NICK'S WORLD OF SYNTHESIZERS
THE MACHINE
This is the second synthesizer I made. It was made for playing on stage and to be worn like a guitar. I like this design because the audience can see what I am doing.
It is made from biscuit tin metal, the knobs are made from a broom pole that I have cut up.
One of the main features of this synthesizer is that it has a ribbon instead of a keyboard, this means that you can slide from one note to another. I got the idea when I saw some old footage of the Osmonds playing Crazy Horses.
It has 1 filter, a spring reverb, a sample and hold, 2 LFOs, and 2 audio oscillators. That makes 4 oscillators in total. Each of the output's 4 oscillators can be fed to the FM input of any other oscillator via a knob, this is what 16 of the knobs on the front panel do, so it is a variable strength FM patch matrix. The other knobs are for tuning, wave shape, PWM, and filter controls.
It is a bit of a confusing mess. You might think I know what is going on here, but I have forgotten what does what. This makes repairing it very hard. This is bad because it was never very reliable. I can remember lots of occasions where I had to get my soldering iron out on stage half way though a gig. At the time I did not actually know much about electronics, I used various circuits that I found in books in the library.
Contact me crazylegsnick@gmail.com
Please Leave a comment
Name: ROBOT
E-mail: ROBOTkw@yahoo.com
Date posted: 18:09, 15 05 2010
Message: I'm having WAY too much fun playing around with this stuff on your website.BOING-BOOM-TSCHAK. :] =K R A F T W E R K= Peace, ROBOT
Name: Adam
E-mail: dragonmissioner@gmail.com
Date posted: 07:26, 30 10 2009
Message: You are very inspiring. Looking over your page I find a use for my knowledge. I am good with problem solving circuitry but it all comes down to learning things in a small amount of time. College is sometimes difficult.
Name: pavel
E-mail: walentynski@gmail.com
Date posted: 18:36, 10 10 2008
Message: broom pole!!! I was wondering where do you get them from.
How does the ribbon work??
Regards