After finding a supplier to the synthesizer in a single IC … the SN76477N (thanks to  Michael for the heads up on the supplier)  I’ve been doing further research into the possibilities of this IC and I’m pretty fired up to get working with it.

In case you’re not familiar with it, it was the chip that was used in this wonderful toy from the late 70’s.

The chip is capable of producing a ton of wacky synth sounds.  It was used in many early analog video games including Space Invaders.

“[T]he SN76477 generates complex audio signal waveforms by combining the outputs of a low frequency oscillator, variable frequency (voltage controlled) oscillator, and noise source, modulating the resulting composite signal with a selected envelope and, finally, adjusting the signal’s attack and decay periods. At each stage, the process can be controlled at the programming inputs of the signal modification and generation circuits, using control voltages, logic levels, or different resitor and capacitor values.”

– Lou Garner, Solid State, Popular Electronics magazine, October 1978.

There is a lot of potential here so this could be a fun one.  If you interested in learning more here’s a good resource.