[sdiy] PAiA Gnome repair

[S Ridley]

The book was probably Electronic Music Circuit Guidebook by Brice Ward.
Easily available - at insane prices.

This is another state-of-the-ark article from that era with Gnome content:

www.schematicsforfree.com/files/Audio/Circuits/Musician/Keyboards%20and%20Accessories/Synthesizers/Simple-Syn,%20The%20Music%20Machine.pdf

You can laugh at it now, but as a teenager I learned soooo much from this.

Steve


On Fri, 5 Aug 2022 at 02:53, Benjamin Tremblay via Synth-diy <
synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:

> I feel much the same way Tim. The Gnome isn’t much of a tool, nor much of
> a fun toy, but it’s a token of learning. I recall a paperback book I had in
> the 80’s that broke down the functional parts of the gnome better than the
> original Simonton article. (Anyone know the title/author) Integrator plus
> comparator plus diodes and knobs equals a latching AD envelope generator,
> and it’s not much different from a triangle oscillator.
> After I read that chapter I remembered the gnome and I bought an LM3900 at
> Radio Shack and built the modules on a strip board. Then I moved onto
> trying to build a better-sounding filter. I got as far as building a state
> variable filter, not voltage controlled but tunable using a stereo pot.
> Ultimately I built a crude Moog filter and Moog 900 style VCA. Then I did
> nothing until my mid 30s.
>
>
> Benjamin Tremblay
>
> On Aug 4, 2022, at 8:43 PM, Tim Parkhurst <tim.parkhurst at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 
> I recently found my old PAiA Gnome in a moving box and thought about
> restoring it, maybe even adding a simple analog sequencer. It was the first
> synth I ever owned, and I learned a lot about electronics and synths by
> endlessly poring over the Gnome manual (and all the other manuals that
> could be ordered very cheaply from PAiA at the time). Putting the Gnome
> together also taught me how to solder. You can literally see the solder
> joints go from kinda sketchy to reasonable as I progressed through the
> build. I also remember that my Gnome had an odd quirk where, if I ran the
> batteries down a bit, the EG when set to repeat could oscillate at audio
> frequencies and bleed through enough to sound like a second VCO. I think it
> even tracked the ribbon. This only happened when the battery voltage
> dropped to a little below +/-8 volts (normally runs on two 9V cells).
> I was pleasantly surprised when I fired it up and found that it still
> basically works (though the EG is dead and there may be other problems).
> Still, I hooked it up to some good powered speakers and gave it a listen.
> Needless to say, I have now decided to place the Gnome in a decorative
> “shadow box” and hang it on the wall as a piece of art and a tribute to the
> beginning of my synth obsession. I love PAiA for what they do, and I love
> the Gnome for what it taught me, but it sounds like a mosquito with asthma
> after a 5K run. “Thin” doesn’t even begin to describe it. A used Monotron
> is a much better sounding instrument if you really want a small, portable,
> and super cheap synth. I love the Gnome, and it will always be a special
> little box for me, but I just can’t bring myself to put any time into it
> for musical use.
>
>
> Tim (and not the De Havilland type of mosquito) Servo
> ---
> "Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 4, 2022 at 8:13 AM Benjamin Tremblay via Synth-diy <
> synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> I looked through the sdiy archives and found some old threads on the
>> Gnome’s conductive strip.
>> I was able to obtain a Gnome and want to restore it as a gift for my
>> brother. Well actually I tore his Gnome apart (he thought he botched the
>> assembly and it was junk) and as I tore it apart I discovered it was
>> functional. So more of an atonement than a gift. The conductive strip is
>> mostly gone on this one.
>>
>> Long story, anyway I happen to have some Adafruit conductive vinyl.
>>
>> I’m going to try some things out without doing any harm to the Gnome, but
>> does anyone have any thoughts? I don’t mind adding an opamp to scale the
>> ramp if it’s not the same as the original.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Ben
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