Building your own modular synth

[Onkel Dunkel]

Originally Posted by 3o3

Onkel; You mean that german-page with a SID-synth in a C64-box? I've got the url somewhere here.

That might be the one. At least one of them (there where more than one design) where build into an old C64-box.

Originally Posted by 3o3

I've had a P9700s, i didn't buy it from paia - i bought it from a friend for 100:- SEK it worked for like 10 minutes then the filter-section caught on fire.

Sorry to hear that. It must be either a bad curcuit design or that they use too cheap components (or a combination) Or maybe you where just unlucky...

Originally Posted by Juho L

Bloody hard to get working properly. I really wouldn't recommend it.

If you use a tried out circuit i can?t see why it shouldn?t work. The worst part must be tuning it. I tried tuning my Moog Etherwave (just for fun) but i ended up with a time consuming anoying proces because the capacity changed when i put the lid on the thing (and you have to open it to tune it )

[Juho L]

Originally Posted by Onkel Dunkel

If you use a tried out circuit i can?t see why it shouldn?t work. The worst part must be tuning it. I tried tuning my Moog Etherwave (just for fun) but i ended up with a time consuming anoying proces because the capacity changed when i put the lid on the thing (and you have to open it to tune it)

I think the main problem is the antenna. I got different results on different antennas (even the specs were identical). It was really cryptic thing.

Edit: Plus I've heard from other people that theremin can be tricky to get working properly.

[Onkel Dunkel]

Originally Posted by Juho L

I think the main problem is the antenna. I got different results on different antennas (even the specs were identical). It was really cryptic thing.

Edit: Plus I've heard from other people that theremin can be tricky to get working properly.

Again it?s a question of tuning. Different antennas (length and mass) have different capacity and each time you will have to retune it. Just like you have to fine-tune it if different people play it. A fat man has more mass (and therefore capacity) than a thin man.

Edit: And of course the curcuit design has a great deal to do with what size and type of antenna you should use.

[Onkel Dunkel]

Theremin schematics:
http://www.thereminworld.com/schematics.asp

[Juho L]

Originally Posted by Onkel Dunkel

Edit: And of course the curcuit design has a great deal to do with what size and type of antenna you should use.

Yup. I tried to wary the cap sizes and match the circuit for the antennaes used, but it still worked weakly.

[Juho L]

http://www.kolumbus.fi/juho.lepisto/Synth-layout.gif

There are some layout plans. Still missing the patch cord section. The patching section consists of one area full of modulation output jacks like LFO's, envelopes, etc and the other area with some modulation destinations with amount knobs. So it's like a modular, but the controls don't get covered by the patch cords. And don't ask what's the deal with Newton because I don't know.

[3o3]

Onkel; I don't know - my friend who i bought it from had bought it 2 years before and probably didn't store it correctly so the parts where bad. Then i contacted Paia but it was out of warranty so they offered me to buy another board but for quite some money - then the problem of finding all the right parts since i couldn't find what i needed in Sweden. So nah, i didn't care..

http://home.swipnet.se/cfmd/synths/friends/stopp/ <- there is a page of some swedish modularbuilding. There are a group of people calling themself "Svenska Analogsympasit?rer" that are building a modular.. A real nice one. check that out

[Onkel Dunkel]

Originally Posted by 3o3

Onkel; I don't know - my friend who i bought it from had bought it 2 years before and probably didn't store it correctly so the parts where bad.

Of course that a posibility too. It sounds a "little" wild that it actually caught fire

[3o3]

I even had my uncle over to look at it, but there was no bad soldering (I studied electronics in school) and my uncle did build some synths when he was younger but he couldn't find anything really wrong with it either except that he thought the board looked kinda funny. What he meant by that is way out of my league

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

That is a real bitch. Catching fire is no laughing matter. Seriously.

The component must have been recieving too much voltage and overheated.

DS