You can find the full post on FakeBook. "If you are like me and are lucky enough to have gotten hold of an Optigan ($40 in the late 90's, whoot!), chances are that you have had a few scratchy keys or buttons. In my case, I have had inoperative chord buttons since I've owned this thing. Not even a crackle or pop could be heard no matter how I jiggled/pressed/molested them, so I always figured the electronics or sensor had gone bad. Well to my surprise, they just needed cleaning! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have working chord buttons, since they really are 75% of the charm and sound of the Optigan."
via Elhardt on the AH list:
"Now that I got the external power supply and other parts and finished it, I took a photo of the inside, back, and a new one of the front now that there's a red/green LED there which works just like the Moogerfoogers. That means it's green when the unit is enabled, and red when bypassed."
YouTube via snazelle "HERE is a test run (minus knobs) of the AUDIO ARK, a handmade box designed for allowing a guitarist to make some very far out noises.
This video is a very basic demo and does not get too heavily into the modulation abilities of the box. Lot's of people have been asking me if it tracks well. I think it does the job. But this box was really meant for WEIRD sounds more than hot licks.
please dont judge based on audio quality, or camera work. and the bad hot licks are simply to show how the machine tracks the guitar.
the audio ark has: Octave up or down Interval ring mod SSM 2044 filter Hold function white noise sample and hold vca ADSR Special Freak Mode which allows the tracking to get very messed up. (lag, vibrato, noise,etc) also has 5 ROTARY cv routing switches GATE IN FM IN CV IN HOLD FOOTSWITCH
2 lfos with tri and square and CV in. VCO with SYNC mode (syncs to incoming audio) can be switched between hold sync or gated
two gate modes RING MOD which multiplies the tracking signal with a sine wave also has a LAG function with selectable input A simple envelope follower and a bunch of flashing lights. i think thats it. this is a custom unit utilizing some ASM2 modules for the ADSR, VCO, VCA, Lag, Ring Mod, and LFO's, as well as 4 home etched circuit boards for the rest. It was built on request for my friend Charles Lindsay. Based on conversations we had about what he needed, the Ark was built. this project was given a huge amount of help from the SDIY list community, the DIYSTOMPBOXES community and the Electro MUSIC community.
for more information on (smaller) future projects for sale please contact
"First patch with the Neural Agonizer. Thought it would be fun to see what it could do to a single droning VCO. The 8 VC-able parameters are modulated by noise, LFOs, envelopes, S&Hs & Wogglebug. Mankato filter and PS-3100 resonators are in the 2 effects send paths. CGS sub-oscillator is in the feedback path."
"I decided to use a giant sized Voice of Saturn case and had room to add a simple spring reverb module as well. Its pre-patched to take the MPS output, but the jacks are normalled so you can use it with any source."
"This is a MIDI-controllable filter, that gives all your plugins or synths that famous thick sound you all know well. It is true stereo. Put it as an insert into your audio track or behind your synth plugin. Use the frequency and resonance dial for a static sound, or feed it with MIDI-notes to use the integrated envelope generator!"
You can find the full post on FakeBook. "If you are like me and are lucky enough to have gotten hold of an Optigan ($40 in the late 90's, whoot!), chances are that you have had a few scratchy keys or buttons. In my case, I have had inoperative chord buttons since I've owned this thing. Not even a crackle or pop could be heard no matter how I jiggled/pressed/molested them, so I always figured the electronics or sensor had gone bad. Well to my surprise, they just needed cleaning! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have working chord buttons, since they really are 75% of the charm and sound of the Optigan."
