[sdiy] SUPPER HAPPY SYNTH DAY!

[nN AAt e e]

GUESS what HIGHSCHOOL student talked to his physics professor and guidance
counselor today.

GUESS who asked about doing an independent study for some bonus credits this
semester.

GUESS who was told there is a very good chance he can.

AND, the topic on this independent study in physics?

SYNTHESIS... but not just any SYNTHESIS. MODULAR SYNTHESIZER based
SYNTHESIS.

AND, how will this student do this? He is going to build a small modular
synth, and write an analysis on each piece as it is completed. EACH analysis
will also contain info on the math of waveshapes, synthesis [mostly FM,
additive, some terrain/vector, and then some other basic ones], filter
equations, space modeling [enter the wiard!]... blablabla. thanks to EFM
coming back with the full kits, this will keep my spending to a minimum
[that is, until i start buying blacet and wiard modules once the traditional
setup is done with :P ]...

One of the main points in my statement of intent [essentially] was that i
would be doing this outside of school anyway, so i might as well assemble
the modules in school and do some work with physics that i am actually
interested in :P

I am extremely synth-ecstatic about this.

By about half way into May [senior finals week], I plan to have enough
modules to breakdown the study with a whole thing on terrain synthesis [ z =
(x - y) * (x - 1) * (x + 1) * (y - 1) * (y + 1) ]... so basically i'm
planning on doing that with 2 VCOs (X and Y), 2 VCAs (as 2-quad multipliers
for the positive * negative parts), 2 (Ring or Balanced) Modulators (as
4-quad multipliers for the last two stages, see below). For the negative and
positive offsets i'll probably go for Ken Stone's matrix mixer... special
thanks to dave magnuson's little multiplier article on helping me debug some
of my brain-logic. One nice part about doing the formula is that the results
don't have to be very accurate, but it wouldn't be to hard if i check the
variables along the signal path and make sure the constants are correct.

i'll redraw the block setup on the computer sometime, but this is how i'm
breaking the problem down for easier modular digestion:

z = (x - y) * (x - 1) * (x + 1) * (y - 1) * (y + 1)

a = (x - 1) * (x + 1)
b = (y - 1) * (y + 1)
c = a * b
z = c * (x - y)

getting the modules done for terrain use will be easy, and once taxes come
back... :)

well that's enough for now... there's still some bugs to work out in the
whole plan, but if anyone has any recommendations, definitely let me know. -
nate