Making of a drum synth

Just in case you missed the links in the prior two videos by linsoft23, Making of a drum synth is a blog on... the making of a drumsynth. Well worth checking out. I'm subbed and will bring you updates.

The following is an excerpt from the first post.

"Basic Concept
Before starting the first sketch of a schematic i put up a list of general features the drum synth should have. The basic concept is a step sequencer based drum computer with analog sound generator circuitry. The pattern control and programming is done with atmega8 microcontrollers. These are chosen because they are relatively cheap and they can be programmed with very little extra hardware required. The following sound modules will be built:
->Bass Drum
->Snare Drum
->Open and Closed Hi-Hat
->Tom
->Crash
The sequencer should have 16 steps, it should support 4 running modes:
->forward (the standard one)
->backward
-> forward followed by backward
-> random
Beside a clock is supports also a manual advance mode. A 'swing'-mode which enlarges every second note period is not planned currently. The sequencer will be able to control eight instruments whereof six are integrated in the drum synth. The sequencer will have a trigger output to control external equipment. One instrument control line is reserved for a digital sample player which might be added later on. Each trigger pulse will have a normal and an accentuated mode, the amount of accent will be tunable for each sound module separately.
There will be the possibility to store 4 patterns in the internal eeprom of the atmega8's. It won't feature a 'song-mode', i.e. the ability to store a sequence of patterns since it is designed as simple instrument which will be played as 'life' as possible. But we'll see, maybe i add that later on. However it supports playing one pattern while programming another one, as many things else this is shamelessly copied from the tr-808. Thats it so far. Next i will some sound clips of the prototypes of the snare and bass drum modules since i already built as well as some information on my finished synth projects, schematics etc. Beside electronics i play music solo and in a band."