[sdiy] Polysynth considerations

[Nicholas Gregorich]

Wow I wouldn't have guessed those are laid out by hand. I've never used 
anything but CAD.

Five voices lets me keep a couple CEMs to build modules out of, which 
interests me. I'm also attracted to 6 voices because of the two 3-note 
chords argument.

Bob: your voicing scheme sounds interesting as it would give the synth a 
wider range of uses. Unfortunately I've never liked multi-modes on 
synths but maybe its time to learn how to use them properly. ;)

I will use digital oscillators for the first synth, for cost/simplicity. 
I have not decided the exact arrangement I will be using though.

Thanks for the input. I'll be back with more questions after I get this 
project off the ground!

Nick.

Jim Patchell wrote:
> I am in the progress of doing the same thing....although these two boards:
> 
> http://www.noniandjim.com/Jim/pictures/vco.jpg
> 
> http://www.noniandjim.com/Jim/pictures/vcf.jpg
> 
> were layed out and stuffer about 20 years ago now... :-)
> 
> I have five of each...so I was planning on doing a 5 voices, which I 
> felt would be plenty, plus the more electronics you have, the more 
> headaches you will have getting it all working.
> 
> The parts used on the boards are:
> 
> CEM3340, CEM3330, CEM3350, CEM3360, and CEM3310.
> 
> I was going to use a backplane connected to a 6502 based micro processor 
> board...but if I ever get around to finishing this, I will probably use 
> an ATmega128 or 2561.
> 
> By the way, these are probably the last PC boards I did by doing a tape 
> up....(that was not done with CAD).  I remember that they were a real 
> pain in the neck to do.  When you are doing a tapeup, if you don't plan 
> well, sometimes you run into a tight spot...which I did...I sure love 
> using CAD a lot more...
> 
> -Jim
> 
> Nicholas Gregorich wrote:
>> I am interested in building a polysynth or two with my recently 
>> acquired CEM chips. I am having a really basic problem: deciding how 
>> many voices I need/want.
>>
>> I've owned and played a fair number of synths, but I never stopped to 
>> think how much polyphony I use. I am not much of a player, more of a 
>> programmer, so my technique does not depend on the number of voices 
>> available.
>>
>> I rarely grab two hands of chords, but I do like long-release pads. 
>> Voice stealing can actually be useful in these types of sounds, for 
>> example 16 voices of Andromeda with long release can turn very mushy.
>>
>> I did not plan to include anything fancy like splits or multi-timber 
>> controls but I could be convinced otherwise. I guess I don't use these 
>> features enough to implement them.
>>
>> There are a couple duophonic synths out there, but that would be too 
>> limiting. A few 4 voices too, this might be the lower limit of 
>> "acceptable" polyphony. There's a certain famous 5 voice (who's newest 
>> sibling has 8 voices) and a lot of 6 voice synthesizers. I don't know 
>> of any 7 voicers, but quite a few synths have 8 voices.
>>
>> So I guess I'm looking for some insight. Do people find the Jupiter 4 
>> to be short on voices? How about the Prophet 5? There are so many 
>> synths with 6 voices, but are they noticeably more useful than a 5 
>> voice? Eight might be too much for me.
>>
>> Nick.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Synth-diy mailing list
>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>>
>>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>