Tom Wiltshire's Electric Druid Synth DIY Site

"I've finally got around to something that has been a dream for a long while - building my own synthesizer. My initial plan is to build a monophonic synthesizer. I intend to eventually give it memories to store sounds, but have designed it so that it works without memories if I never get that far.

I thought the easiest way to build such a synth would be using the old CEM or SSM synth chips, but unfortunately they are unobtainable for any reasonable price. However, since the late 70's/early 80's heyday of such chips, modern microprocessor technology has come so far that you can now buy a cheap microcontroller that can do a reasonable simulation of at least some of these chips. I thought this might be a worthwhile approach. So far, I've managed to write firmware for two devices, a voltage-controlled LFO and a voltage-controlled ADSR envelope generator, modelled on the CEM 3312 and SSM2056. These are presented below."

Inside the Roland Jupiter-6

flickr by Yotsuba&! aka xpander via VSE.

Title link takes you to the full set.

Baroque Variations - Roland MC-202 and Fairlight CVI Video

YouTube via itisnick.

"Early set of video variations set to the music of J. S. Bach. Avoid food or beverages."

via ニコラス・ケント on AH:
"The Roland MC-202 originally came with a data cassette containing some Bach and Debussy 2-part demo sequences. I guess you could practice you own cut rate Carlos and Tomita interpretations with them.

Anyway way back when I wanted to test out the tape sync and layered the Roland MC-202's onboard synth a couple times to fill out the sound by recording the two parts a couple times each with different MC-202 synth patches. So thatr's where the music came from.

All 3, but especially the second piece has audio distortion (unintentional) but hey, it's real analog distortion ;-).

Then as a separate project I wanted to run a Fairlight CVI (Computer Video Instrument) through it's paces. So that's where the video comes from. Blame 1980s Aussie technology ;-) The chroma keying by the way is done by an analog Grass Valley switcher. You can't get keys like that out of a CVI."

Nude Stylophone

flickr by Collin Mel.

Fractal Oscillator with Magnetic Patch Bay

"Long coming, here's a finalized version of my Magnetic Patch Bay on the Fractal Oscillator prototype that I published last spring/winter (2007). Click on this photo and the rest, in order, to get the story..."

"Here's a Yamaha PSS-6, circuit-bent, and with my magnetic patch bay added on the rear panel. The idea goes back to when I used magnets to hold a wire in place, bridging the 2 body contacts on my first bent synth (the Odor Box, c. 1967) so I could adjust the other controls (freeing my hands from the contacts). This patch system opens up lots of great alternatives for signal routing and mixing..."

Title link takes you to the flickr set by moonbear3325 aka Reed Ghazala, the Father of Circuit Bending.

via CDM

Happy 4th!

Moog SSB - Star Spangled Banner

Update: This is a propaganda bit from the 80s with military footage. If you find that offensive, you might want to skip this one.

YouTube via TerryT1976. Wish the quality was better, but there you go. Happy 4th of July America!
"This National Anthem montage was used in several TV stations when they signed off/on. I remember seeing this on my local stations KCOP and KABC in the early-mid 80s. Note that the Star Spangled Banner is performed on a Moog Synthesizer with brass horns. Please forgive the poor quality of this! I will re-post this clip once I find a better version."

BTW, I realize many readers of the site are not from the US. I'd love to put up posts celebrating your holidays as well. That said, feel free to send me something commemorating your holiday and relating to synths. A simple thing would be a picture of your synth with your country's flag or whatever else synth related would be appropriate. My email is matrixsynth at hotmail dot com. What's interesting about the US? We are ultimately all from somewhere else!!! My roots? South America and Europe, Chile and Switzerland to be specific! It really is a melting pot here and that's what I love about this country.

Instant Rock Machine (Electribe A + Slayer)

YouTube via Denkitribe.
"reFX Slayer 2 (virtual guitar & amp)
KORG Electribe A (sequencing)
Ableton Impulse (drums)
Smash the buttons, and let's rock."

The hardware chiptune project

YouTube via lftkryo.
"Hardware, software & music by kryo. Fifth place in the wild compo at Birdie 17. (more)"

Update via the comments:
"Hi!
Glad you like it.
Here's the project home page.
Best regards, lft/kryo"

Yamaha CS-40M part 2

YouTube via analoguecrazy4. Part 1 here.

Dave's Customsynth.uk Roland JX-3P

Click here for more shots of Dave's Customsynth.uk white Roland JX-3P. There are some really good shots in this set, so do check them out.

A little Red, White, and Blue for the day. And of course you can't forget the Green. : )

CustomSynth