MATRIXSYNTH: x0xb0x Mod by Amos/controlvoltage


Monday, August 07, 2006

x0xb0x Mod by Amos/controlvoltage

Mod by Amos of Moog Music. Note this is his personal mod and has nothing to do with Moog Music. Just noting the players for the archives. Title link takes you to more shots and the post on ladyada's tea party. Details and one shot saved for posterity.

"List of mods:

Internal:

bass boost mod; carefully-selected transistors in key places (not a mod, but a good idea);adjustable amount of resonance boost on accent (trim pot on underside of mainboard). Also increased env. amount range, goes down to zero and up to 3x normal maximum amount.

I/O mods: CV outputs from the sequencer for Pitch and Gate (same as stock, now with 1/4" jacks), also Accent and Slide gate-CVs. CV Inputs for Gate, Accent, Slide, Pitch, and Filter Cutoff. New audio I/O is on a 1/4" stereo jack providing VCO out/VCF in, for a pre-filter effects loop or clean external audio into the filter/VCA. See my thread in x0xm0dz for more details. VCF input goes well with the "gate always-on" switch I added.

Panel/control mods:

Devilfish-esque VCO-to-Filter overdrive;
Accent duration control knob.
VCO->VCF FM, has FM amount knob and FM waveform selector switch;
Resonance Boost switch, with trimmer for setting boost amount
Gate always on switch - VCA wide open with infinite sustain. Good for bubbling liquid legato lines or external filter processing. Filter falls to minimum unless you are using my envelope mutator, or hit the:
Momentary Gate-Retrigger button; this fires off the main envelope generator when pressed, so you can inject some variety into always-on lines or just goose the sequence when you want.
momentary Accent-on button, similar principle as above, fire an Accent on demand.

Envelope Mutator - my own little street-style RC envelope circuit, takes in a +5V pulse and bleeds it to ground thru a variable resistance. This is then applied to filter cutoff, where it interacts with all the other filter mods to create delicious new flavors of groove. The source is selectable between Gate (all notes trigger the env mutator), Accent, and Slide triggers via a miniature 3pos. rotary switch; there is a mutation on/off switch, a Mutation Duration knob, variable between ~5 milliseconds and 5 seconds, and I am about to add a Mutation Amount knob for added subtlety. Right now it is either off or full-on.

I think that's about it... still to be done are the momentary switches when the parts get here, and drilling the panel for the controls. The jack panel isn't perfectly machined but I might fine-tune it... or leave it looking a little DIY, which it certainly is. It should be finished up sometime next week! Sound samples when I get a chance. It sounds.... mighty good.

edit: here is a half-arsed sound sample... unfortunately the envelope mutator is not fully installed w/level control so it gets out of hand... also no momentary buttons yet so the legato/drone sections are not what they will be soon. But, bandwidth is cheap these days, so here's 10 mins of impromptu tweaking on stuff.

-=x0x Tw34Ks=-"

5 comments:

  1. Perhaps Moog should buy the xoxoxopxoxobox and mod it to death.

    Now, what should it be called? 'The E Spot' ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. oops, I'm showing my age. I meant the 'K Dar' -- that's what they should call it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. doktor future, you comment confuses me. Moog cannot buy the xoxoxopxoxobox, as it is an open source project, or creative commons or some such licensing arrangement. Basically, it's free to the public... this particular b0x is what I have been working on in my "free" time at home, nothing to do with work.

    BTW thanks Matrix; you don't miss a thing! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ladyada is just too cool. I have my x0xb0x project (#253) patiently waiting for the holiday season.

    ReplyDelete

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