Nerd On The Wire DrumKid "aleatoric" Drum Machine

Published on Aug 22, 2019 Nerd On The Wire

Nerd On The Wire also brought us the Synth Guitar for DesignSpark Summer of Sound Challenge, and PolyMod open source modular synthesizer for Hackaday 2018.

"DrumKid is an 'aleatoric' drum machine, meaning it uses random numbers to determine the rhythm and sound of a drum beat. It comes in a handheld, battery-powered unit, designed for live performance.

This is my entry video for the 2019 Hackaday Prize - the Hackaday project page can be found here: https://hackaday.io/project/164521-dr...

This project is open source - all design files can be found here: https://github.com/mattybrad/drumkid"

"Drum machine are ubiquitous in modern music, but playing them live presents a challenge. When playing electronic rhythms live, whether using a drum machine or a laptop, it can often appear that a musician is simply pressing "play" on a backing track, removing much of the perceived spontaneity of a live performance.

My drum machine, DrumKid, aims to tackle this problem by using a variety of controls to alter a drumbeat live, using randomly generated drum hits which augment the original beat. Rather than being designed as a pre-programmed backing instrument, DrumKid aims to be a playable instrument in its own right, with continuously adjustable controls that work well in a live setting. My intention was to create an engaging, interactive device that, like any musical instrument, can be mastered over time with practice.

DrumKid is an open-source, hackable product based around an ATmega328 chip, as found in an Arduino Uno. The final product features a minimalist design consisting of a single PCB with buttons, knobs, and LEDs mounted on one side, and all other components mounted on the other side. Two laser-cut sections are used to protect the electronics.

I now have a fully working prototype of DrumKid, and I am happy with the audio quality, playability, aesthetics, durability, reliability, and battery life. I am planning to make a small, initial batch of DrumKid units in September to distribute to musicians for testing. After any necessary updates to the PCB design and/or firmware, I hope to build a larger batch of units and launch DrumKid for sale around November/December 2019.

DrumKid can also be constructed as a breadboard/stripboard project using an Arduino Uno - see the build instructions for details."

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Soulsby Odytron limited edition Atmegatron 8-bit synth SN 065 of 150

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via this auction

"Soulsby Odytron limited edition Atmegatron 8-bit synth - Complete and Pristine!. Comes with power, programmer cable, overlays, quickstart guide and manual. Super clean and in perfect working order.

The Odytron is a limited edition Atmegatron, pre-loaded with the brand new Odytron software and factory presets, as well as having unique Odytron paintwork. Only 150 units have been manufactured (see photos - this is unit 65 of 150).

The Odytron software simulates the specification of a classic analogue synth but in an 8-bit environment. The result is a fascinating combination of analogue warmth and 8-bit grit. Features include: 2 independent oscillators (duophonic), 2 filter algorithms + bypass, 2 envelopes, LFO, ring mod, wave sync and numerous modulation methods.Despite the sound being radically different to the original Atmegatron software, the Odytron is 100% Atmegatron compatible and comes bundled with 3 overlays and a programmer cable. This means that it is essentially 4 synths for the price of one. The overlays for the alternative synth engines are: Atmegatron (the classic software), Atmegadrum (drum machine) & Delayertron (delay effects synth)."

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XFM FPGA-based FM synthesizer module

Published on Jul 17, 2019 René Ceballos

via future3soundz

"XFM is a polyphonic, 32-voice, 6-operator FM synthesizer stereo module that you can build yourself.

Essentially, the module receives MIDI messages from a controller/sequencer, produces audio and delivers it via digital (SPDIF) and analog outputs.

The sound range XFM can create and its feature set have a very broad intersection with most pure-FM synthesizers of the past (Yamaha DX series, OPL chip series, TX81Z/802/816 modules, etc.).

Complete Feature Set
32-voice polyphonic

Polyphonic or Monophonic Legato modes

6 operators per voice

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HKA Design Digitizer Bitcrusher Pedal

Published on Jul 21, 2019 Harry Axten

"This is a digital sampling bitcrusher pedal I've been working on recently. It samples at 8/6/4 bit resolution and is based around an ATmega328P microcontroller.

The project is open hardware - all of the design files, code and construction details can be found on my website: https://hkadesign.org.uk/digitizer.html"

Demo with the Sequential Prophet-6.

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Playlist of Technics WSA1 Videos

This one is in via Jusuf in the comments of this post. Many have been featured on the site before, some haven't. Enjoy! :)

Playlist at the time of this post:
Technics sx-WSA1R demo - that other acoustic modeling synth from the 90s - Floyd Steinberg
Best Ambient Synth Shootout #26: Technics WSA1- Song 1 - Christian's Sonic Spaces
Best Ambient Synth Shootout #27: Technics WSA1- Song 2 - Christian's Sonic Spaces
MOV 0217 - hien trinh
Technics SX-WSA1 MarkovModels - Tom Noopher
technics wsa synthesizer - some physical modelled sounds - borgmechaniker
puredata-algorithmicsequencer-02.mp4 with Technics WSA - borgmechaniker
Demo technics sx-WSA1 part1 - gravili
Technics WSA 1 Sound Demos mit 4 von mir improvisierten Songs - Musiker Lanze
both units are now sold. bye bye my synths. - myRegression
Korg JP8000 JP-8000 Review (Technics WSA1 WSA-1) - TR0LLreviews
LooPing petit bout de piano - LooPingVideoHome
Stay with me - Andreas Fechner
Improvisation 2 - Andreas Fechner
Koródi Csaba - Improvizáció - Szintimánia
Technics WSA 1 Film Demo - Dave Blackburn
BuddyN-Trance masterclip - BuddyMYT
Technics SX-WSA1 Ambient Demo - Blake Foster
TECHNICS WSA1 - Demo Song - Szintimánia
Tax-5 - The Labyrinth (Dark Ambient) - Technics WSA1 - Stephan S
Technics SX WSA 1R Synthesizer - Chillout Demo, by Clouds Testers - Alexander Bobrov
Demo Technics sx-WSA1 part2 - gravili
WSA1- Technics - Piano Steinway & Sons - Por Rogelson.mpg - Roger Syst Gama
technics wsa1 view sơ qua phần FX chỉnh tiếng. - hien trinh
Short Technics WSA1 Jam with Ryan - "Garbage Truck" :) - CoolColJ
Technics WSA1R Sounds - borututu forte
Technics WSA1 - Changing the display - 01 - roghelson
Cool/Funny ad - Technics WSA - lbulbu
groove - mruebsam
T.W.G music: lost - T . W . G
Magic World - Andreas Fechner
Live Jam #18 (LXR, acid8, DCM8, JP-08, Shruthi-1, V-Machine, System-1m, Atmegatron, SX-WSA1, etc.) - Christian's Sonic Spaces
Best Ambient Synth Shootout #28: Technics WSA1- Song 3 - Christian's Sonic Spaces
RS - Song for C (featuring Technics WSA1) - stratomoto
Technics WSA1 / WSAr - Synt Hudba

Soulsby Atmegatron (Odytron Special Edition) SN 075 of 150

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via this auction

"Special Odytron Edition of the Atmegatron in near perfect condition. Comes with power supply, programming cable, original box, and 6 overlays for the different softwares that can be loaded in it."

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Creating a synthesiser ecosystem with Soulsby Synths // Superbooth 2019

Published on May 28, 2019 DivKidVideo

"The whole family is coming together in the new ATX system from Soulsby Synths. There's the existing Eurorack Oscitron (demo video below) and Oscidrum (alt. firmware) but the new Atmegatron, Atmultitron and new expanders are all coming together for future release. Blending 8 bit "dirty lo fi" filters and polyphonic analogue filter expanders in Eurorack there's a potentially large system of Soulsby goods on the way!"

::vtol:: rotor

::vtol:: rotor from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.

- arduino uno (atmega328 custom diy boards)
- sony d2
- custom electronics
- dc motor
- spin fv1 dsp + joystick controller

via ::vtol::

"Ever since childhood I have viewed compact discs as the embodiment of futurism: ideal shape, mirrored surface, and a crystal-clear sound. And I also loved how they would malfunction. Scratches, scuffs, read errors – at a time when I still knew nothing about IDM and glitch music, I tried to engineer a repeat of these sounds, but felt like I was chasing ghosts. And then all of a sudden discs went out of fashion and were forgotten.

As a rule players would only reproduce the sound in play mode. In all other modes, even though the laser continues to read the information on the surface, the sound would zone out. This was done to ensure that the player did not play the errors and did not emit any sound on a pause, the scratch marks, etc.

Recently I stumbled upon a description of one the processors of old Sony CD players, including instructions on how to modify the player so that it continues to emit sounds in any operating mode. Experimentation was not long in coming: I ordered several old Sony D2 and D20 and started my preparations. As the thirty-year old electronics would literally fall apart in my hands, I assembled one operable device from three players. After replacing all the capacitors, I was struck by the sound quality of this player – state of the art MP3 players don’t even come close. The new device is capable of playing any compact discs with profound scratch marks, makes a sound during rewind, on pause and also during the stoppage/start-up of a disc. Furthermore, I added an intercept function for the motors responsible for the movement of the laser head and the rotation of the disc. I also added to the device a digital processor with joystick for evocative manipulations of the sounds obtained from the player. Another option was an additional revolving optical disc. As well as the visual impact, owing to the emergent induction it is capable of influencing at high speed the motor of the CD, which results in fascinating data read errors.

Taken altogether, this made it possible to create a robust instrument for the deconstruction of existing music and also manipulations with discs specially recorded for the experiments. And that is how compact discs suddenly became an extremely topical format for me once more.

Inspired by Nicolas Colins projects.

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Superbooth 2019 - Soulsby Synthesizers

Published on May 13, 2019 Hank Astral

"Paul Soulsby takes us through the new ATX range:
ATMULTITRON - 8 part-multitimbral synth with MIDI clip playback and a lot more
ATMEGATRON - sequel to the popular arduino based synth"

Soulsby Synthesizers Superbooth 2019 Announcement

via Soulsby Synthesizers

"Not long now! The biggest synthesizer event of the year is nearly here. We'll have all the ATX range on show. The Atmultitron, The Atmegatron II and introducing the ATX Modular range.

So here's all the details:

9th-11th May
FEZ-Berlin, Straße zum FEZ 2 in 12459 Berlin
Trade visitors daily from 10:00 am to 11:59 pm / Saturday also Education Ticket holders from 10:00 am to 11:59 pm Regular visitors daily from 1:00 pm to 11:59 pm.
Booth E155 - in the middle of the main entrance hall.

Buy tickets here.

See you there!"

PhatOne - New DIY Programmable Mono Rack Synth Based on AS33xx and Arduino

DIY Synthesizer - PhatOne Demo (AS33xx and Arduino based) Published on Apr 28, 2019 Krzychu1995

English description below
==========================
Mam przyjemność zaprezentować instrument PhatOne - monofoniczny, programowalny syntezator w formacie rack 19" 1U. Sterowanie odbywa się za pomocą kilku przycisków na panelu wraz z 2 enkoderami (konfiguracja, edycja presetów i ich zapis). Moduł zbudowany jest w oparciu o układy serii AS33xx firmy Alfa z Łotwy, w części cyfrowej znajdują się dwa układy ATmega 328P-PU zaprogramowane w środowisku Arduino (łącznie ok 2000 linii kodu). Zastosowanie mikrokontrolerów umożliwiło ponadto pozbycie się sprzętowych generatorów modulacji (ADSR i LFO), co znacząco wpłynęło na koszt instrumentu.

Parametry:
-2x 3340 VCO TRIANGLE, SAW, PULSE/SQUARE
-1X 3320 VCF (OPARTY NA OBWODZIE Z PROPHETA 5)
-2X ADSR (ZREALIZOWANE W SOFTWARE)
-2X LFO (ZREALIZOWANE W SOFTWARE)
-MATRYCA MODULACJI 4 SLOTY (SOFTWARE)
-MODULACJA FM VCO1 - VCO2
-128 MIEJSC W PAMIĘCI

==========================

I am pleased to present PhatOne instrument - monophonic, programmable synthesizer in rack 19" 1U format. For steering purposes there are several buttons on panel and 2 encoders (configuration, preset edit and saving). Module is basen on AS33xx IC produced by Alfa in Latvia, in digital part there are two ATmega328P-PU chips programmed in Arduino environment (around 2000 lines of code). Employment of microcontrollers made possible to get rid of hardware modulation sources (ADSR, LFO). Thanks to this costs are lower.

Parameters:
-2x 3340 VCO TRIANGLE, SAW, PULSE/SQUARE
-1X 3320 VCF (BASED ON PROPHET 5)
-2X ADSR (MADE IN SOFTWARE)
-2X LFO (MADE IN SOFTWARE)
-MODULATION MATRIX 4 SLOTS (SOFTWARE)
-FM MODULATION VCO1 - VCO2
-128 MEMORY LOCATIONS

And two previous development videos:

DIY Monophonic Synth Demo

Published on Oct 14, 2018 Krzychu1995

Gershon Kingsley - Popcorn (cover) [SYNTH DEMO]

Published on Dec 31, 2018 Krzychu1995

"For the end of year - short demo of my DIY synth. It played bassline and lead. Rest of arrangement done on Arturia Minimoog and Microbrute."

Psycox SY-1M Syncussion - Pearl Syncussion Clone - Analog Drum Synth

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on Apr 21, 2019 kenseicrew

via this auction

"Psycox Syncussion SY1M - A clone of the much loved Pearl Syncussion Drum Synth

Recently completed build of the this amazing drum/percussion synthesizer. I bought 2 kits and will be keeping one as the sound is amazing.

This model includes MIDI as well as CV/Gate to interface with external gear.

I have built many synth kits and eurorack modules over the last 4 years and have used the best components for this kit, so buy with confidence. I also offer a 1 year warranty on my DIY builds so if there are any issues you can send it back to me for a fix.

Here is more info from the kits manufacturer:

'The Syncussion SY-1M kit is a faithful reproduction of an extremely versatile drum synthesizer from the late 1970's. With 6 Oscillator Modes per channel it is capable of a wide range of sounds, from the classic 70's disco "peeoww" to tight bells, thunderous Kick drums and Gnarly Bass sounds. Whilst retaining the original CV and Trigger inputs, the addition of per channel MIDI controlled Triggering, Pitch and Decay greatly expands the possibilities. The kit contains 2 Printed Circuit Boards, a Powder Coated and Screen Printed Steel Case, 16 Slide potentiometers, 16 Slider Caps, 8x BCM857 Dual Matched Transistors, 47uH RF Choke (necessary for the power supply filter) and a pre-programmed ATMEGA328.'"

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MidiSizer MidiREX

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
MidiSizer - MidiREX Feature Review Published on Jan 4, 2018 galingong

"A short review on this overlooked piece of hardware. The MidiREX is essentially a 4-track MIDI looper. The project is open-source, a more verbose description, manual, build docs. and Atmega firmware are available on the project website.
https://midisizer.com/midirex/
Shout-out to Peter Kvitek, the developer of MidiREX, and other cool midi devices."

via this auction

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LamdbaSpeak 3 - Audio Playback over CPC Speaker & Serial Interface

Published on Apr 6, 2019 Michael Wessel

"LambdaSpeak 3 audio output can now also be sent back into the CPC to be played over the CPC's internal speaker, using mono SND pin of the expansion port. Hence, the final version of LambdaSpeak 3 will have 2 more DIP switches (one for left audio channel, one for right audio channel) that allow turning audio loop back on and off.

Also, the new serial mode seems to be working! LambdaSpeak 3 will have a new "serial" mode and 4 PIN headers (VCC, GND, TX, RX). In this mode, the hardware USART0 of the ATmega 644 will be used.

So far, there is a little test that initializes the USART, and then communicates with the Emic 2 speech synthesizer board on the little breadboard, connected over the 4 yellow wires (VCC, GND, TX, RX). The Emic 2 is connected to an amplifier. It uses a simple serial protocol (plain ASCII) which is being sent over the USART / serial connection. Seems to work!"

See more here

LambdaSpeak & LambdaDrum for the Amstrad CPC

LambdaSpeak 3 - Simple 10 Track Pattern Sequencer / Drum Sequencer

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Michael Wessel

You might remember the Next-Generation Speech Synthesizer for the Amstrad / Schneider CPC 464 from Michael Wessel. Here are a three new videos featuring the LambdaSpeak & LambdaDrum for the Amstrad CPC, in via Michael Wessel. The LambdaDrum is a High Quality 10 Track 4 Channel PCM Pattern-based Drum Computer for the Amstrad CPC (a feature of the LambdaSpeak 3.0 Speech Synthesizer).
Related: Also check out the Amstrad CPC - Vocal synthesizer by Techni Musique (1986).

Video description for the above:
"A simple 10 track pattern-based drum computer for LambdaSpeak 3 (written entirely in BASIC).

This is a demo of 4channel polyphonous PCM sample playing with LambdaSpeak 3. Here, up to 4 channels of 8 Bit 16 kHz PCM are being played in parallel.

The LambdaSpeak 3 board has a socket for an (optional) vintage GI SPO256-AL2 speech chip, which is being used in this demo as well. The SPO256-ALs has its own channel (8) and track (11), and is being used for random allophones here."

LambdaDrum CPC Drum Computer Demo - 4 Channels of 8 Bit PCM @ 16 kHz

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Michael Wessel

"Spent some more time optimizing the PCM playback capabilities of LambdaSpeak 3. By now I have 4 channels of high quality 8 Bit PCM.

In this video, 16 kHz drum samples are being used. 16 kHz are a good compromise between size and quality. The samples are from the Boss DR 660 drum computer, and can be found online. Combined, these 10 samples are about 120 KBytes in size - a good fit for LambdaSpeak's 128 KBytes of PCM EEPROM sample memory!

Some ome pre-processing needs to be applied to the samples before they can be used with LambdaSpeak - first I am using Audacity for PCM editing (cutting, fading, normalizing, ...), then the Switch Sound File Converter for conversion to 8Bit 16 kHz PCM, and finally a program to remove all file and PCM headers from the PCM files.

The resulting PCM files are then put on a standard CPC DSK file and being uploaded into LambdaSpeak's EEPROM memory using a simple CPC BASIC program (a MC program would do the 120 KByte upload in a few seconds).

The drum computer program shown here is a simple BASIC program - all the actual PCM playback is done by LambdaSpeak, not by the CPC. The CPC would be incabable of serving PCM of that quality over its databus (insufficient CPU band width and clock speed)."

LambdaDrum Pattern Sequencer in BASIC

Published on Mar 25, 2019 Michael Wessel

"A simple pattern-based drum computer in BASIC, demonstrating the polyphonous high quality PCM sample playing mode of LambdaSpeak 3.

The PCM samples are from the Boss DR-660 drum computer and have been been uploaded from the CPC into the 128 KB SPI EEPROM of LambdaSpeak 3, from which they are also being played back in realtime. The EEPROM is a standard, inexpensive 25LC1024.

The recording is direct line-out; no further audio post processing. The DAC is done by the ATmega and a simple RC; no further audio circuitry is being used.

The on-the-fly mixing of different PCM channels (for polyphony) still requires some fine tuning; there are still some artifacts."

Update: also see: LambdaSpeak 3 - Amstrad / Schneider CPC MIDI IN Synthesizer Demo

See the Amstrad label below for more.

Breadboarded TR-606 - wip

Published on Dec 24, 2018 Stereoping

"Some work in progress of a learning project ... a TR-606 on breadboard with the TR-808 Cowbell and the DR-110 clap - all voices heavily modded. The finished result will be 606ish Midi-Drumexpander in 2 units 19" rack. No sequencer, no CV inputs.

The mods will offer wide ranges but staying in 'safe' areas to avoid unpleasant sonic surprises. The ringing Oscillator (HH&CY) and Cowbell squarewaves are made with an AtMega8 reading 6 pots and offering wide ranges of timbre and tune manipulation for Cowbell, Cymbal & HH. Clap burst management (Count of bursts and time between them) also made with the Atmel MPU. The clap has 2 individually tunable bandpasses (original DR110 just got 1): one for the bursts, the other for the Clap reverb.

Further features: Miditrigger, Accent, pot to adjust level of non-accented triggers (between off and accent level), individual outputs and clean PCB design with all pots, switches and jacks directly on PCB."

GetLive! Jervis Solstice Synth Jam - No Talking - Just Music!

Published on Dec 23, 2018 GetJervis

"You've heard them by themselves, now feel the power of them combined! Live Jam Featuring:- JHS Pro Rhyhm SD-1, Gnat Special, Atomosynth Mochika, MFB Synth & Soulsby Atmegatron as Odytron.. Introducing Jomox XBase 09 , Alesis HR16 and Moog Sub37... Enjoy :)"

Soulsby Atmegatron (chip synth)

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via this auction

"Souls by Atmegatron for sale. Comes with original system software but you can load other systems, but you need to get the lead. See soulsby site for more infomation."

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Open Music Labs / MixTape Alpha w/ Cassette Case

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via this auction

"Rare, cool, and discontinued. Very Good Condition. Comes in a clear cassette tape case with original instructions.

Description:
Mixtape Alpha is the smallest synthesizer made. It has a stylophone style input for continuous note generation, and 6 buttons for discrete notes. With 4 voices, 4 effects, and 5 note polyphony there is quite a range of expression. But, the best part is, you can record the songs you make, and trade mixtapes with your friends! Perhaps even better, it’s based on the ATmega328p, and can be hacked to make even crazier sounds than we came up with. Mixtape Alpha was done in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab."

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Saucy Soulsby Atmegatron Extravaganza plus Tubular Bells!

Published on Oct 31, 2018 GetJervis

"This little 8-bit synth really is a gem! Something off the beaten track and very different from the run of the mill synthesiser. So, sit back and enjoy the music of Mike Oldfield's Tubular bells as experienced entirely by Atmegatron!

Performance starts at 1:44"