Glacial Communications

Now that the UB AU is released (and I’ve tested it for myself), check out GSi’s WatKat – an emulation of the WEM Copicat – a tape echo that was first designed in 1958.

It’s awesome lo-fi goodness. I say touch the capstan

My SN-Voice PCB is now about 95% full. All that’s missing are the tempco (which I guess I’ll have to get from Bridechamber along with a front panel), the 78L05 voltage regulator, and the connector things that go to the front panel/PS. Much simpler than the Sound Lab, though some SN-Voice parts are slightly on the rare side (the SN76477, and to a lesser extent the LM394).

I guess I should order those at some point and build the cabinet.

• Scratched an itch, and made the Arduino Sequencer act as a drum machine.
• Modified the Sound Lab ever so slightly – added a power cable to allow it to run off of the same bipolar power supply I also use for the ADV-BASS.
• Did a little more recording for the super-secret project. Still a long way to go, but will probably be done before the end of the year. But hey, now it has two channels of drums at the same time!
• Started my next major DIY endeavour – the Thomas Henry SN-Voice. It’s going to become the first module in the DIY cabinet I’m going to build. So far all I’ve done is solder in the IC sockets, and tore apart my TH Classic Snare+ (which never worked right for me, anyway) to get the SN76477 and its socket for the SN-Voice. Stay tuned.
• Finally ordered a good soldering iron (if it’s good enough for fluxmonkey, it’s good enough for me), as well as some other soldering gear and a couple of vero/stripboards (
  gristleizer, here I come!)

Ok, Drum Mode has been tested, and seems to work correctly, so it’s time to unleash the latest version of the code to the world!

The only hardware change from v1.6 is to add a SPDT (or DPDT, and ignore one pole) on-off switch, with one leg going to 5V, one going to ground, and the center leg going to pin 4 (you can use something else, but you’ll need to change the code…)

Download the code here: sequencer_1_7.pde

and watch a demo video here:

Since I had a need for a primitive drum trigger sequencer (for the thing), I decided to hack it into the Arduino Sequencer as a new mode – Drum mode. When in drum mode, the “CV” and Gate outputs become Drum1 and Drum2. Voice selection in the sequencer is handled by note value (0-1023) – 0 is no output, 1-512 is Drum1, 513-1022 is Drum2, and 1023 is both voices (values are subject to change in the future).

I’ve made the hardware addition (as well as some of the soldering for the eventual start/stop button), and have a rough version of the code written, but haven’t actually tested it yet. Once it’s tested and working properly, I’ll have a proper release post, but figured I’d let people in on the fact it’s coming.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to the ADV-BASS/SoundLab Snare combinations I’ll be programming

Of course, the ADV-BASS isn’t quite working right. It works well enough for a basic kick, but I couldn’t get it to do all the nutty Syndrum sweeps that I had it doing back in 1998/1999. Will require more investigation.

Gear used so far:

• Sound Lab Mini-Synth
• Lunetta modular cigarbox synth
• Arduino Sequencer
• Midwest Analog Products ADV-BASS (my first foray into Synth-DIY, back in 1998(!))
• Vectronics Regenerative Shortwave receiver

Gear built in the past week, likely to be used:

• Ken Stone’s CGS Real Ring Modulator
• a quick&dirty microphone preamp (that needs more gain!)

Progress:

• 1 long song – three of four available tracks, used.
• 1 short song – one track used.

Gear yet to be used;

• LM567 modulator
• WSG filter
• Theremax

So far, so good.

Known things:

• It will be a recording
• There will be a physical product.
• All gear used will either have been built, modified, and/or repaired by me (except the recording media itself, and maybe a microphone or two)
• No computers (except microcontrollers) will be used until mixdown. Maybe not even then.

Unknown things:

• #tracks: 4? 6? I dunno. I’m shooting for 30 minutes, but could go over. If I go over/under, leftovers will probably end up online in an Opentape, or on NEOelectro.
• Catalog number? Unclear.
• Art (any volunteers? You’d obviously get let in on some secrets and stuff…)

Any questions?