[sdiy] Starting Point?

[Spiros Makris]

Hello,
"The Art of Electronics" and spinoffs like "Learning the Art of
Electronics: A Hands-On Lab Course" are very common textbooks for synth
enthusiasts and electronics classrooms alike, admittedly they're very good
and intuitive.
YUSynth http://yusynth.net/Modular/index_en.html has tons of verified
circuits, usually with a brief explanation and more rarely a deeper
analysis of what's going on.
Synthesizer specific circuits never found their way into academic texts, so
your only chance is the various resources enthusiasts have created and
shared over the years. Eventually, you will have to perform the analysis
yourself, simply because nobody else has published it for you to study it.
This will require some familiarity with fundamentals, such as circuit
theory and analysis, transistor circuits and opamps. Razavi's book
"Fundamentals of microelectronics" is a classic textbook for ECE courses
worldwide, and you can find the video lectures here
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7qUW0KPfsIIOPOKL84wK_Qj9N7gvJX6v .
Its purpose is to prepare students for more cutting edge electronics that
follow on later courses, so perhaps it is way deeper than you want at
times, but it is one of the best resources to give you an intuitive
understanding of how semiconductors work and how a design or analysis
problem can be approached.

While many things can be skipped ahead, learning the fundamentals of
circuit theory in a structured manner (and also solving some exercises on
your own, with a pencil and paper) is essential. What is voltage and
current, Kirchoff's laws, nodal and loop analysis, Thevenin and Norton's
equivalent circuits, how to handle dependent sources are the main
prerequisites for anyone wishing to analyse electronics later on. Regular
ECE courses on circuits are very big and boring if you just want to get on
with it, so I am reluctant to offer any specific suggestions from resources
I've learned off or use to teach students now. From my experience, most
textbooks' approach is very similar, so just use one that you feel
comfortable reading.

Complete instruments are rather big projects and might seem overwhelming.
You can find various smaller, simpler devices to assemble and learn along
the way, for example, the atari punk console, or various
overdrive/distortion circuits from the guitar world.
While not absolutely essential, an oscilloscope will be very handy in your
journey. There are various options nowadays - ideally, you'll bite the
bullet and spend 300-400$ on a low-end benchtop scope, but if that's beyond
your reach, there are cheaper options, such as USB scopes or even the DSO
nano, which compares poorly to the other options but can be had for under
100$ and will suffice for your first few steps in this hobby.
As far as soldering tools go, a semi-professional model like the Hakko
fx-888 would last you a lifetime and offer a nice experience, but if the
budget is tight you can go for any cheap option and upgrade later. I used a
generic 15$  iron for more than 4 years, and have soldered everything with
it, including tiny SMD parts.
No matter the course of action you decide to follow, try to stick with it,
and when things get hard, take a break and get back at them harder. While
this list will always chime in to help you with any questions, you may find
it convenient to join some relevant Facebook groups as well, if that's your
thing.
Regards,
Spiros


On Fri, Oct 9, 2020 at 2:56 AM J P <griffzero0000 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I've been wanting to get into building synths and electronic instruments
> for years, but never knew where to start. I have some EE experience through
> college courses, but I'm a bit rusty. I would like to know what's a good
> place to start to learn. I would also like to be able to analyze my
> circuits and be able to understand why they behave the way they do. Any
> suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
> http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://synth-diy.org/pipermail/synth-diy/attachments/20201009/0a84a50f/attachment.htm>