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WeepingElf 
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Joined: August 18 2013
Location: Germany
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 Posted: December 04 2015 at 08:49 |
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A modular synth doesn't need keys. It needs a ribbon controller. Why? Because the keyboard is, if you think about it, a very inappropriate user interface for a monophonic analog synth. A keyboard makes sense for instruments which produce only a finite set of pitches, and can play several notes at once. This is true for the piano, the pipe organ, the Hammond, the Mellotron. But not for the analog synth! It is monophonic but offers continuous pitch, so a keyboard is simply the wrong way of playing it. If I was to acquire a modular synth, I'd like it to have a ribbon controller instead of a keyboard.
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... brought to you by the Weeping Elf
"What does Elvish rock music sound like?" - "Yes."
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Davesax1965
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Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Points: 2839
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Posted: December 04 2015 at 07:47 |
PS I'll also be putting together a website documenting "how to build a modular synth from two cardboard boxes full of bits" for anyone who's insanely and unwisely interested in joining Club Frustration / Money Burning. ;-)
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Davesax1965
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Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Points: 2839
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Posted: December 04 2015 at 07:42 |
- the Minibrute is, er, also getting wood sides - on order from the US. Seems to be some kind of perversion for me. All of these, including the modular, go through a Mackie ProFX12 mixer. Should turn goat pee into gasoline when it's finished. ;-) Chance of a live gig ? Zero. Chance of anyone actually buying the music ? Experience suggests zero, too. ;-) Never mind. I'll get some trippy oil wheel projectors from Optikinetics and turn the garage into a psychedelic freak out palace, man. ;-) May get another Korg, too. You can never have too much of a good thing.
Edited by Davesax1965 - December 04 2015 at 07:48
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Davesax1965
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Points: 2839
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Posted: December 04 2015 at 07:38 |
Talking of which.
There's going to be a separate bass synth in the mix, here. In this case, I'm using a Moog Minitaur (coming in about January) - this has got the same wooden sides as the Dark Times I'll already have (expecting the second Dark Time tonight). I could have bought a Dark Energy but it's too similar in sound to the Arturia Minibrute I already use.
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Davesax1965
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Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Points: 2839
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Posted: December 04 2015 at 07:35 |
Lovely. Looking forwards to seeing it, Timbo, if you ever find it ! ;-)
The synth is coming along. I've just got distracted (you do) (I do anyway) by finding another Doepfer Dark Time sequencer - cheap. Mine's got wooden sides, similar to ........ well, the one below. You can bolt several Dark Time or Dark Energy synths together, so they use common sides, so ! This is what I'm up to. A common sequencer unit which can be used to drive a couple of synths.
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timbo
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 04 2013
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Points: 106
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Posted: December 03 2015 at 15:08 |
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Impressive. Eat your heart out, Keith Emerson!
Does anyone hear remember the Digisound Modular 80 synthesiser kits from the early 80s.
I built one of these back in about 1982. It was a set of modules - you bought the PCB and the component for each module. The modules were all connected using patch cords. I don't know why it was called "Digisound" because it was definitely analogue - marketing probably, everything was "digital" back then to make it sound modern.
Mine had two VCOs, a VCF, VCA, an LFO, and. 49 key keyboard. My dad made a huge wooden case to mount them all in, which I was told looked like a coffin by a friend's mum. I was an electronics student at university, so I took it all into the university lab to set it all up and calibrate the oscillators.
I still have it in the garage, haven't opened the case in 20 years. Probably all rusted up now, my garage is damp. It'll take a while to get at it with the amount of stuff it's under, but I must take a photo of it for this thread.
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Davesax1965
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Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Points: 2839
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Posted: November 28 2015 at 04:47 |
And. Future expansion plans for the modular. It will look something like... this.
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Davesax1965
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Location: UK
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Points: 2839
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Posted: November 28 2015 at 04:46 |
PS For Meltdowner -
My MS20 with a walnut side kit. Recommended. ;-)
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Davesax1965
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Location: UK
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Posted: November 28 2015 at 03:29 |
This probably explains why you have to start getting cabling under control. ;-)
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Davesax1965
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Location: UK
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Posted: November 28 2015 at 03:22 |
Yet more work - Trunk cabling. The bottom 8 connectors are part of an internal bus system which routes signals plugged into them inside the synth.
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Meltdowner
Special Collaborator
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Joined: June 25 2013
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 11:26 |
I watched some review of the SQ-1 and it sure has a lot of functionalities 
Oh right, I read about that.
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Davesax1965
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 10:22 |
http://www.korg.com/us/products/dj/sq_1/
That's the new Korg sequencer - about $99.
"Wobbly potentiometers" - some of the knobs on the Korg are a bit loose.... on some models. Not a major problem. ;-)
Edited by Davesax1965 - November 12 2015 at 10:25
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Meltdowner
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 09:52 |
I'll probably buy a new one at the local music store, I think it's less risky for only 10% 
You've lost me here   |
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Davesax1965
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Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 09:17 |
eBay is your friend, Meltdowner. Although I'd be tempted to buy new, as you'll get the warranty and the prices are only about 10% more than typical eBay ones.....
Some of the new MS20's have wobbly potentiometers. I'm lucky, I just got one on mine. Easily sorted with a spanner, so long as you know what you're doing and don't stress the PCB underneath.
The SQ1 is refreshingly cheap. Actually, you can get rid of a sequencer entirely if you hand write the MIDI.
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Meltdowner
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 08:45 |
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That makes sense, thanks for the tips. I'm saving some money to buy a MS20 Mini and a sequencer eventually.
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Davesax1965
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 08:28 |
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PS You can also IGNORE using an s-Trig cable and do everything via MIDI - the Dark Time and Korg are both equipped with a MIDI interface.
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Davesax1965
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 08:27 |
Korg do a sequencer called the SQ1, which, I believe, works fine with the MS20 Mini as it works on the HZ/Volt standard (or can be switched to it.) It's not as well specced as a Dark Time, though. The SQ1 is quite cheap and a reasonable beginner sequencer.
With an s-Trig cable, any sequencer will work, with the caveat that results are unpredictable if you go across several octaves, although the results "add character" to the synth. ;-) Doepfer do an s-Trig cable, but it's expensive. It's actually a rip off when you consider it only contains a low noise transistor and a resistor. I made my own for a twentieth the price.
When buying s-Trig cables, be sure you get a jack plug to jack plug one: older Moogs also use s-Trig cables but the connectors are different - there's some archaic old two pin plug on the end of a Moog one. And the working voltages are different.
With an s-Trig cable, you can use any sequencer, even, say, a Moog 960.
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Meltdowner
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 08:08 |
 Davesax1965 wrote:
Here's probably the better way of describing it.
Right, the modular is over to the left. Not plugged in. There's a Doepfer Dark Time sequencer connected up to the Korg by electrical trickery. Above the Korg is a Minibrute.
Coming up soon is another MS20, another Dark Time sequencer, and the modular just had a MIDI interface fitted. There are also two MIDI keyboards. You can imagine what all this will sound like live, but here's the MS20 being sequenced, with just a bit of delay added to it as well via the computer.
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What kind of sequencer works well with the MS20 (without trickery) then?
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Davesax1965
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Points: 2839
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 07:49 |
And this is where modern modular synths deviate hugely from their 70's forebears - one MIDI to control voltage interface. So now it plugs into the PC. ;-)
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Davesax1965
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 23 2013
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Points: 2839
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Posted: November 12 2015 at 07:45 |
That's just a quick test to see if the s-Trig cable works, by the way.
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