Glacial Communications

So, way back in May, I built the “Where’s The Party At?” DIY sampler, and had a CV-to-sync circuit that didn’t work.

Well, it’s working now!

Last night, I was reading some random CD4046 schematic/datasheet/something-or-other, when I suddenly realized that I didn’t think pin 5 (inhibit) on my circuit was grounded as it should be. Go back and look at my breadboard (yes, I’ve left that on the breadboard for almost six months…). Sure enough- not connected. Fix that, find some connectors and whatnot, and try it out. It mostly kind of sort of worked! It wasn’t perfect, and needed some adjustments, but I was able to control the WTPA’s sample rate from an LFO on the modular!

I went back and made some more adjustments, including an on/off switch and some voltage protection, and actually recorded a little ditty with it:

glacial23: Deep Space CB Transmissions

This is a sample into the WTPA, which is getting its sync controlled by the Blacet Micro LFO (and later that’s being controlled by the MFOS VCLFO). The output from the WTPA is going into the PS3100 Resonators. That’s pretty much the patch.

I’ll post my circuit soon, in case anybody else wants to CV their WTPA.

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Progress on the Synth-DIY front recently:

• PS3100 Resonators – Done! It’s in the rack, though I suppose I should put the knobs on the pots…
• TH SuperController – More done than before. I suspect there are still some problems in the PCB->panel connectors which need to be addressed. Noise source and LFO are definitely working. S&H and gate delay may still need some attention.
• XR2206 VCOs – still waiting on PCBs (week or two?) In the meantime, I’ve put all the components needed into a bag, so when the PCBs arrive, I’ll be able to dive right in and not dig through my parts boxes looking for appropriate values.
• Gristleizer – Done? I discovered an incredibly important mistake that I had made (see build note #1 in that first post of the thread). Replaced the JFET with proper hole spacing and it seems much happier now… I think it’s going into the metal outer enclosure of an old CD-ROM drive. That looked suitably “industrial” for my purposes.
• Jürgen Haible 36dB Filter/Phaser – Sketched out how I want the panels to look. Just need to drill them and then mount up the panel to the PCB.
• Made some more design decisions on the next-generation sequencer. Looks like it will be 1×16 or 2×8 switchable (with the possibility of  chaining additional units to 1×32 steps in the future) Still some ways off, though. More recently, I am interested in Fonik’s Voltage-Controlled Pattern sequencer, though I think a microcontroller is a better idea here than just an ADC…

I also started plotting how the expansion of my system beyond two rows is going to happen. It’s going to involve a DIY cabinet and Vector rails. More details soon. I also accidentally a x0xb0x – I think I’ll have the PCBs as early as tomorrow, but parts will be dribbling in from now until the new year, I think.

While I’m at it, wanna see the modular in action? Here it is: