"This simple guide will show you how to build a digital synthesizer that generates and manipulates square waves. Your synthesizer will have one oscillator, which produces a variable pitch controlled by a potentiometer, as well as an LFO which modulates that pitch at a variable frequency. The part count for this project is quite low, and it can be built for under $20."click here for more info including the parts. via Dustin.
"Digital synthesizer" ???
ReplyDelete"hack" ???
ReplyDeleteits a VCDCO??
ReplyDeleteI liked some of the comments:
ReplyDelete"This is cool, except square waves aren't very nice to speakers. I'd like to see a synth that could do sine waves."
"Definitely best noisemaker project I've seen (although I haven't seen that many)"
"Looks cool but there is no way that I could get this one work"
It's not meant to be a Waldorf Q! It's educational, cheap and fun - and don't forget where you started.
ReplyDeleteI've been a synth enthusiast and a DSP researcher for years, but I started by reading popular electronics magazines and breadboarding simple analog synth circuits.
I agree with peterwendt on this one. Who cares if this is for newbies? It makes a sound out of thin air, and many kids would be capable of building this. Not only is it a bunch of easy-to-find components strung together with wire, but it doesn't require a computer to flash a rom, like many of these "simple" sorts of projects usually require.
ReplyDeleteAnd given some imagination, it might even be a musical tool for your gizmo box.
That said, the writeup could have been edited better. Especially when you're trying to teach people, you had better ensure that the terminology is accurate.