School Rhythmer - peg/matrix 'programmable' drum machine

video upload by wildchurch

"This is my take on the (very rare) Kawai School Rhythmer...an educational rhythm machine from the 1960s.

Rhythms are programmed by inserting pegs into a matrix sequencer - thereby offering a highly visual indication of how a rhythm is formed.
Presumably, it helped children like myself to feel the 'magic of beats'...

I've never actually seen or heard a fully functioning original, so aside from the aesthetics being different, I've used some guess work to replicate the percussion sounds, as well as the functioning of the 'Hyōshigi' trigger - for my build, this works as a 'fill' switch when a pegs are inserted in the matrix. With no pegs inserted, this triggers the Hyōshigi voice alone.

Additional features include a clock divider (1/2 & 1/4 time), clock in/out and a gate out for sync'ng with external devices.

The original sports five percussion sounds:
- Triangle
- Hyōshigi ('Japanese woodblocks')
- Cymbal
- Small Taiko
- Big Taiko

There are two additional voices which can be selected via switching on the circuit board:
- Hyoshigi can be switched to HiHat
- Small Taiko can be switched to Snare

For my build, the drum sounds are based on the circuitry of a 1970s DIY drum machine kit produced by the Japanese company, Elekit. The schematics for which have been updated and reproduced by Gadget Factory, to whom I am most grateful for making them available:
http://park19.wakwak.com/~gadget_fact...

The remaining circuitry is built around 4017 chips and a 555 timer for the internal clock. The peg matrix involves microswitches, such that, when a peg is inserted, the signal passes through, triggering a drum sound on that particular step.

There are easier, groovier ways of generating rhythms - this is as much a 'sculpture' as a musical device..."

another drum machine

video by wildchurch

"Quick overview of another drum machine: lo-fi 8 bit samples with pitch control, panning and FX insert options

Built around the following:
- LMNC's Big Button sequencer: https://www.lookmumnocomputer.com/pro...​
- Drum samples on six ATtiny85 chips - using Jan Ostman's Drum Creator tool: http://synthworks.eu/attiny85-drum-cr...
- MFOS Ultra-simple Mono-in Panning Mixer: http://musicfromouterspace.com/analog...

I've added inserts to the first 3 channels of the mixer to allow FX send and return

I also wired up the big button for afterlife's MIDI upgrade: [video here] ..but it doesn't seem to behave well with this build so currently I've got the original code installed on the arduino until I resolve the issue

Cheers"

Roland EM-101 Sound Plus - filter mod - mkII

video by wildchurch

follow-up to this post.

"A quick update on my EM-101 filter mod...

I wasn't happy with the previous approach - trimmer pots mounted to the front panel - it was too fiddly to make any meaningful adjustments.

So here's an improved version - a breakout box connected via a 9-pin D-sub cable.
Proper sized pots to play with, plus the option for foot pedal control.

Cheers!"

Roland EM-101 Sound Plus - filter mod

video by wildchurch

"video in two parts:
1. brief demonstration of filter adjustment
2. multi-tracked piece (all EM-101 except drums)

--------------------------------------------------------------
the Roland EM-101 is an analog sound module from the mid-80s
it's all about preset sounds and has very basic MIDI functionality
there are 2 banks: ensemble (polyphonic) and solo (monophonic)
there's also a 3rd hidden bank accessed through a button press/power on combination

the EM-101 is paraphonic and any VCF adjustment requires opening the case to access trim pots
i've simply replaced these with potentiometers mounted to the front panel

while this allows adjustment to the sounds, it's not a particularly practical solution from a playing point of view
the available space to mount the pots is very tight making it too fiddly for musical adjustments

a better solution would be a break out box with a decent cable length so the controls could be positioned ergonomically
in addition, this could incorporate switch jack sockets for foot pedal control (especially for the ensemble voices)

depending on selected preset, the filter has variable impact on the sound, from barely noticeable to harsh self-oscillation
it's impact is most evident on the solo voices but it can also give a pleasing sizzle to some ensemble sounds"

minipops 2O2 ~ breakbeats 'n' stuff

wildchurch

"a build of jan ostman's O2 minipops arduino drum machine with different samples and patterns

first a quick run through of the patterns/samples:
~ there are 12 patterns selected by push buttons
~ i've added kick, snare, tom, hi-hat and cymbal derived from 808 and casiotone! samples while retaining the original cowbell, clave and maracas

second part shows some MIDI clock sync'ing along with triggered filters via the analog reset out
~ an arduino MIDI sequencer/arpeggiator: http://brendanclarke.com/2014/04/23/a... drives a Yamaha WT11 with patches
~ the WT11 stereo out runs through separate filters for left and right
~ the minipops reset out tiggers an ADSR (via clock divider and trigger to gate conversion)
~ ADSR output goes to buffered multiples to produce two signals - one to each filter's cv input"

Korg SAS 20 and Friends

wildchurch


via this auction

"Korg SAS-20 modded to allow external triggering of its drums - video begins with a brief demonstration...

...followed by a multi-tracked piece:

- the rhythm track is a combination of O2 Minipops, SAS-20 snare and hi-hats plus triggered bass drum sample (Minipops O2 provides clock)

- other parts are played on the SAS-20 with the solo melody line doubled on a Yamaha PSR-6300

- mixed with some compression and reverb plugins on the PC

video shows some SAS-20 accessories, pages from the user guides and advertising literature

despite the Super Accompaniment System/Compu Magic being Korg's selling point for the SAS-20, I've used none of that here!

finally, you may notice that my SAS-20 has had a paint job"

home keyboard extravaganza

Published on Jun 2, 2020 wildchurch

"proof perhaps that 'less is more'?

a function generator acts as master clock, sync'ing the following keyboards (via clock dividers and multiples):

- casio mt-65 - drums & accompaniment
- casio ct-310 - accompaniment only at 1/4 speed
- casio pt-80 - chord buttons only - through nux modcore pedal on phaser setting
- korg sas-20 - drums only - triggered individually by an external trigger sequencer

the divided clock signal is also sent to an audiowerkstatt trigger2midi2trigger for MIDI conversion, sync'ing:
- yamaha psr-6300 - rhythm & bass
- victor kb-65 - rhythm, bass, accompaniment & arpeggio"

minimal effort music

Published on Jun 1, 2020 wildchurch

"clocked music system

O2 Minipops - clock master/drums through filter
clock goes to buffered multiples in order to sync the following:
- Hougaku Mini Conductor with step sequencer
- Sony Beat Box with trigger sequencer + footswitch for adding fills
- Casio PT-80 with step sequencer (playing chord buttons); running through Zoom B1on multi-FX (creating woosey brass sounds)

The second part features the above, plus:
Victor KB-65 (aka JVC KB-600) - a semi analog home keyboard from the 1980s with primitive MIDI implementation.
Auto accompaniment section sync'ed to above clock system via MIDI"

confined spaces #3

Published on Apr 18, 2020 wildchurch

More obscure Japanese gear.

"All Hail the Eye tone

"See your pitch!"

Manufactured by Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., the Eye tone is an aide to vocal training - plug in a microphone to get visual feedback via it's 2 lamp system. One shows you are within range, the other lights up when you are 'spot on'.

This function, however, lends itself well to monitoring drones. Here, I use it to track pitch coming from a variable speed tape player as I attempt to glide between tones and 'enhance my multi-tasking abilities' beyond their infancy.

Sounds:
O2 Minipops
Hougaku Conductor with step sequencer
2 cassette tape players modified for variable speed:
- one playing a drone, the other birdsong
Suiko ST20 - Shakuhachi/Koto/Pipe Organ 'synth'

Effects:
Aria spring reverb on O2 Minipops
Lots of Korg SDD-3300 on the cassette players
The Hougaku Conductor runs through a Roland VX-66 Echo Mixer and the Suiko ST20 through an ELK EM-13 Analog Echo, before the main mixer"

confined spaces #2

Published on Apr 16, 2020 wildchurch

More interesting gear from wildchurch. This appears to be the first post to feature the Gluon. Note the record player running in reverse.

"More noises from the closet...

Sounds:
string drone machine
reversible/vari-speed turntable with English conversation instruction record played backwards at wrong speed
modified cassette player (variable speed) playing tape of drum loop
'Gluon' a ribbon controlled drone generator

Effects:
Aria spring reverb
Korg SDD-3300"

Update: some info on the Gluon:

"It's a one-off but something I'd like to revisit with improvements. It's a simple oscillator circuit using an LM324 opamp with a sparkfun soft pot as ribbon controller for the frequency. There's additionally a photo-resistor in series with the soft pot acted on by 2 LEDs - one flashing at variable rate, the other of adjustable brightness; both controlled by 555 timers. Between them, they alter the pitch in subtle or not so subtle ways, creating a vibrato/LFO effect. Honestly speaking, more care went into the housing and aesthetics than sonics - without any external FX, it's quite unpleasant and unmusical. The term Gluon comes from particle physics but I named the device such after the album of the same name by the Japanese group Hi-Posi, which is both very pleasant and musical."

confined spaces #1

Published on Apr 16, 2020 wildchurch

The white piece is the Hogaku Conductor. It also came in brown. You can find a demo of one here. They are available eBay

"My studio in a closet in the living room

Sounds:
O2 Minipops (clock master)
drum trigger sequencer triggers Yamaha pmc1 sending MIDI to Akai S20 (drum samples)
sequenced Hogaku Conductor

Effects:
Aria spring reverb
Korg SDD-3300

Not too well balanced - too much Minipops in the mix
Listen with headphones for the low end/sub

Not much variation throughout the 17 + mins - so no need to listen to the whole thing...dip in and out if you feel like it."

Sequenced Hougaku Conductors

Published on Feb 5, 2020 wildchurch

O2 Minipops (clock source) audio out runs through filter
O2 clock sent to multiples and dividers to sync the following:
- 2 Hougaku Conductors each with its own 16 step sequencer and patchwire matrix for key triggering
the 'Conductor Mini' also has a built in pitch shifting delay effect (Sentinel by Arnoud Philip - see here: http://effectslayouts.blogspot.com/20...) and is running through a Zoom B1on multi FX
the other Conductor runs through a NUX Mod Core pedal
- LMNC drum sequencer with Wav Trigger
- Boss DR220-A
- LMNC step sequencer for CV control of the filter through which runs the O2 MiniPops
Boss RV-3 for reverb on mixer send/return

Video in two parts
1. clocked 'self-playing' system
2. twiddlin' & tweakin' - generating birdsong with filter resonance

Sync'ing things with a function generator

Published on Dec 8, 2019 wildchurch

"Fairly uneventful video of sync'ed devices playing themselves - though I do play along a bit in the second half
400Hz square wave as master clock

Flow of things:

JYE Tech FG085 function generator - buffered multiples - clock dividers

- 3 Casio keyboards: CT-310 rhythm & accompaniment 1/1 tempo - mixer CT-68 accompaniment & arpeggio 1/4 tempo - mixer MT-86 rhythm track 1/2 tempo - LMNC filter - mixer

- Hougaku Conductor 1/1 tempo - Zoom B1on FX - mixer

- audiowerkstatt trigger2midi2trigger clock divider mode - LMNC sequencer - EG - filter cv MT-68

+ Aria spring reverb on mixer FX send"

Yamaha PS-30 - Solo Section Filter and De-tune Mods

Published on Apr 11, 2019 wildchurch

"The Yamaha PS-30 includes a "Solo" section based around a basic monophonic analogue synth. I've brought the controls for filter (cut-off and resonance) and fine tuning to the front panel.

For more details and photos, please visit: https://lordofthehertz.blogspot.com/2..."

Acid Conductor & Hōgaku Rumba

Published on May 12, 2018 wildchurch

"The 邦楽 コンダクター (Hougaku Conductor) through a Boss ME-6B is great for bass sounds - if a little unpredictable at times.

Video in 3 parts:
1. Short intro and demonstration of the Hougaku Conductor - first clean, then through the ME-6B
2. A bit of jamming along to the O2 Minipops which is feeding a clock signal to my build of Look Mum No Computer's Arduino sequencer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oGlC...), which in turn is triggering squiggly noises on a PAiA 9700s (off camera here). The O2 Minipops and the PAiA have some spring reverb on them.
3. A brief multi-tracked piece using the above setup, plus some additional drums courtesy of the CM-505 plugin

* Everything's a bit rough'n'ready. I guess it would be possible to add triggers to the Conductor and have it sequenced but for now it's has to be played in real time.

Cheers"

Hōgaku Rumba

Published on Apr 11, 2019 wildchurch

"Me prat-arsing about with:
O2 Minipops - playing rumba pattern (clock master): https://janostman.wordpress.com/the-o...
Modified Hōgaku Conductor - with 16 step sequencer
AE Modular triggered by external sequencer: https://www.tangiblewaves.com/
LMNC Big Button drum trigger sequencer with Wav Trigger
Various filters and envelopes
FX - spring reverb, Aria Ape 2, Nux Modcore
probably some other stuff"