[sdiy] Starting Point?

[David G Dixon]

One final thought about getting started...

I'm probably like most people, and I didn't get started with any order or
plan.  First I bought one of those Radio Shack Electronic Learning Kit
things.  I spent about two hours with it and realized it was completely
useless, since the booklet it came with (by Forrest Mims) had no real
explanations -- like so many "teachers" he thought that the people using
such a thing had no capacity to actually understand what was going on, or
(horror of horrors) to actually do any math.

My (adult) adventures in Synth DIY actually started with MFOS, because the
very first thing I saw was a YouTube video where someone had made a
cardboard synthesizer, and it was a Synth-Lab mini synth.  That got me all
excited.  The first thing I tried to make was a Weird Sound Generator.  I
made it on one of those little protoboards that are about the size of a
playing card, and installed it in a plastic VCR tape case.  For the panel, I
printed something out on coloured paper and laminated it in plastic, then
cut the holes for the pots, etc.  For this project, I realized that I needed
a layout tool, and since I am very comfortable in Excel, I just made up my
own in Excel.  I used the half-baked one on the MFOS website as inspiration.
Initially it was for breadboards (I scanned a breadboard and imported the
picture into Excel, then lined up the grid with the holes -- works great!  I
make THE MOST orderly breadboards).

The second thing I tried to make was a Synth-Lab mini-synth.  I installed it
on a clipboard with a plain paper panel.  I learned a ton doing this one:
first and foremost, I learned how to print and etch PCBs using PnP blue -- a
technique which I continue to refine.  Second, I learned the importance of
buying reputable panel components (pots and switches -- the former should be
Alpha Taiwan at least, and the latter must have potted terminals -- Taiway
is very good) -- for this, I learned to buy panel components from Small Bear
and not from my local shop.  I think I acquired the oscilloscope for this
project, and yes, it is an essential tool for anyone doing electronics,
regardless of which type it is.  My Tektronix 2230 is perfectly adequate for
my needs, and it sits on top of my right-hand-side Behringer Truth monitor,
out of the way (and I store other stuff on top of it). 

At that point, I started to get curious about what was actually going on in
these circuits, so I started checking books out of the library.  Someone at
school gave me a first-edition copy of Horowitz and Hill, and I have since
passed that one on to a buddy and bought a second-edition copy.  After that,
my curiousity and general restlessness led me to designing and redesigning
modules -- I got relatively good at it, and made a significant amount of
money doing it.

So, the moral of this story is that it doesn't really matter how you get
started.  No matter what, you will be guided by your own personal curiousity
and energy, and things will develop organically in a way that is best for
you.  I think there's a real danger in trying to start things at a level
beyond where you are.  Beginning piano students are not presented with a
copy of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata on day one.  Beginners in Synth DIY
shouldn't set out to make a Buchla clone on day one.  Make something simple,
and learn as you go.  That's my advice.  It's a process, and it takes time,
but if you do it properly, you'll have a lot of fun on the way.  If you're
like me, you may even realize that it's doing the electronics that gives you
joy, rather than having a huge modular synth.  My modular never really grew
very large, and I still don't even have many of the modules I ended up
designing for Intellijel.  When I'm building something new, it's not the
using of it that I can't wait for; it's the building of it and showing it
off on YouTube.  After I make that first video about it, there's a 50%
chance I'll never touch the damn thing again, or that I'll try to sell it
off to make space for the next thing I want to build.