MOTM

In a message dated 2/29/2000 7:58:51 PM, celesteh@... writes:

>this got worked out before vc synthesizers, probably with early computers
>or even telphone equipment or before.
>
>I've seen the first buchla prototype and it had jacks in it.


Well, this is a good indicator since Buchla was one guy I was thinking of in 
particular, and I'd guess this prototype was built around 64 to 66. I'd like 
to hear more about Buchla's stuff and development since I've never used any 
of it but always thought it was intriguing. If you (or anybody) can talk 
about this stuff wrt MOTM future developments I'd love to hear it.


In a message dated 3/1/2000 6:30:26 AM, davevosh@... writes:

>i`ve never seen or heard of any modular gear like that but before i had
>my 
>first paia synth, i used test equipment, kludged radio junk and aging mono
>tape recorders to make electro-noise. lots of that stuff had binding posts
>!!!!

Yeah, this is more what I was thinking about, the late 40s to the early 60s. 
While we're all familiar with the bigger studios in Europe and the US, there 
must've been "guys" in their garages (like Bob Moog in the early days, or the 
Barons, or Les Paul but with les money -- get it?) fooling around with this 
stuff before we had 1v/oct standards, or such a beast as a "synthesizer" (a 
word I dislike).

In a message dated 3/1/2000 6:57:58 AM, ken.tkacs@... writes:

>An amazing amount of what we think of as audio studio gear (equalizers,
>test
>oscillators, filters, even vocoders) started out life as adapted equipment
>from the telephone industry. Patchcords in modulars are older than you
>might
>think-where do you think the 1/4" plug came from in the first place?
>Telephone switching equipment.

You make a very good point. I was thinking that jacks and plugs add great 
expense when you are buying a lot. But phone switchboard jacks (aren't these 
the same as TRS jacks in studio patch bays?) were probably quite readily 
available as scrap even, and a large studio in the 50s, probably only had 
about as many "modules" as an ARP 2600.

Patch panel proposal (not really for MOTM -- patch cords are much more 
"flexible" -- get it?): 
A field of 1/4" stereo jacks such that the tip connects to the output from a 
module, and the ring connects to the input of the module -- the bad news is, 
each jack would have to have a 100K associated with its ring (either on the 
ring of the jack, or on the particular board).
Then you get a stereo phone plug and just solder a jumper between the ring 
and the tip.
The main advantage of this type of matrix, is that you could just plug a 
standard 1/4" patch cord in any jack and use it as an output, with no effect 
on the associated input -- and no need for multiples.

Just a thought!

I'm glad Crow heard the Moog interview on Monday -- it was nice to hear Terry 
ask him about using such mundane controllers as a standard keyboard.

Hey Fred, did ya get that 120 going?
JB