BWV 1067: Menuet on Analog Synthesizer

Published on Apr 25, 2013 StrangeQuarkStar

"Menuet from BWV 1067 played on an analog synthesizer I designed and built in University.
Multitracked with the same settings on both tracks, played by hand in two takes. Simple piano arrangement. No effects, straight into mixer, panned left and right hand."

Update: I reached out to StrangeQuarkStar for more info on his synth. Here's what he had to say:

"This synth is a project I did for an undergrad electronics course back in 2010. The idea was to build a completely analog synthesizer using mostly discrete components (a timer chip here and there), but with a new kind of digital parameter memory which I won't go into here just yet ;)

It's basically the classic monophonic synth architecture with two VCOs (Saw, Triangle and PWM; you can sync them), one LFO with adjustable waveshape (Ramp -> Tri -> Saw), a resonant 12dB/octave state-variable VCF (low-, band-, highpass), a VCA that's always a bit overdriven and two ADSR envelopes. The filter's envelope and the LFO can be routed to individual fine-tuning and PWM of the VCOs and the filter cutoff frequency, all at once and to different degrees.

The digital part converts MIDI to the appropriate control voltages for the individual components (note on/off, pitch bend and modulation) and is designed to keep track of all the patch parameters. The last module in the sound chain is a digital delay with a simple, adjustable analog filter. The audio signal chain stays completely analog if the delay mix is at zero.

The synth can be controlled via external MIDI or with the built-in digital 16-step sequencer and mini-keyboard on top of it.

All digital parts of the synthesizer are 100% my own design and built around Atmel ATmega processors. The more complicated analog modules (VCO, VCF, VCA) were largely adapted from designs found on birthofasynth.com, so no direct replicas of any well-known synths. We tried to keep the complexity and cost to an absolute minimum, which is why we also bought only the cheapest components we could get.

I led a team of five people and we all developed the schematics, PCB artwork and bills of material mostly from scratch. The faculty's workshop just etched the PCBs and we had to drill every single hole for all the components to solder in. The main digital board alone had over 1000 holes!

The whole thing took one semester from conception to presentation. It was the most fun I ever had in University!"