"We have added one mod to this unit, which is a +5v 10ms analogue trigger output that is driven by any sound routed to assignable output A. Route a sound through this individual output, and every time the sound is played in a sequence, you get a 5v pulse capable of driving a SH101 sequencer, external percussion module or similar, at the trigger output. It works best with a short sharp sound, with a very fast attack. If you use the Rimshot, the 5v trigger is produced less than 1ms after the sound starts! Thats probably tighter than midi!
Plug a jack into assignable output A and the trigger output is disabled, and the assignable output works as normal. The trigger output can be turned on and off in use, simply by taking the output volume fader of the chosen sound down to zero.
The only very minor issue is that at absolutely insane shuffle settings, percussion sounds on alternate 16ths are almost on top of each other, and the audio to trigger circuit can't defferentiate between them. At this point the trigger output will start to miss the shuffled 16th's and only output 8th notes. This only happens at very high BPM's or with shuffle so extreme that nobody would ever use it, i.e. the last 5-10%% of the shuffle knobs rotation in either direction. Unless you're in the habit of writing tracks at 250BPM with shuffle so extreme it becomes meaningless, you'll probably never even notice."
"The Bentley Rhythm Ace FR8L and the Roland TR77 are more or less the same machine. The only differences being that that the PCB's are in different positions, the FR8L doesn't have the tambourine sound found on the TR77 (although the empty spaces for the components are on the board and it can be installed), and the TR77 has a fade out feature along with 3 extra preset patterns.
Internally the sounds are triggered using -12v spikes, instead of the standard +5v pulses used on later machines. This interface board is designed to convert standard +5v trigger pulses supplied from an external source such as a midi to trigger converter, modular synth, drum machine or analogue sequencer, into the correct triggers to drive the FR8L / TR77 voices.
The board has 12 identical trigger conversion channels, plus a trigger input with a pair of outputs to drive the Guiro sound and its associated pitch bend triggering. Whoever designed these machines went to a hell of a lot of effort to trigger the Guiro sound, and then only used it on a couple of the preset patterns!.."
"The Phonic Taxidermist 47.2b is a DIY clone of the Maplin Voice Vandal. This was a kit available from Maplin in the early 90's, consisting of a high frequency audio chopper and grungy 10 bit delay.
PCB's are available from http://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/forsa..."
"The second prototype PCB for a Maplins Voice Vandal clone.
DIY PCB's should be available soon from circuitbenders.co.uk"
"It was a kit from Maplin, probably in the early 90's if i recall correctly. Its got a grungy digital delay and a 4 stage high speed signal gating circuit, with a knob to set the gating speed. Gate the signal fast enough and you get cross modulation style effects."
"Mods include an LFO with pulse and continuously variable saw up/triangle/saw down outputs, with a LFO range switch that takes its speed well into audio frequencies.
On each of 4 channels theres a percussion decay long/short/constant tone switch, VCO frequency modulation source switch (audio or LFO), LFO waveform switch (pulse or saw/tri), VCO FM amount knob, and a VCO pitch range hi/low switch.
The VCO frequency of each channel can be modulated either using the LFO or the output of the overall audio source selection switch. This rotary switch chooses between sourcing the audio modulation signal from the output of any of the six channels, including the channel being modulated for FM feedback loops, or an external audio input."
"On this demo the four modded channels are all set to produce a constant tone, and are then their VCO frequencies are modulated with each other and the LFO"
Update: some details on the mods via Circuitbenders where you'll find more pics & info.
"The new version of these mods is based on the previous version, but expands on version one to give more in depth control and a lot more possibilities for modulated analogue percussion weirdness.
The LFO retains the same basic design, but also provides a new range switch that selects between the normal speed settings provided by the previous mods, and a super fast speed range that takes the LFO rate well into audio frequencies for all kind of insane 1950's sci-fi frequency modulation effects. The LFO still outputs pulse and saw/triangle waveforms, but on the new mods you get a separate LFO waveform selection switch on each modded channel, instead of a single overall waveform switch that is applied to all channels simultaneously.
Each modified channel now includes:
Decay range switch: As before, this sets the range of the decay knob, but it now has three positions instead of two. With the switch set upwards the decay knob range of the percussion tones is set to normal. With it switched downwards the range of the knob is extended to take over where the normal range left off at its lowest setting, and give a lot longer decay times at maximum. With the switch in its central position the channel will output a constant VCO tone with the pitch set by the channels tune knob. Any channel with its decay switch set to the tone position can either be kicked into life with a trigger input, or if its left to its own devices the tone volume will eventually rise on its own.
LFO Shape switch: As explained above, this switch selects the VCO LFO waveform independently for each channel. The choices are pulse or saw / triangle
VCO FM Source switch: The VCO frequency of each channel can be modulated either using the LFO, or with an audio source provided by the audio source rotary switch (see below). This switch selects between the two options.
Moded Tama Techstar TS305
VCF FM Amount: This is a new knob on each channel that independently sets the amount of frequency modulation that is applied to that channels VCO. Anything from subtle vibrato or warbling Theremin like tones, to extreme cross modulation effects that wouldn't be out of place on the Forbidden Planet sound track, can be achieved using the VCO FM mod.
Tune Range switch: As before, this sets the range of the VCO tuning knob, but with some minor adjustments to give a better range and response curve than before.
modified Tama Techstar v2
The new audio source rotary switch determines where the input for the audio setting of the channel VCO FM switches is sourced from. The audio modulation signal can be sourced from the output of any channel, or an external audio input. The output of a channel can be used to modulate its own VCO frequency for some bizarre frequency modulation feedback sounds.
The audio output of each channel is sourced before the channels output volume knob, so its entirely possible to do things like setting up one channel to output a constant VCO tone, then turn down the volume on that channel, but still use the that tone to modulate the VCO frequency of other channels. Alternatively you could produce an audible percussion sound on one channel and then use a muted sound on another channel to mutate the first channels sound on accented beats, kind of like you might use a side chain input on a compressor. Use the LFO to slightly modulate the muted sound and you've got an infinite variety of evolving hits and accents."
"The circuitbenders.co.uk CB55 is an exact clone of the voice board of the Boss DR55 drum machine. It has the four fully analogue percussion sounds, bass drum, hat, snare, and rimshot, but leaves out the clunky and arguably useless sequencer. There is also an overall accent feature that adds a little extra punch to the whole mix when it is triggered.
Unlike with the DR55, instead of repeatedly attempting to program a pattern only to find that you messed up the bassdrum on the 16th step so you have to start all over again, the sounds and accent on the CB55 board are triggered externally using standard trigger pulses. With the optional trigger conditioning circuit installed you can use also use gate signals, or trigger pulses longer than 10ms..."
Published on May 4, 2014 DoctorBlankenstein·33 videos
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In this video we see a live demo / rehearsal for the Drew Blanke (Dr Blankenstein) for his presentation for MAKE magazine at Moogfest 2014. The jam is based loosely around the Kraftwerk classic "Pocket Calculator" off their "Computer World" album. Keep in mind this is live, and unedited.... just a raw jam on 4 circuit bent pieces.
The pieces include a Mattel Bee-Gee's "Rhythm Machine" keyboard, Casio ML-831 Musical "Pocket Calculator", a built from the ground up custom Stylophone and a prototype for the APC2600 V2.6. All pieces have the ILLUMIRINGER device modification kit installed in them, although most of the demo is featuring the pocket calculator in ILLUMIRINGER mode. Only reverb has been added to the mix via the mixer. The beat was made on an Electribe ER-1 and sampled into a Boss loop pedal.
Sorry about the slightly out of tune Stylophone in the beginning, it's needs to be left on for a bit to warm up and get into tune (kinda like an old moog). Hey, that's rock n' roll. It's worked into the jam nicely... so why not let it roll.
Stay tuned for individual demos of each piece in this video coming at you THIS MONTH (I promise, I know we have been slacking on the videos:) Thanks for watching, please remember to SUBSCRIBE and follow the twitter link up top to stay up to date on the newest Dr. Blankenstein creations.
"If you own a Jomox XBase09 drum machine, then you've probably noticed that by now some of the red LED pushbuttons / tactile switches, are starting to become a little unresponsive or prone to double triggering. This can make programming the machine extremely frustrating and unreliable. There is also a distinct danger of damage to the PCB under the buttons, as you inevitably pound away on certain commonly used steps pleading with it to 'just f*@king work you bastard thing!'"
via Circuitbenders.co.uk
Click through for demos. Details on the mods captured for the archives:
"This is the 'next! SPACEBASS 3.3' version (the exclaimation mark remains a mystery), which is exceptionally rare. As far as we know, this version was only ever available very briefly in the US and this is the only one we have ever seen in Europe. Most versions found in the US appear to be imported Freebass' or MB33's, so we'd suspect that very few of these models were ever produced.
Our mods add 5 switches, 2 knobs and a jack input round the back to allow a whole extra smorgasbord of sonic mayhem. A veritable 3 course breakfast of orgasmic analogue delight! Something along those lines anyway :) .
"The Roland R5 was a late 80's / early 90's drum machine that was an extremely capable unit, and somewhat ahead of its time, but was overshadowed by its big brother the mighty Roland R8. As a result it was often neglected as a poor mans R8 and was probably never really as popular as it should have been.
The standard machine has 68 sounds, four individual outputs plus a stereo pair, extensive sound shaping capabilities, 16 velocity sensitive pads and a whole host of 'human feel' and groove editing capabilities. One additional feature that takes the R5 into whole new realms of percussion programming is the ability to record parameter changes into patterns in on the fly using the data entry slider. This may not seem like much these days, but other than the R8 and the Yamaha RY30, it was a feature that was pretty much unique at the time.
Theres no room for any decent mods inside the casing of the R5, so as you can see we've bolted an extra case to the side of the unit and mounted a patchbay in it. The case is made from transparent blue plastic and contains several LED's that light up when you power up the machine. This gives you a very cool and unique glowing blue patchbay.
The patchbay mods consist of a 20 way main patching area, 2 x patching multiples, 2 x patchable switches and 1 x patchable momentary button. You can find full details of our drum machine patchbay mods on our website HERE. but essentially each 3.5mm patchbay socket is home to a certain audio process or effect which either combines with the effect from another socket when they are patched together, or sometimes just produces an entirely new effect you've never heard before. Multiple simultaneous connections may also combine in unexpected ways to produce a brand new unexpected effect, giving you a virtually unlimited number of warped alterations and audio mutations.
"For over a decade we have been creating and supplying aural havoc with rewired childrens toys, modified drum machines, abused samplers and audio insanity machines. Our instuments have featured in both DJ magazine and Future Music cover CD and we have supplied and modified custom machines for:
The Chemical Brothers, Factory Floor, Pedigree Cuts, Raiden (renegade hardware / Off Key records), The Plump DJ's, Jacknife Lee, Bloc Party, Twisted Records (Hallucinogen, Shpongle, OTT, Younger Brother etc), Howie Miura (Island / Def Jam), matrix22 (12 Inch Thumpers, Brick records), Groove Criminals, Sweet Noise, Noise Inc and many many more.
TODAYS VICTIM: AKAI S01 SAMPLE GRINDER
The fact that the Akai S01 exists at all is fairly baffling fact as to all intents and purposes it was obsolete before it was even released. A 16 bit mono sampler with 1MB of memory as standard expandable to a massive 2MB maximum, sampling at a maximum bandwidth of 32khz, with no storage options other than a floppy drive, with only one output and only a 3 figure numerical display to edit with. Even the rather odd addition of 2 MIDI in's doesn't save it from being a rather cofusing addition to the Akai range. EMU and Ensoniq must have been pissing themselves laughing when Akai released the S01 for £999 in 1993 (yes you did read that right - £999), but the S01 has the last laugh as our mods have taken its sound mangling possibilities way beyond any other rackmount sampler ever produced.
