[sdiy] presets on a modular

[phillip m gallo]

I have been sitting out this thread (despite some prodding ...Mike!) and
finally decided to jump in.

I think 1st you have to recognize the difference between the generic
product requirement and the "personal"  requirement.   Don's comment
upon instrumentally appropriate interface is philosophically similar to
my own.  Specifically, however, our personal requirement is guaranteed
quite different.  

As synthesizers (especially a modular one) offers a great deal of
flexibility,  trying to achieve a theoretically equal flexibility in a
preset system may be  more a theoretical requirement than a practical
one.  

It is quite natural for instrumentalists and composers to engender
"signature" sounds and techniques.  The ability to render these quickly
may be more practically useful than a larger generic capability that is
never exploited in practice.  This is the basis of "normalled" patch
synth where a patch cord insertion is a visual flag of deviation from
std routing and  for some more practically obvious than a system where
just to get keyboard control and the ability to generate audio output a
small raft of cabling is required (and thus often sit in place,
emulating a "normalled" patch).

Stock commercial synths attempt to provide benchmark "presets" i.e. Fat
Strings,  Grand Piano, Razor sharp metal,  mallet-like dulcet sounds
etc.   The various interfaces for editing of instrumentalist unique
sounds exploit industry standard methods from light pen's, Fat Finger
Hexpad/LED's, Mouse driven GUI.   Yet, if i had my way a synth would be
the size of a '60's transistor radio and you would "conduct  it"  not
twiddle knobs, blam cables,  flip switches.  As of yet i have fallen
short of a method to do this.

So Preset routing capability, Interface approach and  experienced based
practical consideration is an arena i am presently occupying.

My current synth project (a "hybrid")  has a sincere left side/right
side mentality (brain and panel).   The right side is a std ana-synth,
normalled using patch points.   The left side is a MSC1211 based
computer hosting  128x64 graphic LCD, 4 motorized parameter slide pots,
2 rotary X/Y cursor controls,  a few more switches and recently an
optional TV interface.  

The right side is an attempt at a compact field of Knobs, Switches  and
Jacks controlling std synth VCOs/VCF/VCAs audio modules.     The left
side implements programmatic LFO/Envelopes and static voltage levels
graphically presented and responsive to pot and switch control.    A
MIDI2CV xface allows additional remote programming and keyboard input.
As expected all settings easily store and recall (currently in the most
primitive of ways).  
  
16 DACs are the "portals" to specific "jack-normalled" routing to the
right ana-side.   Each DAC portal has a "front-end mixer" process which
implements a "% or Mod" setting for each programmable Modulator to any
DAC ana-synth portal.

Written up this way it sound more glorious than it is, it is still in
progress on two perf boards stuck in an metal, crudely hand machined LMB
enclosure.   The number of Potentiometers required to implement just the
Modulation Mixers would thrill the "Franken-Synth" enthusiast but leads
far away from the transistor radio synth i would personally require.
Being handicapped by a lack of visual acuity, this field of knobs
(especially if implemented in the std.  equally spaced grid, would not
for me present practical interface to use).   The requirement to write
and recall the position of all these pot's would seem grossly
un-necessary.

regards,
p



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
[mailto:owner-synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Ian Fritz
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 7:43 AM
To: Don Tillman; Richard Wentk
Cc: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
Subject: Re: [sdiy] presets on a modular


At 02:20 AM 11/13/2004, Don Tillman wrote:
>.......
>This only addresses the module interconnection aspect of a patch, it 
>doesn't deal with knob values.  But it might be a good thing to 
>separate the two.

But if you include lots of VC mixers, then you can set some of the
patching 
using them, ie setting a level to zero is the same as pulling out a
patch 
cord.  My hybrid is patched at two level: (1) switch closures (2) mixer 
levels.  Seems to be reasonably effective, although a bit involved on
the 
abstract conceptual level.

   Ian