The Complexor, which has been in the works for several months, is complete. I’m pretty excited at the sounds that come out of this thing and by the versatility in patching options. I’ll be posting a more detailed entry in the projects section soon but for now here’s a demo video and also a video documenting the build process.
The electronics are complete and I’m finalizing the case construction and control panel layout. Hope to have it making noise within a week. It’s been on hold waiting for components to arrive so I’m looking forward to getting this one playable ASAP. Check back soon.
Finished the Stepped Tone Generator (aka, the Atari Punk Console) over the weekend. It’s is built from a Getlofi.com atari punk console board combined with dual 555 timer circuits that send CV to the APC. Housed in a custom case.
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.
Finished up the weird sound generator. This is one of the most fun and versitle projects I’ve ever built. The amount of sounds this thing produces is amazing. You can mess around with this for hours and continuously discover new noises. The curcuit board was provided by MFOS. Great project for beginner synth designers but capable of being heavily modded. Highly recommended. I’m interested in checking out the 16 step sequencer project they offer. Sounds samples and video coming soon.
