Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Can all these analog synthesizer knob PCBs be soldered in just one hour?

Enjoy the time-lapse vid and 80s synth-shread montage music and find out

New Synth Knob Multiplexer - 64 Analogs in one! Part 3

So you know I'm exactly halfway in the middle of my 64-in-1 analog knob multiplexer project, right? To keep it exciting, I did a "Soldering Challenge." Enjoy the time-lapse video!

My bigger goal is to demonstrate all 64 knobs at once, but that's so many circuit boards... and I just got back from a sublimely relaxing vacation... so I decided to challenge myself to build them all in one hour. If I succeeded, I motivated myself with a relaxing swim at Walden Pond.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

New Synth Knob Multiplexer - 64 Analogs in one! Part 3

You've seen it run with 5 synthesizer knobs, but now the stakes are higher!  I'm going to daisy-chain three of my circuit boards together.  Then I'm going to run them at top speed.


And if that wasn't enough, I've been preparing a special treat, so watch through the second half of the video :)


Tuesday, July 16, 2019

All Things Bright And Beautiful Video-Multitracked on 3 Electric Eels


I recorded the gorgeous, classic hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful" on three different Electric Eels! Lowest two parts are played on Bowed Eel. Violin 2 is played on Blue Guitar Eel. Violin 1 is played on Red Saxophone Eel.





I really enjoy the sounds of harmony and I'm looking for more players to make these recordings with on Electric Eels or other DIY/DSP instruments.

Electric Eels return the nuance of movement to electronic instruments. I free synthesizers from the desktop/laptop paradigm. I make them more like acoustic instruments. They use no batteries, only the energy generated by player movement backdriving stepper motors. So you can take them anywhere and play all night. You don't have to recharge them or wait for their software to upgrade. They do not connect to a cell phone I developed them while at the MIT Media Lab in the Computing Culture research group. 

First part was recorded into my phone and an iPad. Subsequent parts recorded into phone while listening on iPad through headphones. Four parts were synced up with an inexpensive, buggy video editor. Recording took place over a six hour period on Saturday, July 13th. Cathartic language has been deleted.

My inspiration was that I loved the sounds of electronic timbres, but hated standing still at a laptop or MIDI sequencer. So I made instruments that require you to move to make electronic sound, just like acoustic ones... but I didn't "fake" it with sensors. The Electric Eels have small electrical generators in them that require you to move to generate that electricity to run the synthesizer and CPU in short bursts.

Friday, June 28, 2019

New Synth Knob Multiplexer - 64 Analogs in one! Part 1


New! Fresh in the mail. A circuit board I designed. Check out the edgy and powerful design!



It muxes 64 analog signals, especially synthesizer knobs, into 1. It lets you read a wholllle lot of knobs with just a few pins. 

You can use three pins from an Arduino or other microcontroller and read all 64 daisy-chain knobs!

You need this board to make professional synthesizers with lots of knobs.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Digital Music Culture

I know it's been a while, but I want to share influences on my design practice:

Harpejjis
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Wr87Z7rZiWE/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pv0q6oBmZxo/maxresdefault.jpg
https://www.marcodi.com/collections/standard-series
https://www.brainpickings.org/2019/01/24/nick-cave-music-ai/?fbclid=IwAR2HG-qRYRW1Ocj_CpoP_ifJredDTQYTh_wIzctdIVBd_FmuHZHkV500pC8
https://makezine.com/2019/01/21/patent-pandas-how-one-maker-is-turning-her-horrible-experience-into-a-force-for-good/

Tommy Guerrero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0LZ20ppkNo

Bobby Lane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukHvn7pLYjk


https://www.keyboardmag.com/miscellaneous/marcodi-harpejji-g16

IMGUI!!!
https://github.com/germangb/imgui-ext

https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Gem-Corn-Heirloom-PowerGrow/dp/B00SCFOJ2K