My Feet Are My Compass

Published on Dec 29, 2014 FogMonument

"This case is an amalgam of sources. Prefabbed PCB/DIY builds are Fonik/TH 4046 & Dave Dixon (Dixie/Rubiconesque) VCOs, Magic Smoke Mankato VCF, CLee 8 channel quantizer, MFOS VC Delay, FC Waverunner LFO. The rest I perfboarded or etched which are MFOS Voltage Distributor, CGS Gated Comparator, Midivox MIDI to CV, Dave Brown Mixer/Reverb, Fritz AD/AR, and MFOS VCA."

STG Soundlabs Mankato Filter Frac Modified for Eurorack

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

via this auction - cool white Moog knobs.

"This is basically the "frac-rack" design that has been modified to work in a Eurorack system. A couple things to note: there are a number of very small nicks in the surface which aren't really obvious except at certain angles. The circuit board is very deep, and measures very slightly under 6.75 inches from the back of the faceplate to the edge of the board. Please make sure to measure your case to ensure that it fits! Otherwise this module looks and sounds fantastic, and performs a number of duties beyond filtering - as an 8 phase LFO / VCO and with wave shaping capabilities when patching the outputs into its control inputs. This module is a one of a kind build for Eurorack and won't be found anywhere else! I have pasted the manufacturer's description below for your convenience. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.

The Mankato Filter is a four-pole lowpass filter with positive and negative outputs at every pole, giving you slopes of 6 dB/oct, 12 dB/oct, 18 dB/oct, and 24 dB/oct simultaneously. the negative slope outputs allow you to use the Mankato as a quadrature sine oscillator with 8 available phases. the Mankato will self-resonate from subaudio to superaudio, and responds to one volt per octave through its unattenuated control inputs. the signal inputs are DC coupled, which allows you to use the Mankato as a voltage-controlled slew limiter..."

The Mankato was designed by Thomas Henry and named by Magic Smoke Electronics.

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Western Slope by Patch

Western Slope by Patch

Two tracks and a pic of the modular used below.






Pic of the modular used by Patch in the two tracks above. Click on it for the full size shot. You'll find a number of DIY modules including a Scott Stites Klee sequencer and modules from Magic Smoke, Oakley, Jurgen Haible, and Mattson Mini Modular. Synthesis Technology, aka MOTM is in there as well. The bubinga wood case was custom built by Patch.

Clotho - behind the scenes

"An explanation of patches on a modular synth built by Luka Problem Child for a collaboration with Ted James Butler and Christopher "I, Parasite" Jon.

We are working around the theme of The Fates from Greek mythology.

Shot on a Canon 60D + Tamron 17-50mm."

DIY Frac Rack Modules

via this auction

Pictured:
Magic Smoke Mankato FIlter
MOTM 1490 Moog Filter Clone
Blacet Module Filthy Filtre
YUSynth Mini Moog Filter Clone
Flight of Harmony Plague Bearer Filter

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Coppersynth patched

flickr By parasitk
(click for more)

"I just had to see it patched up, even though I'm still waiting for the final bits of parts. I should have this thing bleeping in a week or two."

follow-up to this post.

Steampunk Modular: Coppersynth, October 2010

flickr By parasitk
(click for more)

Click the image for the full size shot.

"I’m still wiring up the panels, but it’s almost completed. I need to order the fancy dials for the 10-turn pots on the Living VCOs, but they’re really expensive, so that may not happen soon. I’m also missing a couple small components that I’m ordering tonight. Overall though, I’m really happy with the way it’s turning out."

TF50 Modular Synth / Random Modulations

TF50 Modular Synth / Random Modulations from Justin Meyers on Vimeo.

" 16 Step Sequencer randomly triggering envelopes for the Voltage Controlled Amplifier with a sine wave input while modulating a low frequency square wave through the Mankato 8 Phase Voltage Controlled Filter."
See this post.

the jerkster vs mankato vs bindubba5

YouTube via cirtcele | September 17, 2010

"Warning - This vid has some flashing lights in it, if watching Pokemon makes you foam at the mouth and lose control of your bodily functions, you probably should not watch this. The flashing is caused by glitchy beta version FX software i was using....which i totally love.

This patch starts simply with bindubba5 driving a VCO, to give an idea of the basic pattern. After that the VCO Tri out is plugged into the Mankato VCF and the jerkster is connected to the Makato's Cv input.
Apart from slowing down the main clock, only the pots on the Jerkster are adjusted during recording. Please forgive my obvious lack of musical talent and appreciate the wide range of sounds and obnoxiousness you can get from simply tweaking the jerkster."

Mankato panel

flickr by parasitk
(click for more)

"Undrilled copper panels. They etched for over an hour in ferric chloride, then were patinated with liver of sulphur (which is still active and darkening the metal, actually).

Photo: Shikhee"

Analog Test Array

flickr by sduck409

"Here's my modular Synth as of April, 2010. 96U x 5U, 49 modules. There's still room for new stuff, as there are some less-than-stellar modules in there, and some dupes."

Modular - 27 September 2009 (01)

flickr by stickjones
(click for more)

"Top Left Wood Box: Heavily Modified MFOS Weird Sound Generator.

Top Right Wood Box: Baby Ten Sequencer.

First Cabinet:
Top Frac:
Ad Infinitum Multi / Attenuator (modified into frac ear), Blacet I/O, Blacet Binary Zone, Blacet / Wiard Mini Wave, Blacet Filthy Filtre, Blacet VCA Quad Mix, DIY John Hollis Crash Sync (w/ CV input modification).
Middle Frac:
PAiA Power Supply, Blacet Klang Werk, Blacet Improbability Drive (w/ audio input modification), Synthesis Technology MOTM Ladder VCF (Moog Filter Clone), Blacet Dual Linear VCA, Cat Girl Synth Digital Noise, Dave Wright Overdrive.
Bottom Frac:
DIY banana / 1/8” / ¼” multiples, PAiA Midi2CV8, PAiA VCO / LFO / Modulator, PAiA VCF / Modulator, PAiA VCA / Mixer / EG / Noise, Cat Girl Synth Psycho LFO.

Second Cabinet:
Top Frac:
Blacet Multi / Attenuator (modified into frac ear), Blacet Hex Zone Sequencer, Cat Girl Synth Pulse Divider / Boolean Logic / Mixer, Cat Girl Synth Wave Multipliers, Cat Girl Synth Psycho LFO (super slow modification).
Middle Frac:
PAiA Power Supply (modified with lit switch and banana / ¼” converter), DIY Coron DS7 clone drum, Thomas Henry UD-1 drum, Cat Girl Synth Dual Chime, Thomas Henry ADVSnare, Cat Girl Synth Cynare, DIY ¼” / 1/8” / banana multiples.
Bottom frac:
Cat Girl Synth Mixer input, Music From Outer Space VCO, Thomas Henry 566 VCO, Thomas Henry Mankato VCF, Blacet EG, Cat Girl Synth Mixer output.


Designed by / Distributed by / Acquired from:
Blacet, PAiA, Cat Girl Synth / Ken Stone, Thomas Henry, Ad Infinitum, Dave Wright / Not Breathing, Music From Outer Space / Ray Wilson, Scott Deyo / Bridechamber, Midwest Analog, Analogue Haven / Shawn Cleary, Dubchild, SMS, Magic Smoke, John Hollis, eyehue & anomos, etc."

Banana Mankato

via The Bad Producer in this electro-music.com thread

"Just finished up two Bananamankato, they look the same, so this is a picture of just the one! Thanks Magic Smoke and Thomas Henry for making this amazing machine available!"

good books/sites for synth electronics

Tim (good enough for analog) Servo sent the following in to the SDIY list. I asked him if I could put it up here and he gave me the OK.

"For learning basic electronics and finding some fun circuits to play with, I'd recommend any of the Forrest Mims "Engineer's Notebook" series.

http://www.forrestmims.com/
http://www.forrestmims.com/engineers_mini_notebook.html
http://www.radioshack.com/pwr/product-reviews/Toys-Games/Hobby-projects-kits/RadioShack/p/2102913-Electronics-Learning-Lab.html

For more thorough electronic theory, "Art of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521370957

Also try the "Op Amp Cookbook," "IC Timer Cookbook" and others by Walter Jung.
http://www.amazon.com/Op-Amp-Cookbook-3rd-Walter-Jung/dp/0138896011

For a great collection of synth circuits and some theory behind them, "Electronic Music Circuits" by Barry Klein. Highly recommended, and Barry is even a list member.
http://members.cox.net/barryklein/em.htm

Electronotes. You will love this. Guaranteed. If you don't want to pop for the entire collection, at least get the "Preferred Circuits Collection."
http://electronotes.netfirms.com/


I also sell reprints of several books by Thomas Henry that concentrate on one specific chip (e.g. 3080 OTA, or 566 VCO) or one type of synth circuit (e.g. Drum Circuits or Noise Circuits) through Magic Smoke Electronics at www.lulu.com/magsmoke


You will definitely want to get yourself a decent meter. I have one that was less than $100 and does capacitance and frequency readings. Not super accurate, but VERY handy. Also, do yourself a favor and get an oscilloscope. You can easily get by with an older model with lower bandwidth (5 or 10MHz is good enough for analog synth stuff), although a dual trace model is recommended. Again, you can often find a used
model for less than two or three hundred, and a scope will make diagnosing and troubleshooting SO much easier.

And welcome back to synth building!

Tim (good enough for analog) Servo"

Note the Atari Punk Console comes from Forrest Mims' designs.

Update: be sure to see the comments below for more recommendations.

TF50 Modular Synthesizer

YouTube via MRBLITZER. via D/A A/D
"The TF50 Modular Synthesizer doin thangs."
Update: some additional info from MRBLITZER:
"It contains:
3 x MFOS VCO
MFOS 16 Step Sequencer
MFOS Dual Lin/Log VCA
MFOS Noise/Random Gates
MFOS ADSR Envelope Generator
Thomas Henry / Magic Smoke Mankato Filter
Thomas Henry Quadrature Function Generator
Homemade Balanced Modulator

It has some problems and needs a case built, but it works! It will go in a folding case with some modules I built on the other side.

I designed and screen printed the panel myself, a friend of mine built the circuits, Jason Power ( http://www.myspace.com/slappingpurses ). I learned enough from him to build my own modules from now on!"

Magic Smoke Electronics Thomas Henry 21st Century LFO

via Tim Servo on this electro-music.com thread:
AS21C "Super LFO" PCBs available
"Call it the "Super LFO," call it the "TH-301," call it the "Cucamonga," call it the "LFO with the three page schematic from Thomas Henry's AS21C book," call it anything you like, but we finally have some available!

With some assistance from the ever-talented Dave Brown, we've finished shaking down the first run of PCBs for the TH-301 "Cucamonga" LFO. This is a nifty little unit with some interesting features:
*VC frequency
*Selectable Sine, Tri, Saw or Ramp output
*Gate and Trigger outputs
*Sync Input
*Built in Lag function for delayed vibrato and other similar effects
*Built in Delay (acts like a gate delay) to delay the onset of the "Lag" function
*Delay time period can be started by a keyboard gate (or other similar signal) or by an NC footswitch
*LED frequency indicator, since we all like blinky lights!

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: These boards are Rev01. As such, they need a few tweaks for things that will be fixed on a later rev. You'll need to do two cuts, add two jumpers, and add a couple of parts. I would NOT recommend this for a first project. You really should have built a few things before this, and have an oscilloscope for tweaking the waveform trims. Still, if you've been wanting a very full-featured LFO, this just might do the trick for you. The LFO schematic in AS21C really is a three pager, so this is something you'll definitely want a PCB for. To my knowlege, Scott Stites is the only person brave enough to have attempted this circuit on a breadboard (more likely two or more breadboards). Note that you'll need an 8038 function gen chip, LM555 timer, 3080 OTA, TL074 quad op amp, 1458 dual op amp and CD4016 analog switch chips for this board.

The normal selling price for the TH-301 LFO board will be $20, but we have about ten of the Rev01 boards and since they need the tweaks mentioned above, we're selling them for $12 each. Shipping will be $3.50 in North America, and $5.50 to UK/EU/Aus. If you're interested, PayPal funds to <see the thread>. If you need more info, either shout out here, or send us a message at the magsmoke Gmail address.

Again, I have to give a huge THANK YOU to Dave Brown for helping with this. I've got other Magic Smoke projects in the pipeline, we've just reissued two Thomas Henry books (with another on the way), and our day jobs keep John and I hopping, so there is NO way we could have gotten the TH-301 out the door this soon without some extra assistance. Dave was a great help, and as always, has made a nifty web page with some details and o-scope screen shots:
http://modularsynthesis.com/magicsmoke/as21c-lfo/lfo.htm

Other AS21C boards will follow, but I wanted to get the most complicated PCB finished first. I should have a TH-301 "Cucamonga" with a quickie DIY face panel at the AH Nor Cal show on the 25th if you want to come check it out (and you happen to be in northern California).

Cheers!
Tim (happens to be in northern California) Servo"

Magic Smoke Mankato VCF / VCO

images via this auction

"MOTM Format - Magic Smoke "Mankato" Voltage Controlled Low Pass Filter / 8 Phase Sine Oscillator. There's not much that this module doesn't do. Thomas Henry and Tim Parkhurst are smarties! Check it out at Magic Smoke Electronics Front Panel from Bridechamber There are lots of possible ways to build this module, and this one was built for the Bridechamber front panel, and uses shielded cables for audio connections. Suit and Tie Guy sells his version for $395: (Two less knobs..)
Auction includes:
TH 101 Mankato Filter
MOTM Power Cable
Black Rack Mounting Screws X 4
Documentation"

mankato2

flickr by sduck409
(click for more)

full size

"This is my Mankato low pass voltage controlled filter, designed by Thomas Henry, and the pcb and schematics came from Magic Smoke Electronics. The front panel came from the Bridechamber synth products."

More Info on the STG Mankato

You can find some more info and images of the Mankato on this electro-music.com thread.

Servo's silver panel STG Mankato pictured below.

Oberheim OB-X Filter Modification

via Magic Smoke Electronics, here.