Published on Dec 20, 2016 midierror
"A little demo of the analog Percussion Synth from sxityfourpixels! Available as a kit here: https://www.tindie.com/products/hotch...
Triggered by a built in Piezo, or by external CV. Space on the PCB for mods...and a eurorack version on the way!"
Details:
"A clone of the Boss PC-2 / Amdek PCK-100 for bleeps and bloops galore!
PCLONE2 is a recreation of the (now rare) PC-2 percussion synthesizer which was made by Boss during the 1980s (and also released in DIY kit form under the Amdek brand name as the PCK-100)
The PCLONE2 kit is based on the original schematic (with a couple of changes due to the scarcity of some now obsolete components).The kit includes all the parts neccessary for the build; printed circuit board, electronic components, wire for internal connections, potentiometers, knobs, switches, sockets, fitting screws etc. It includes a custom designed, laser-cut, case (made from 3mm acrylic sheet with 5mm acrylic side cheeks) and a laser etched acrylic laminate fascia.
Assembly by soldering is required! I would describe this as an intermediate complexity kit for experienced solderers, if you are a novice I would recommend getting some experience on simpler kits before you build this one.
This is a completely analog synthesizer with a single VCO. There is a pitch sweep function, a decay envelope and an LFO with rate, depth and wave shape (triangle/square) control. Unusually for a percussion synth there is no noise source, but you'll soon realise this isn't your typical percussion synth!
Sounds are triggered by an input pulse (5V-9V works fine) or by tapping on a piezo sensor which is mounted behind a pad on the front panel.
There are three unconnected 3.5mm sockets labelled CV1, CV2, CV3. These, together with a prototyping area on the PCB, are to make the box easily mod-able. I will be documenting some simple mods I have already found (including a pitch CV input using a single resistor), and plan to get a growing list of mods together.
The box has the following controls:
TRIG LEVEL - Sets the sensitivity of the trigger input. The voice circuit responds differently depending on the intensity of the trigger pulse (this is especially nice when tapping it with a finger). The TRIG LEVEL knob controls this response.
PITCH - Sets the basic pitch of the oscillator. This works alongside the SWEEP controls.
DECAY - Controls the decay of the volume envelope (so how long the sound takes to fade out after it is triggered) and also controls the sweep time. Sweep, pitch and decay interact in ways that reward experimentation.
