[sdiy] Elektor Formant Re: Test / Sequencer / Arduino

[Barry Klein]

I corresponded with C. Chapman when I was conceiving my book Electronic Music Circuits.  Without his approval the book would never have happened.  Much of my circuits were based off his.  I don't think I ever heard from him after that period and shamefully I never contacted him.  Should have at least sent him a copy.

Barry


-----Original Message-----
From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Rick Jansen
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 6:50 AM
To: Carsten Toensmann; 'Synth-Diy'
Subject: [sdiy] Elektor Formant Re: Test / Sequencer / Arduino

hi Carsten,

Great work! Its clearly visible you put a lot of work and effort into your Formant. How did you make the white front panels by the way?

I've always wondered who C. Chapman is. In some web pages he's referred to as "Cyril Chapman", as "Colin Chapman" in others. I seem to remember someone from Elektor mentioned the name is a writers name, but he could not recall the authors true name. Or perhaps it was C. Chapman himself who told me :-)

The Formant is from 1977, some parts now *really* are hard to get, 38 years later... The
uA726 is scarce, older Moog mini's and Memory Moogs use them too, and they are sought after as repair parts. The CA3084 PNP array may be hard to find, and the CA3080 OTA's are getting rare too.

All in all, building a Formant is a project only undertaken by the brave. Or was it the foolish?

As for the sequencer: I'm going to try if it is feasible to finish it by replacing the oldfashioned digital circuits by an Arduino Uno (14 digital I/O pins). Perhaps even an Arduino Mega, which has even more digital I/O pins (54!).

Best, and thanks for the links!

rick


On 25/03/2015 12:18, Carsten Toensmann wrote:
> Hi Rick,
>
> when I started my own Formant project (MSS2000) I read your pages of 
> course to get an impression of what it could mean to start such a huge 
> project. And yes - it was a LOT of work, but it was worth it. I never 
> built a sequencer for it though but a MIDI interface.
>
> Nowadays it seems to me that the Formant disappeared from the DIY 
> scene more or less, which is a pity in my opinion, so I hope you will 
> manage to reanimate your system and continue your project.
>
> I finished my Formant project in May 2008 after a building time of 6 years.
> The system has been part of several music productions and I like it. 
> See details on http://www.analog-monster.de/tagebuch_en.html
>
> Regards
>
> Carsten
>
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] Im Auftrag von Rick 
> Jansen
> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 25. März 2015 11:38
> An: Synth-Diy
> Betreff: [sdiy] Test / Sequencer / Arduino
>
> Hi,
>
> This is both a test message and a new-old project revival note. I was 
> notified traffic on synth-diy may have halted, but as far as I can see 
> everything still works.
>
> For the Formant I was, years ago, designing and building a sequencer, 
> as we all do one time in our life. This one is inspired by the 
> Synthanorma Sequenzer, as used by Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, in 
> that it does not have potmeters but uses 12-position rotary switches.
>
> Mine has 3 rotary switches per step: 1. note duration 2. octave, 3. 
> pitch. A switch, a trigger output and a LED (to impress the ladies) 
> are also included.
>
> I was in the process of doing a circuit built with the regular HC 
> digital ic's, like timers, counters, multiplexers etc etc, and a DA-converter.
>
> Basically the circuit already work[ed][s], but you know how it is when 
> duty and jobs and relatinships take their time: such projects get shelved.
>
> For years I've seen projects in magazines like Elektor, using small 
> digital controllers like Arduino. Usually I skipped those, as that is 
> not the kind of electronics I personally like a lot. But I realise now 
> how cheap and versatile they have become. They're almost a uA741. 
> Perhaps even more Arduino's are sold than uA741's these days. And, 
> with analog in/out, and digital in/out pins. Impressive.
>
> I even saw that is is quite easy to sync an Arduino program with the 
> MIDI clock!
>
> Here is the current status:
>
>     <http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/rick/Emusic/Sequencer/>
>
> Now I need to bring back to life the Formant, which has been sitting 
> there, unused for about 10 years. Hope the elco's are all still 
> keeping their liquids!
>
> Best,
>
> rick
>
>
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