> Maybe we can get a couple of controller knobs (levers?
> sliders?) and buttons on it too; perhaps that is a separate module though.
> Perhaps the ribbon controller would have a cool wooden enclosure. Perhaps
> it would just be a thin strip which you could easily attach to the top of
> your current controller keyboard. Perhaps it would have some type of a
> scaling gage to control the range of the unit or help it to interface with
> other manufacturers' equipment. Perhaps it would have lots of LEDs!!!!
Maybe it's worth summarizing this instrument for those who have never seen
or played one.
Moog made ribbon controllers in nice walnut cases for their modulars; my
model 1050 isn't one of them. It was made for general commercial release and
I bought it brand new in the very early 70's. It has a case made of black
metal ends and bottom, with fake contact paper woodgrain on the side panels.
It is about 1" thick by 2 3/4" wide by maybe 28" long. There is a control
panel at one end with 1 general purpose CV slider, an on/off switch, and a
switch labelled 1 and 2 for Minimoog or SonicSix compatibility. I don't
remember at all what this switch does. The ribbon runs down the rest of the
length of the instrument, about 24". It is suspended about 1/4" above a
metal top plate that has 2 bright strips running the length of it, with the
rest painted black. One strip is directly under the ribbon. The ribbon is
made of a tough woven fiber of some kind, smooth to the touch. Laminated to
the underside of the ribbon is a very thin metallic conducting surface. It
looks almost like magnetic tape. Embedded in the middle of the metallic
strip underneath is the contact, which appears to be wound with fine wire.
The second metal strip is sensitive to capacitance, and fires a gate signal
when you touch it anywhere along its length. The primary CV is varied by
pressing down on the ribbon to make contact, and sliding your finger up and
down the length of the ribbon, or doing hammer ons, or wiggling your fingers
for natural vibrato, etc.
The cable has inputs for +/-15V and Gnd, and 2 CV outputs plus an S-Trig
output. I hung an extra small box on the plug breakout with 1 transistor in
it, to convert the S-Trig into a positive gate. This controller in the old
days fed my EML-101 and later my Emu modular. I modified it with an extra
long cord and the gate converter I mentioned above. Never did add
pyrotechnics, though<g>.
Ribbons are a blast to play with. I hope this thing can be restored. If you
wanted to build one, the hardest part would be coming up with the physical
ribbon and the resistive contact element. The circuitry would be a piece of
cake.
I also have laying around a short Moog ribbon that looks like a MicroMoog
replacement, and a 4 pot joystick that I bought from Aries and never used.
I'm going to make a cool little controller box for the short ribbon and the
joystick when I get around to it.
Dave Bradley
Principal Software Engineer
Engineering Animation, Inc.
daveb@...