MAKING A DIY MODULAR DRUM MACHINE

video uploads by LAURI’S DIY CHANNEL TV

Playlist:

1 MAKING A DRUM MACHINE EP 0 / overview of the project + free sample pack!

Hey hey hey!

This is the introduction to a series of videos about my analog modular drum machine. I’m going to start posting videos about the individual modules so make sure to subscribe to the channel if you're interested in stuff like this! Sorry this first video has a lot of talking but there’s a bunch of sound demos at 7:53

The drum machine is powered with a regular 12V DC power supply, but all the circuits should be working from maybe 5V to at least 15V.

2. CD40106 MASTER CLOCK / making a drum machine EP 1

This is the first module in a series of modules for an analog modular drum machine! It's a simple clock oscillator and you can use the circuit as an audio rate oscillator as well.

Here's a link to the schematic and a zip file with the gerber files for the PCB: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/4rxf1a...

Download some free samples from the drum machine here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/1qnq4t...

Thank you PCBWay for the circuit boards! If you want to order your own boards and you haven’t used their services before, you can get a 5$ welcome coupon with this referral link: https://pcbway.com/g/4TImAO Thank you goodbye! ❤️"

3. PATCHABLE DRUM SEQUENCER / making a drum machine EP 2

Heyyyy

This is my patchable CD4017 gate sequencer for the modular drum machine. The patching is kind of a weird workflow for a drum sequencer, but it IS fun and inspires you to program different sequences from your usual drum sequencers.

Here's a link to the schematic and a zip file with the gerber files for the PCB: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/vrmmjw...

4. CMOS COWBELL / making a drum machine EP 3

Hello y'all!

This is my modular drum machines simple cowbell module! It's based on Elliot Williams' circuits from his Logic Noise articles.

Link to the schematic: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fd2hyt...

And here's a link to Williams' article about cowbells and cymbals: https://hackaday.com/2015/04/10/logic...

5. CMOS HI-HAT + WHITE NOISE / making a drum machine EP 4

This is the bigger brother of the XOR cowbell! It has 6 oscillators going through 4 XOR gates, making the sound more complex and inharmonic, perfect for metallic sounds like hihats and cymbals. The next video is going to be about the high pass filters i'm using a lot in the video! They help a lot with this circuit, making the sound way more usable as a hi-hat. I'll put the video out in a week or two!

Schematics: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eab78o...

The logic noise article this circuit is based on: https://hackaday.com/2015/04/10/logic...

About the white noise generator on Synthnerd's website: https://synthnerd.wordpress.com/2020/...

6. FIXED FILTERS (HPF & LPF) / making a drum machine EP 5

This is my CD4069 fixed filter module! It's 2 super simple circuits: a high pass (x4) and a low pass (x2) filter. It's a surprisingly useful module in the drum machine considering how simple the circuits are. The component values could be optimised better so the different filters would have similar volume levels, but I was happy with the sounds so who cares!

Schematic: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/uit9zx...

I have been building instruments other than the drum machine as well and I think the next couple of videos will be other stuff, but I will then get back to the drum modules!

drum 1

mms

"pulled my moms powershot out of the drawer, taped it to a pole and threw this box under the hot lights. XOR percussion circuit as a gift for a friend, nothing fancy:

2 pairs of schmitt triggers oscillators each into their own 4070 XOR gate, output of those into a third gate. Simple line level decay vca ala Elliot Williams hackaday series. Second buffered output straight outta the 3rd xor gate before the vca, hot and loud for something close to modular level? The oscillators at highest frequency setting "die out" and effectively fall out of the mix. 9v battery. Moisturized my hands right after recording."

Logic Noise Klangorium DIY Glitch Synth by Elliot Williams

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction
"On offer here is a PCB to build your own DIY synth based around CMOS chips, it is based on a series on the Hackaday website by Elliot Williams, I made a few of these and had a few boards left over, last couple remaining.

It can be used to make all manner of things, examples include drum machines, drone synths, sequencers and so on, or it can just be built as a playground as intended for further prototyping, it is up to the builder. It can be built as a complete project, or just the sections you require, it can be built into a suitable case as a standalone instrument for example a drone synth, with the controls on flying wires rather than soldered directly to the PCB etc.

It goes without saying that you will need to have a fair amount of experience and the tools and parts required to build this, I would not recommend it to complete beginners. No documentation other than what is in this listing is provided, so if this is not enough then this pcb is not for you.

Parts to complete the build are not supplied, you need to source them yourself and budget for the cost of those, I think it ended up costing me about £15 in parts to build, but it depends on what components you buy and where you buy them from.

NOTE: This is purely a DIY project and I offer no technical support, search for the project page at the hackaday website (klangorium logic noise) - ebay forbids me to post the link unfortunately for some bizarre reason, which is why I had to end the previous listing with the web link.

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"Engine 40106" – Live modular techno (CB's DIY Modular Synthesizer)

Published on Sep 3, 2015 Chris Beckstrom

"High quality audio available here:
https://chrisbeckstrom.bandcamp.com/t...

I recently built a drum module and repaired a noise module, which inspired me to make some analog techno. I started this project on a whim and never thought I'd get this far! It's time to make some music with the collection of modules I've built.

Performed live (no edits) on my homemade modular synthesizer.

Recorded through an old analog mixer (with a splash of spring reverb) into Ableton Live.

More about this project here:
https://hackaday.io/project/5826-diy-...

and here:
http://cb.hopto.org/cbfishes/2015/05/...

The bass drum circuit and CMOS noise generator circuit (the two main sounds in this track) are more or less straight out of Elliot Williams' Logic Noise series on Hackaday.com. Check it out here:
http://hackaday.com/tag/logic-noise/"

CMOS Noise Percussion (CB's DIY Modular Synthesizer)

Published on May 15, 2015 Chris Beckstrom

"Early this morning I built a new module: a CMOS-based metallic noise generator. Inspired by this awesome Hackaday post by Elliot Williams:
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/10/logic-...

A series of 6 40106 square wave oscillators get mashed up with each other through a 4070 quad XOR, and what comes out sounds metallic and noisy and great! I don't really understand what the XOR is doing, but it sounds a lot like ring modulation.

From what I gather this is similar to the analog cymbals on the famous TR-808 drum machine. It even uses the same chip for the oscillators! Who knew you could build it yourself for about $2?

I tweaked the circuit a bit: Instead of a pot for each oscillator, 3 pots control 3 oscillators, 3 oscillators have a fixed frequency, and I added an external input to add additional cacophony (with a switch to go back to 3 oscillators). Soon after installing the module in my synth I realized a running a melodic sequence into that input makes it sound like pitched metallic drums. Cool! Depending on 3 knobs that control the oscillators it can sound like a single tone, cowbell, toms, noise, cymbals, and even dialup-style sounds.

Here is a quick iPhone (and iPhone mic) video of the module in action. I'm running the noise through a low pass gate that is controlled by audio clicks coming out of my computer– a super lo-fi synchronization, but it works. The bass drum and snare are TR-808 samples playing in Ableton Live, everything else is my new CMOS Noise module. This could go great with a bass drum and snare drum module.. Guess I better get back to soldering.

Thanks Elliot Williams @ Hackaday!! What a great circuit."