Sunday 26 June 2016

New Sound Waves - Synth Meet - Sunday 26 June

107 Redfern St, Redfern.

Another fun arvo with my friends from New Sound Waves.



....video 1



video 2



Korg 911 Guitar synthesizer


video 3
 These Metro Modular modules look great. They are on my to buy list.
Justin, their designer was at the meeting. Very helpful in explaining them. The filters esp sound great. Based on old Aires schematics, with oodles of modulation points.

 And, like wow... Paul A shows up with not one, but two Plumbutters. OMG.

Built by Ciat- Lonbarde its true what the blurb says ... its a drum & drama machine.

"My face is a psycho-geographical map of the cities of Baltimore and Cleveland.....
You can see my wild spaces are represented by a deer-horn,...


 and my downtown by a factory, and in between, a vast swath of suburban developments. 


It is a gradient of these three areas- urban, suburban, and rural- that informs my electronic synthesis. "

I'll upload videos soon.
J

Saturday 25 June 2016

Buchla format 212r - Dodecamodule

Some pics of a recent build. The 212r is a awesome sounding module.
(video to go up here soon). I would love to hear a vintage one.

These aren't building instructions, just some records for future reference should I decide to
build another..

It was quite a big build .... lost count of time after the first 20 hrs., but I reckon you could knock
one off in a weekend if you put your mind to it. (I'm not a professional technician).

This is PCB 1

PCB 2 ... reverb tank sits in the middle.
Its very much like the setup in a 208r version 1.




One cap exploded while I was testing various +15v to +24V voltage regulators.
I decided to just use my system's external +24v bus.

reverb tank fitted :-)

I've mixed the knobs up on purpose to remind me of the pot values. Davies are all 10k linear.
Serge style are 50k log.


I'm very impressed with the module. I esp like the output amplifier on the right.

I finally understand why there are a mix of 50k & 10k pots. Its a beautiful sound. We have voltage control over amplitude on the top, voltage control of location (left/right channels) in the middle, and CV of the reverb on the bottom.

More videos to be posted soon here.
...

Up till now I have been using a pulse from the buchla 281 to trigger the 212r. However a question in muffs from Robbot emcouraged me to test the dodecamodule again. It actually does not need an external clock (like the vintage 212). "The envelopes will self cycle using this trick - patch a cable from the red pulse output of the Triple Env Generator section of the 212 back to the red pulse input and then set the attack / decay time to the desired speed.

If that doesn't automatically start the env generator clocking, flipping the 'sustain' switch up/down and back will do". Thanks Robbot. :-)

Tuesday 21 June 2016

Favourite Scales - minor

A standard (chromatic) scale consist of twelve notes: C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B. 
Every scale is a selection from these twelve notes.
 
The most widely used scale in western music is the C major or C Ionian scale: 
These are the white keys on a piano ascending from C to C' 

C major has a specific series of intervals:
tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone.
T-T-ST-T-T-T-ST
 This is known as the Ionian mode.
 
-------------------------------------
 
Many EDM songs are written in a Minor Scale
There are 3 types of minor scale- natural, harmonic & melodic (more of this later)

The step pattern of a natural minor scale is:
 (Start with your root note)
tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone. 
T-ST-T-T-ST-T-T
Use the formula starting on any note to play the minor scale in a different key.

The most common keys are A Minor and C Minor – those are hugely popular.

This is a personal list... it may not appeal to everyone 

1 – CHROMATIC, 2 – IONIAN, 3 – DORIAN,

4 – MAJOR PENTA, 5 – MINOR PENTA,

6 – SHARP NOTES, 7 – WHOLE TONE,

8 – MIXOLYDIAN, 9 – MAJOR BLUES,

10 – MINOR BLUES

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Minor Scale (natural)



-------------------------------------------------------------

A Minor Pentatonic

Just 5 notes




---------------------------------------------------------------------

C (natural) Minor.

consists of the pitches C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, and B♭
Whole step/half/ whole/whole/half/whole/whole.
(WHWWHWW) or (T-ST-T-T-ST-T-T)
 
 
 
The C minor pentatonic is C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat.
 

The C minor Harmonic scale is C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C 
(To convert any natural minor scale into harmonic minor raise the 7th note by half a step.)

 

 

--------------------------------

D minor

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B♭, and C
 
tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone. 
T-ST-T-T-ST-T-T 
 

The notes of the D minor pentatonic scale are as follows: D – F – G – A – C.
 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------- 

F (natural) minor

 
F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F
 
tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone. 
T-ST-T-T-ST-T-T 




F (harmonic) minor


To convert any natural minor scale into harmonic minor raise the 7th note by half a step.

 
F - G - Ab - Bb - C -Db - E - F
 ---------------
------------------------------
 
Below is a brief summary of natural vs harmonic vs melodic
 
Natural Minor
 Start with your root note.
Whole step/half/ whole/whole/half/whole/whole.
eg : 
the A Natural Minor scale is: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A
The G# natural minor scale is : G#,A#,B,C#,D#,E#,F#,G# 
The C natural Minor scale is : C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb 
 

 
 
------------------

Harmonic Minor
 Really good for building chords
To convert any natural minor scale into harmonic minor raise the 7th note by half a step.

eg

The C harmonic Minor scale is : C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,B


 --------------------------------------------

Melodic Minor
This is all about melodies .
To convert a natural minor scale into a Melodic minor
raise both the 6th & 7th notes by half a step


The C melodic Minor scale is : C,D,Eb,F,G,A,B
 

 

 
-----------
 phrygian dominant scale.
This is the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale, the fifth being the dominant.
This scale occurs in Indian, Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Central Asian, and Flamenco music. It is common in Arabic and Egyptian music,
 

The sequence of steps forming the Phrygian dominant scale is:

  • half – augmented second – half – whole – half – whole – whole
 The C phrygian dominant scale is : C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
 
 

 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 
Though most of this post covers minor scales. Here are others which I sometimes use
 -------------------------------------------------
Chromatic
 ----------------------------------------------------------
 Major
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blues
 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Myxolydian mode

The mixolydian mode is the 5th mode of the major scale
 
C: C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, C 
D: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C, D
E: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D, E
F: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F


The Mixolydian scales are believed to have been discovered by the Ancient Greek female poet Sappho
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dorian mode .
(Often called the second mode of which there are 7 ....Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.)
This is very similar to the natural minor scale. The only difference is in the sixth note, which is a major sixth above the first note, rather than a minor sixth.
 
Formula: Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole

C Dorian: C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, C
D: D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D
E: E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D, E
F: F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb, F
 
 Examples are :
'Billie Jean' by Michael Jackson,
 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple
 Scarborough Fair.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Octatonic
An octatonic scale is any eight-note musical scale
composed of alternating whole and half steps.
 
This is a C-octatonic

Notes: C, Db, Eb, E, Gb, G, A, Bb, C 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diminished
This is a symmetrical scale that is built by alternating whole steps and half steps. 
 Diminished chords are formed by combining the root, flatted third (minor third) and flatted fifth of the major scale (1, ♭3, ♭5).
 
the notes of the C major scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B. 
To form C diminished, you combine the notes, C, E♭ and G♭.
 

---------------------------------------------------------

Triad on a M7 chord

Not striclty a scale .. but might be useful

-------------------------------------------------

A sharp Phygian - Favourite of Apex Twin
All sharps except B

 
 
--------------------------------------
Aeolian pentatonic scale, also known as Hirajoshi scale.
ie 5 tones


tonic (1), second (2) minor third (b3), fifth (5) and minor sixth (b6).
(This is a fav of my mate Mitch)

C, D, D#  ---- G, G# 

I like this variation:
C, D, D#  ---- F, G, G# - A#

Sunday 19 June 2016

ATMEGA16 microcontroller AVR Synth - Elby Designs


  • just tweaking this new synth
  • trying to find its sweet spots
  •  
  •  
  • "The AVRSYN is a monophonic "virtual analog" synth based
    • on the Atmel AT90S8535 microcontroller. It was originally designed by Jarek Ziembicki.
    • His aim was to check to see if a simple micro-processing chip could be used for sound synthesis.
  • Paul Maddox later adapted this design design using a
  • ATMEGA16 instead as the AT90S8535 is no longer in production.
    • The AVR consists of
    • two DCO's, a DCF, and a DCA. There is also an LFO and an AR/ASR
  • envelope generator.
  • This synth comes in a kit form
  •  
  •  The AVRSYN is a monophonic "virtual analog" synth based on the Atmel AT90S8535 microcontroller. It was originally designed by Jarek Ziembicki. 
  •  
  •  
  • His aim was to check to see if a simple micro-processing chip could be used for sound synthesis. Paul Maddox later adapted this design design using a ATMEGA16 instead as the AT90S8535 is no longer in production. I think they succeeded. The AVR consists of two DCO's, a DCF, and a DCA. There is also an LFO and an AR/ASR envelope generator. All sounds are from the AVR. Thanks to Blake C for the tweaking. Check out Blakes tunes at: http://soundcloud.com/blakusmaximus 
  •  
  • Thanks to Matt from RhythmActive for the AVRSYNTH http://www.rhythmactive.com.au/

Thursday 16 June 2016

Arturia - Beatstep Pro - basic manual

Projects

BeatStep Pro allows you to store and recall 16 Projects. Each Project contains a MIDI controller map, and a bank of 16 sequences for each of the three sequencers (Seq1, Seq2, Drum).

To recall a Project:
hold the PROJECT button and press one of the 16 step buttons. The currently loaded Project will be displayed by a lit button.

When you open a new project, the default settings are:
SEQ1, SEQ2 and DRUM send and receive on channels 1, 2, and 10
Time division is set to 1/16 •
Gate time for each step is 50% •
Swing is set to 50% •
Randomness and Probability are set to 0.

As soon as you make any changes, you will have started a new project.

1. select a pattern.
 Use the <> buttons or press the SEQUENCER button + the number.

2. Clear a pattern
  hold the SHIFT button and press Step button 1.

3. Set Tempo
  Turn the RATE/FINE encoder.  or use the TAP button

4. Record a pattern
  Select SEQ1, press the RECORD button and press the PLAY button.
 Use the pads as a keyboard to enter notes in real time.

5. To Save a pattern
    a. press SAVE
    b. Press the step button - number 1 to 16

6.    To save a project:

a. Hold the SAVE button
b. Press the PROJECT button and hold it •
c. Press the Step button number you chose earlier. (number 1 to 16)

When you follow these instructions you will overwrite the selected Project and all of its patterns.
Be sure this is what you want to do! If not, be sure to find out which memory location is available and store the Project there instead.


-------------------------------------

Sequence Length

The default length is 16 steps, but a sequence can be up to 64 steps long.

If you’d like your sequence to be less than 16 steps long, simply hold the LST STEP button and then press the Step button that corresponds to the desired setting.

To make longer sequences:

(Chapter 4.3.5.1 of manual)

1.  press the << and >> buttons at the same time . The buttons should be dark.

Hold the LST STEP button. •
Press the >> button once. A white LED will appear above the number 32.
Press Step button 16 (technically it’s button 32 now). It will turn green. •
Release the LST STEP button. Step 32 has now been defined as the last step in the sequence.

Now press << and >> at the same time to enter Sequence Follow mode (the buttons should be lit).

Next, press Play. You should see the Step buttons cycling through two sets of 16 steps, one with data and one without. You should also see the Step Group LEDs changing every 16 steps:

Steps 1-16: Red LED over #16, White LED over #32 •
 Steps 17-32: unlit LED over #16, Pink LED over #32 (White + Red)

The Red LED indicates the current position of the sequence. The White LED means that the last step in the sequence is during steps 17-32.

If you decide you want more than 32 steps for this sequence, hold the LST STEP button and press >> until the White LED is over the right number. Then press the appropriate Step button and you’re ready to create.



Tuesday 14 June 2016

ARP 2500 - My Monday Fix

Playing around with the 1004T VCO


This is a unedited and live video. The two main modules used are the 1004T (toggle switch) VCO and a 1047 filter.


The 1004 oscillator is the most versatile in the series (1004T, 1004R, 1004p) R & P stand for Rocker & Pot.
The 1004T has inverted waveforms & a built in mixer.


Synthrotek - 1U Stereo mixer

A very very easy build today.
Parts are cheap too.
It's built around a TL074 opamp.

Great is you have a tight space. Only 1U.
 The assembly instructions are here:
http://www.synthrotek.com/kit-assembly-instructions/modular-circuit-assembly-instructions/1u-eurorack-module-assembly-instructions/1u-stereo-output-mixer-assembly-instructions/



You can purchase these from Matt at RhythmActive
or direct from the manufacturer

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For more Euro DIY builds click here:
http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/diy-index.html
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Chiang Mai, Thailand - Wat Chedi Luang

Chiang Mai means "new city" and was so named because it became the new capital of the Lan Na kingdom when it was founded in 1296.
It's in the northern mountainous region of Thailand. There are plenty of historic temples to visit. My favourite is Wat Chedi.

Wat Chedi Luan's construction began in the 14th century, though records indicate it took over 100 years to complete.... prob finished in the mid 15thC. ??
In 1468, the famous Emerald Buddha was installed in the eastern niche. In 1545, the upper 30 m of the structure collapsed after an earthquake, and shortly thereafter, in 1551, the Emerald Buddha was moved to Luang Prabang. The Emerald Buddha is today housed in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) on the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.







the city pillar (Lak Mueang) of Chiang Mai, named Sao Inthakin. It was moved to this location in 1800 by King Chao Kawila; it was originally located in Wat Sadeu Muang.


 reclining Buddha 

wihan of Wat Chedi Luang

 Inside the wihan of Wat Chedi Luang, 

 Inside the wihan of Wat Chedi Luang, money offerings are dropped into alms bowls during the festival

"The Inthakin or Lak Mueang Festival in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand (also known as Sai Khan Dok or Bucha Sao Inthakin in Thai), starts on the 12th day of the waning moon of the six lunar month and lasts eight days. Centered around Wat Chedi Luang, this is a celebration of Brahmic origin. On the first day, which is called Tam Bun Khan Dok (lit. "Flower Bowl Blessing"), offerings of flowers, candles and incense are made to the city pillar as well as the many other Buddhist and Lanna-era icons. Dancing, musical performances, carnival games, and Thai vendor food is present. This is a very large celebration in which the Chiang Mai citizenry participate." Wikipedia. 

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