Re: [sdiy] Newbie alert :-)

[carsten at analog-monster.de]

Hi Nicolai,

I'm one of the Formant synthesizer fetishists following the MSS2000
book, but I also added other stuff to my modular, so here is my story:

http://www.analog-monster.de/

Cheers

Carsten
-- 
Analog-Monster!
Synthesizer DIY Project
http://www.analog-monster.de

Nicolai Czempin <nicolai.czempin at alcatel.de> schrieb am 30.09.2004,
13:33:08:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm new here, a brief introduction (plus not-so-brief general babbling, 
> and finally the actual on-topic post :-):
> 
> I'm Nicolai Czempin, a 34-year old software developer from Berlin, Germany.
> Ever since I got my VIC-20 back in 1982, I have stayed firmly on the 
> software side of things.
> I have always found I was missing out on the interesting "low-level 
> stuff" called "electronics" ;-).
> 
> Two facts have "pushed me over the edge" of getting started:
> a) I now work for Alcatel, albeit in a software-oriented role, but being 
> surrounded by lots of EEs.
> b) My two sons, 7 and 4.5, are developing interests in 
> technical/scientific stuff (of course I am not totally innocent in 
> that), they both want to become "robot builders" when they grow up :-), 
> and I am supplying them with [all the stuff I never had as a kid :-] 
> some basic kits (KOSMOS here in Germany). Going through the electronics 
> "starter" kit (I won't let them experiment all by themselves yet, so I 
> have to do it with them for now) did it for me.
> 
> I had bought the odd book or so, and I have a modest background from my 
> Physics A-Levels (although back then I was only interested in the 
> digital stuff).
> But now I'm actually starting for real: I have bought a supply of basic 
> components and tools, have wired up a few simple circuits on a breadboard.
> Yesterday I bought an oscilloscope (without the probes, duh!) and the 
> next purchase will be a 3-output power supply.
> 
> In my experience, I always need some kind of project, some goal to work 
> towards. For example, I feel strongly that a programmer should always 
> learn additional languages, not necessarily because he can use them all 
> in projects, but seeing different approaches will increase the programs 
> I write even in "standard" languages such as C++ or Java. But all my 
> attempts to learn new (to me) languages have been unsuccessful when all 
> I did was get a book and just dabble. But here in my current project 
> (I'm a contractor) my first task was to write some code in a language 
> called Ruby (that I had wanted to take a look at all along) that I had 
> never used. And lo and behold, because I had a concrete project, I was 
> able to learn the fundamentals quite quickly.
> 
> So, in my aim to learn more about hardware, I have decided two areas 
> that would motivate me would be
> a) robots and
> b) music.
> 
> So, to cut things a bit short, b) is why I'm here, I want to build my 
> own analogue synthesizer. I have surfed around a bit for the past few 
> days/weeks, and naturally this mailing list is where I landed.
> I am sure the question that will follow right at the end is answered 
> somewhere in the ML archives, and I apologize for not yet having 
> searched through them. I have also found the odd "how to get started" 
> page on the web. But hopefully I am adding another twist to the 
> question, but then again, maybe not.
> 
> My philosophy in software development is that it should be done 
> "incrementally and iteratively". My mantra is to implement "the simplest 
> thing that could possibly work" first and then improve on it. So, from 
> my "research" (e. g. "Sound Synthesis and Sampling" by Martin Russ), I 
> have found that a "canonical" setup (apparently "hard-wired" into a lot 
> of the non-modular synthesisers) would be LFO->2VCO->VCF->VCA (naturally 
> it's a bit more compicated than what I can show in a line of text, see 
> the book for more detail). And the "simplest thing that could possibly 
> work" is one VCO.
> 
> So I have collected tons of schematics for VCOs (from "300 oscillators", 
> a German book called "Experimente mit 
> Operationsverstaerkern"-experiments with opamps, plus "The Art of 
> Electronics", plus a book based on the simulation software "Electronics 
> Workbench"). So far, the only one that actually produced any sound on 
> the loudspeaker was an "astable multivibrator" based on the 555. I know, 
> it's not voltage-controlled, but having *any* oscillator oscillating is 
> a success for a rank beginner like myself. Even if the actual sound was 
> nasty :-)
> I have tried circuits based on discrete components, the 741, as well as 
> on the LM331. In many cases, I couldn't get precisely those components 
> specified by the schematics. With my semi-non-knowledge (purely 
> theoretical) I tried to substitute "equivalent" components. So far 
> without luck.
> Now, you may say, with all those EEs around me, it should be trivial to 
> get some help. Yes indeed, and I will use as much as I can. But 
> obviously this ML is the right place for synthesizer-specific questions 
> (add that most of the EEs don't actually do any hardware work :-).
> 
> So, here it comes:
> Can you please give me/point me towards schematics for a minimalistic 
> VCO, that, and here's the catch, I can build with just the basic 
> components I get from "Conrad" (which, as far as I understand, would be 
> the German equivalent for "Radio Shack"). I'm not concerned at all with 
> quality, I just want something that makes some noise (actually, signal 
> would be preferred :-) on the little LS. It may be a certain lack of 
> understanding, perhaps you're not supposed to hear anything directly 
> from the VCO, and you definitely need some kind of amplifier (once I get 
> my osci probes I can at least see if "I am" oscillating anything at all, 
> that I'd just need to amplify). I wouldn't mind starting with an 
> IC-based one (because it will be simpler to build), but at some point 
> I'd like to advance to discrete components, simply because I want to 
> know what's going on under the hood.
> 
> Perhaps some of you would say that I should start with something 
> simpler, but the method of trial and error has been very successful for 
> me. First, I used to just copy BASIC programs (and a lot of those were 
> way above my understanding at the time) from magazines (back in the 
> 80s), and when they wouldn't work I had to spend some time trying to 
> find out why. Worked for me.
> 
> Anyway. Please help. TIA. YMMV. SCNR. LOL.
> 
> 
> mfg Nicolai Czempin
> 
> P. S. I managed to blow an analog multimeter on the day I had bought it. 
> Luckily it was of the 5 Euro variety. I guess one has to go through 
> these experiences oneself :-)