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Subject: Re: Matrix Patching & Patch Storage

From: Doug Pearson <ceres@...>
Date: 2000-03-01

At 09:38 AM 03/01/2000 -0800, alt-mode <alt_mode@...> wrote:
>Both the Music Easel and the VCS3 MkII had boards for "storing" patches.
>On the Music Easel, you could set up patch
>interconnections and slider values (with resistors!) on the program
boards. Music
>Easels came with a set of the boards and a few boxes of resistors for
common slider
>values. Cool ideas for the first "programmable" synths but you'd better
really like
>a patch in order to match resistor values and solder them onto a board.

This technique was even used in the late 70s (although invisible to the
user) by Yamaha on their CS-15D preset synthesizer - there's a board inside
covered with banks of resistors that "replace" the front panel knob
settings (actually, it's bitimbral, and only one of the timbres has knobs -
the other one only has the presets; one of my if-I-ever-get-around-to-it
DIY projects is to pull out one of the resistor banks and replace it with
an interface to an external knob box ... not likely to happen soon since
the synth is on semi-permanent loan to a friend 150 miles away).

-Doug
ceres@...