say. what i would like to
know from you all is... how did you get into this?  what made you decide to
start making your own music machines?  what was your fist diy project? how
did it work out for you ( did you bite off more than you could chew, or was
it a smooth operation)? what would you say, besides sdiy, was the most
important resource to you when you started (a book or project or mentor) and
what would you fine folks recomend as a good beginner project. i know that
is kind of alot, but i am curious.

thanks for all the info thus far and for all you may provide in the future.

 

Easy Data Music
www.easydatamusic.com <http://www.easydatamusic.com> 




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