The GM Voice

Produced through a partnership between Dan Lavin and Thomas Henry. via Scott Sites.

"Okay gang,

This one took me way too much time to complete, but I'm ready to start spilling the beans.

What it is: The GM-Voice is a standalone, MIDI driven multiple voice unit. It can create hundreds of pre-programmed high quality instrument sounds---some natural, some electronic---in addition to dozens of percussive instruments. Best of all, the voices respond to dynamics and you can play a minimum of 24 simultaneously! GM stands for General MIDI, as if you hadn't figured that out already.

Total outlay? About $25, if you know how to shop. This is probably the least expensive way to outfit a home recording studio with high quality sounds I can think of.

Here's the scoop. A decade ago our own esteemed Antman wrote me a note on his researches into the possibility of a standalone GM circuit. I was absolutely up to the gills in projects at the time and it's only recently I've been able to return to what he had originally proposed. Moreover, Antman was able to get me the crucial raw ingredient for ten bucks on Ebay a month or two ago, and it's all been downhill since then.


This project takes a Soundblaster type daughterboard, adds a little support circuitry and voila---the computer isn't even needed to extract its magic. It becomes a standalone instrument for the studio.

This is my first joint project with Antman, and it's been a great success. I hope we can encourage him to submit a general overview of the project, the overall process and some purchasing tips for newcomers. (I still have some of your letters from a decade ago---can I post them for general info to builders?) And then, I'll supply the new and improved schems, along with PCB artwork and wiring info.

Here are the features I've included in the Antman/Henry version of the
GM-Voice:

- reset button providing emergency all-notes-off action
- MIDI In
- two MIDI Thru jacks
- stereo and mono outputs
- fully buffered outputs for maximum protection
- improved MIDI activity LED shines brightly!
- internal power supply for true standalone performance
- carefully worked out digital/analog grounding for optimal performance

Attached are two photos of my unit. I only have a $25 digital camera, so the quality is a bit punk. but you'll get the general idea. The whole thing is about the size of a brick and looks very nice.

Okay Antman, care to jump here?

Thomas Henry

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There's a song Thomas composed and performed using the GM voice posted towards the end of the thread. Check it out!:

http://electro-music.com/forum/download.php?id=10971

"Antman" by the way is Dan Lavin.

Take care,
Scott"

More info on this electro-music.com thread.