An Analog Synthesizer for the 21st Century

[Thomas Henry]

Okay, three years is far too long to keep a secret. I have found a publisher for my set of plans entitled, An Analog Synthesizer for the 21st Century. They have agreed to make these available this summer and to provide good customer service. I'll let the publisher make the announcement concerning availability and price when they are ready. In the meanwhile, I thought you might like to know what this is all about.

In short, this is a 27 page collection of schematics and parts lists for a very complete, accurate and versatile analog synth. I set myself a goal of making these top-of-the-line circuits, and in fact claim (rather immodestly) that these are the best I've ever come up with. Actually, one other person has seen and beta-tested them, our own Scott Stites of the non-evolutionary famed state of Kansas. I'm hoping he'll back up my claim that the title is well-deserved.

And by the way, there are no hard-to-find parts in the circuits.

To whet your appetite, the modules described in the schems are:

Power Supply
two VCO's
State Variable VCF
VCA
ADSR
VC Noise Source
VC Phase Shifter
LFO Deluxe
Sample and Hold
Complete Patchover Scheme

I might mention that the LFO does everything but clean the toilets; you simply won't believe the versatility of this thing. Scott claims to have been biting his tongue on this, and just to put him out of his misery, I decided to release it, too. (I saw National Lampoon's Vacation and know how much those Kansans treasure their tongues; move over Cousin Eddie).

And of course, you'll find all of the usual niceties: goof-proof inputs and outputs, standard voltage and impedance levels, exponential response on the Noise and Phase Shifter, etc.

Finally, I should mention that this is a set of plans (schematics and parts lists only), not a book of step-by-step instructions. It really isn't for beginners, but rather for someone who has gotten their DIY chops down and is anxious to see the real work.

Like I said, three years is too long to keep a secret. The time is right to get this out. I'll be curious to learn what you all think of it.

Thomas Henry

[Dan Lavin]

Sounds awesome! I'm sure I'll be one of the first customers. Any reason you're not using your usual magazine release (Nuts and Volts, I suppose)? Too long? Too much hassle?

[Adam-V]

I'm sorry Thomas but for mine, an analog synthesizer for the 21st century must include a toilet cleansing LFO. I think you dropped the ball with this one!

Seriously though, new Thomas Henry designed circuits without hard to find parts - has to be a winner.

Cheers,
Adam-V

Just what I need, more stuff to build!

[Scott Stites]

Pshaw....we've moved passed the whole evolution thing (Barbara Eden won the swimsuit competition, Darwin didn't even place). We're working on cosmology now - today's current debate: "Which came first, the genie or the bottle?" The Big Blink theorists have the Mother Goose party on the ropes over this one. Next up "Geology - science or threatening disproven atheistic crap?"

At the risk of insinuating that electricity does exist, I'll have to say this synthesizer does indeed operate on something other than handcranks and a system of weights and pulleys. And does it ever!

I'm still biting what's left of my tongue and leaving the feature touting to the publisher, but boy oh boy.......

Cheers,
Scott

[Thomas Henry]

[Thomas Henry]

[Adam-V]

[Dan Lavin]

Thomas:
Since the old Supercontroller was basically a super lfo, noise source and sample and hold, should this forum forget the SN76477 version and work on new boards for these new modules? I'd hate to build the Supercontroller only to find the new noise, lfo and sample and hold does everything it does plus more using readily available parts. That plus the fact that I could make a third SN Voice with my one remaining SN76477. Your comments appreciated.

[State Machine]

Tom,

Great announcement! These modules below I would be interested in the most. I take it then that the VC Noise source will not have a NE566 in it ..

State Variable VCF
VC Noise Source
VC Phase Shifter
LFO Deluxe

I would like to see a modern analog VCO that incorporates built in "self calibration". One that uses digitally controlled potentiometers and some small processing element that would set some default parameters, read the frequency, readjust more parameters, read the frequency ... etc ... until the VCO is calibrated and scaled as close to 1V/Oct as possible. The processing element would insure that the VCO had been "ON" for a number of minutes or else it would not enter the calibration mode.

Am I totally off base here? I wonder, as I know I have had to do AFC work in my career designing radar transmitters and receivers.

Seriously, these modules sound like they will be fantastic ! The LFO must be a trip!

Is the VCF based on your "Mankato" design, or is it an improvement over that?

Bill

[fonik]

[goodrevdoc]

Awesome!!! can't wait.

[Thomas Henry]

Well, in fact both the old Supercontroller and the new LFO Deluxe do very much the same things. Truthfully, the new one does a couple things slightly better, but then what would you expect in a much more complicated circuit?

Just this week I found some old tapes I made over 25 years ago and couldn't help but note how much I used the Supercontroller in all of those compositions. It truly is the one module that was essential to the synth (which I long ago sold).

Here's what I'm going to do. I plan on building an SN-Voice and Supercontroller behind one panel as a standalone. The newer LFO Deluxe already exists in my main synthesizer and will continue in that role.

In short, I like both.

Thomas Henry

[Scott Stites]

This reminds me Fonik - as soon as any type of link comes up for the Supercontroller, I can link it in the sticky - in fact, I could link the thread....hmmmmm.

The LFO our 21st Century Synthoid Man designed is indeed the Bees Knees. It resided for a long time on my main breadboard, and I used it in a number of samples. I removed it to make room for some other thing, and, like many a project, never returned to it, though I missed it terribly. Like the Supercontroller, it provides a lot of ways to put expression on modulation, and it's a sychrosonic joy as well.

Hope I'm not revealing more than I should by saying it's voltage controlled and syncable, but the voltage control as well as it's synchro-friendliness allows it also to go the opposite direction of conventional east coast application to some of the more west coast stuff, too, especially when using it with a random source in a closed-loop sort of patch*.

I wasn't able to say a whole lot about it at the time, but the sample (also linked to in the Mankato Filter thread) was this LFO:

http://mypeoplepc.com/members/scottnoanh/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/th_filt_cont.mp3

The loopy sequence and modulation in the middle part (starting at 3:30) was due to this device - it was a simple 'baby sequencer' triggered by this LFO, which in turn was synched and controlled by the output of the sequencer. Another output of the LFO was also modulating the frequency of the 'lead' VCO during the sequence, which gave it that sort of arhythmic warbly quiver in time with the sequence. Even the fadeout sequence was manipulated by it quite a bit - if you listen closely, the pattern is actually skipping then slowing down through each iteration of the sequence.

I've recorded many samples with it, but I wish I had some showing the other, softer more feminine side of it

The most audacious thing I recorded with it was something called "A Tab of Satch" where it was triggering and being controlled by a circuit from the Buchla Music Easel, the Uncorrelated Random Voltage function. I think VTL5C3 (Romeo) is the only other living person to have been subjected to it, and for good reason....it featured an annoying hallucinogenic synth trumpet accompanied by a patois of LPG burps and farts, courtesy of this devilish LFO and the Buchla circuit.

Shortly before that I recorded "Breakfast in Pangea", a sort of homage to Morton Subotnick's style around his "Silver Apples of the Moon" period. The sole controller in it is the dual S&H circuit from Buchla's 266 SOU triggered by and fed back to, yep, this circuit. Towards the end, there is a little baby sequencer also controlling and controlled by this LFO. No keyboard, nothing else just this thing triggering spasmodically. It came out as so Buchlidian, even Barry Schrader was impressed by its Buchlidity when Pete Grenader played if for him (one of the proudest moments of my life). Anyway, dressed up in LPG clothing and kicking around and being kicked around by Buchla's very weird S&H, this thing fit right in to decidedly West Coast stuff.

http://mypeoplepc.com/members/scottnoanh/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/lpgd84.mp3

Again I've posted that here before - if you vaguely remember a really Buchla laden noodly sample of mine, you've probably heard it (I say that because it's 5.8 MB and I know the pain of dial-up).

Like Thomas says, it's a very powerful LFO indeed. I almost hesitate to classify either it or the SuperController an LFO. I'd probably call them something like a Super Controller or something like that.....oh, wait...

Cheers,
Scott

*Which is totally possible with this synth design in a few different ways I can think of off the top of my head.

[Thomas Henry]

[RF]

I'm very excited about this book!
Much of my time recently has been sent looking for new modules to build. I have a good number still in my 'to do' pile - but this collection will be added right to the top of it.
Thanks T.H.!

[Coriolis]

I'll take one!

Will it have the same excellent explanatory writing as the Midwest Analog stuff (3080 book, drumsynth book, noise circuits)?

C

[v-un-v]

This is all too much

I want to have this book before I go off on Holiday

No. Scratch that! I want to have one of these built before I go off on Holiday!

[Scott Stites]

Coriolis: From what I know, and what Thomas has indicated, the document is a collection of schematics and a patchover to build an entire synthesizer. I don't think there is any text in this case explaining the circuitry.

However, in lieu of Thomas' usual clear and concise narration, there is now this forum which is already populated by a lot of very knowledgable people, not to mention by Thomas himself. If any question arises, this will be a very good place for anyone to turn to.

Tom - we're just sitting in the crow's nest spotting the tips of the icebergs right now. That innocent looking little berg due ahead is, of course, only the tip......

It's summer, and Thomas is loosed upon the world

Cheers,
Scott

[Thomas Henry]

[Pehr]

[Tim Servo]

[Pehr]

[v-un-v]

[Wild Zebra]

So, how will it be bound?

[Coriolis]

Yes, let's have it printed and bound, please!

C