Apollo Studio Changes

Last week I got back from holiday and I wanted to get back to my music, but I'm having serious jet lag troubles. I'm very tired and I can really focus unfortunately. I'm sure it will pass in a few days, so I started doing some little studio changes. I recently sold quite some stuff to be able to get some new synths soon. One of the things I did was sell most of the stuff from my mobile modular rack. I only kept the Semtex XL that I put in the modular desk now as you can see. And on the spot where the mobile 19" rack used to be I could now finally put my ARP 2600. So now it has a decent spot where I can play on it and it is also next to my modular desk so that I can patch it to the other synthesizers. I had this in mind for a long time already, but just didn't find the time. Well now it is there I'm quite happy with it.

I also found a new spot for the Blofeld module. I removed the front cover from the Arturia Origin and that just gave me enough room to put it on front of it. So now it is finally on my desk within reach. I'm sure this won't be the final way I set my desk up, but for now it will do. The next major update will be the addition of some new synthesizers. From the stuff I sold I'll buy a new Korg Kronos and a new Roland Jupiter 80. I have ordered them a long time ago, but I'm still waiting for them. I hope to get them soon and then I'll let you know right away of course :)

DIY Drum Module Video

A new video I made from a test run with a drum module I build and my sequencers.

Last year I build a drum module based on schematics from the 'Electronic Drum Cookbook' by Thomas Henry. I build it on breadboard but never got around to test it yet. Yesterday someone was filming my studio here so I couldn't work on my main desk for a while and decided to give the module a go. I hooked it up to my sequencers in the modular setup and got to test them in the process as well. We took some shots of this as well and last night I decided to make a little video from it. The noise coming from it is not spectacular but it was just a proof of concept. I made this video in Sony Vegas and that was also a test run for me. I plan to make more video's in the future for you to enjoy. The music on this video is from a track called 'Mercury' that a made for a sampler CD last year. You can listen to the whole track on my website. Look for the SchallPlatte 12 sampler CD.

PAIA 9700 Addition (Part 5)

Last week I received the final three PAIA modules I ordered for my 9700S addition. They are the 9743 Preamplifier that you can use to hook up a microphone or guitar to a modular system, the 9748 balanced modulator and the 9744 Dual CV Source, both nice utility modules. In the picture you can see all three modules still neatly bagged. I decided to start working on them tonight after dinner. I had worked all day on my Apollo album in the studio and was planning to continue later on, but this job was nice to do in between and give my ears some rest.

Again it was not very difficult, but I did seem to be missing one 100 Ohm resistor on the first module I build. I looked everywhere but couldn't find it so I decided to get one from my own stack. Well and guess what I saw lying on the ground just when I was finished with all three of them. Of course the missing resistor. Ah well never mind. In the picture on the right you can see all three modules laying side to side. All in all it took me about an hour to build all three of them.

Then I screwed them in the cabinet. As you can see in the picture on the left it is fully populated now. The next thing I need to do is get the power supply out and solder all the power cables from the modules to the PCB of the power supply. I intentionally waited with that, because I didn't want to take it out multiple times. So actually I have no idea yet if any of the modules work yet. I'm sure some will ;) We'll see about that I'll start finishing this up another time. After this I went back to working on my album. There is still a lot of work left on it, so better not waste too much time.

More Sound Effects on the ARP 2600

Last week I created some new Sound Effects for an upcoming collaboration project I'm working on. I can't tell you details yet, but keep an eye out :) Earlier this week I used the Roland SH-5 and today I used the ARP 2600 to make some new and unique sweeps, twirls, whooshes, modulations and so on. I usually just patch around and turn knobs while recording. Then when I think I have enough I start selecting the good parts and neatly trim then down. It is very boring work actually, but in the end it is rewarding to hear them back in a track, knowing that you made everyone from scratch :)

PAIA 9700 Addition (Part 3)

And I also started on the first PAIA modules I bought from the new series. It is a Linear to Exponential converter with a signal inverter. Here you can see the parts that came in the kit. And actually I was a bit disappointed about it, because there is not much to build. Most components on the PCB are SMD and they are already mounted. So the only thing to do is to solder the potmeters, jacks and one potmeter and then you assemble the front panel to the PCB and put the knobs on. And then you are done.

Here is a picture on the finished module where you can clearly see the SMD components on the PCB. I can imagine why PAIA solders them on themselves, since this is not something you can easily do at home, but I don't understand why they chose this option. This clearly takes out the fun in DIY for me :) Well I don't know if all their new modules are like this. I guess I'll look into that first before I order them. On the other hand they have some nice new stuff that would complement the 9700S I already have.

And here is a picture of the other side of the PCB. As you can see not much on there. The wire on there was already in place as was one of the potmeters. I came with a note that there was an error on the PCB making this potmeter work the wrong way around. And they already installed that mod as well. Pffff actually they could have build the whole module just as easy and ship it ;) Ah well I had about and hour of fun with this project and luckily I have some more complicated stuff lying around still ;)

 And here is the cabinet with the new power supply and the module installed in the rack below the PAIA 9700S. As you can see there is plenty more room for more modules. I still need to hook up the power and test it though. So I don't even know yet if it works. But I really like the new way they incorporated the power supply in the normally unused space of the rack mount on the left side of the cabinet. I'm still planning on building a TR-808 clone and I might consider this Frac format for that one too and buy another case from PAIA. They are cheap and look nice in my opinion. I will just have to design some front panels myself then. A nice project for the near future :)

PAIA 9700 Addition (Part 2)

The next task was to construct the power supply. In the picture you can see all the parts that PAIA supplies in the kit. On the top right you can see the alternative front panel that is provided with holes for the leds and power switch. On the left is the PCB. This PCB is used for all the power supply variations that PAIA supplies. So you have to see in the manual which components to install and which you don't. There is also a jumper on the PCB that you need to mount. I almost forgot it. So pay attention :)

Here you see the front panel installed in the 19 inch cabinet. There is a power led that shows if the external power is there and also two leds for the +15V and -15V outputs from the power supply. I think PAIA came up with a very neat solution for it in this way. It doesn't take up any extra space in the cabinet and you can still mount 10 Frac units in the case. It is a bit fiddling around though to get the leds on the right length on the PCB so that they just stick out of the holes of the front panel.

 And here you can see the finished PCB on the inside of  the cabinet. Also a bit of fiddling to get it in. The holes are already in the side of the cabinet to mount it by the way. Just make sure you have the side panels with the holes to the front. I still need to hook up the power from the external adapter, but wanted to make sure it fits. The only thing that is a bit odd is that when you need to hook up an module, you need to take the PSU out again to solder the wires for the power of the module on the PCB. On the other side (on the module itself) PAIA uses a connector. I think they should have done the same on the power supply itself. That would have made it a bit more flexible. Ah well. It will work in the end I guess.

PAIA 9700 Addition (Part 1)

It has been a while since I did anything on the DIY side, but since I'm almost done with the Refuge en Verre album I'm starting things up a bit again. The first DIY stuff I ever build was a PAIA Fatman and after that a PAIA 9700S. Recently I read somewhere that they had some new modules out so I visited their website and saw that they actually have quite nice new stuff out. I decided to order a new cabinet and one module to start with. The stuff arrived last week. Here it is in the picture on the left.

 I started with constructing the cabinet. These PAIA cabinets come quite cheap actually and are quite OK in quality in my opinion. I think it is not Eurorack but Frac format. The whole thing is made of aluminum and you have to bolt it together. Quite easy to do actually. The only thing you have to do first is remove the plastic foil that covers every part for protection. And of course I forgot ;) So I had it all bolted together and then could take it apart again to remove this foil.

 The sides are connected with bars to each other and then you can screw on the bottom, back and top cover. When I wanted to do this I found out that I made another mistake. So I could redo the whole thing again. Next time maybe I should read the manual after all even if it looks simple ;) A well you get it done quicker every time ;) OK so here is a picture on the cabinet all finished. Looks quite nice I think.

And here is one more picture of the finished cabinet in the rack right of my modular desk. Here you can also see it together with the first PAIA 9700S I build a long time ago. Next thing up is constructing the dual power supply. It has +15V and -15V you have to order that separately by the way and pay good attention since PAIA has several power supply options. More to follow soon on this project that has room now for 10 single modules :)

Modular Progress Overview 4

I haven't build much recently, but I am testing all the modules that I have connected to the power now. Here I was testing the syncing of the clock of all sequencers. They all run very smoothly :) I also made some sound effects already on this modular setup. It is really great to patch on it. Since I'm working on a lot of new releases for later this year I don't think I'll have much time to work on the modular this year anymore. So for now the project is on hold. I expect that I will be working on it again from January on. So keep an eye on the blog for the progress :)

MS-20 Trade

In my quest to make a little room in my studio last week I traded two big synthesizers for one little one. A fair trade I think in value, but it didn't feel very fair. But that is what they call market pricing. I traded my Roland Juno-6 with build-in midi kit and my Roland RS-202 string synthesizer for this Korg MS-20. The MS-20 is a real classic, but in my opinion a bit overpriced. It is a nice semi-modular synthesizer. The reason I wanted to have one is that I used it on my AtmoSphere album and I liked the sound of it. I had one on load back then from my fried Chris, but now I have one of my own. It doesn't take up much space, so I'm sure I can fine a nice spot for it somewhere. I will use it the coming days to make some sound effects for my upcoming album.

ARP 2600 Arrived!!

One of the synthesizers that has been on my wish list for a very very long time is the ARP 2600. I have been bidding on E-bay on several, but often got sniped in the last minute or it turned out to be a scam. But a few weeks ago I found one in very good shape and after E-mailing back and forth with the owner I was convinced this was a good deal. But then again I got sniped. So I was quite dissapointed again, but I got an E-mail that the previous buyer didn't want it after all and if I still wanted it. Well yes I did :) So we closed the deal and then I had to wait impatiently for a long time.

It has been standing at the Dutch Customs for a long time. But last week it finally arrived. It was send over in two packages. First I got the keyboard. It looked very good, only a few keys seemed to be replaced with Roland keys since they have a different color. Then a few days later the Synthesizer module itself arrived. And it really looks MINT ! Amazing for such an old machine. I'm really happy with this one and I will use it a lot on my upcoming album for sure. It is from around the same time that the Apollo space missions took place so that is very appropriate I think :)

Later I heard that the original buyer didn't want it because it was not in tune and the slider were noisy. Well those sliders are 40 years old. What do you expect :) When I tried it out today it was actually not that bad. Just what happens with vintage gear. And I noticed as well that when I played the keyboard it wasn't in tune. But I spotted a small switch quickly to switch between fixed or variable tuning. And guess what? ;) Fixed tuning solved the problem right away. When I watched the news today I was also happy that I arranged the payment long time ago. The Euro is plunging against the dollar now. I guess by now it would have been much more expensive. Ah well tomorrow I will start making some sound effects on the ARP 2600 for my upcoming album. I will keep you posted on that later on. For now I'm going to enjoy a bass patch I just made on it :P

MFOS Sequencer (Part 1)

Since the power distribution in my modular desk is finished now, I started on some new modules again. Here are two PCB's that are the analog and digital boards of a MFOS sequencer. The design is quite straight forward and there are no very special components on there, but still I think it is a very nice sequencer. It has 16 steps with both a coarse tuning and fine tuning potmeters. It can be set to 4-16 steps and also can be put in reversed or random mode. It has a reset funtion and can take an external clock and external start signal. So it might not look much, but in fact it is very versatile.

Thomas White designed a very cool rotary front panel for this sequencer. That was for me one of the reasons to build this one. It looks a bit like the Klee Sequencer I build. I just downloaded the Front Panel Design file from his website and sent it to Schaeffer and got this very nice panel back. After I got it I started mounting the front panel components. Here you see the jacks and the leds from the back. I'm still asking myself though how to fit the PCB's to this front panel. Hopefully Bridechamber has a solution for that soon since they are going to sell this front panel as well.

And here you can see the front. I still need to source a lot of the front panel components, but it already looks like something :) I will keep you posted on the progress as usual. I don't know though when that will be. It can take a while since I'm already building some other stuff as well and soon I really have to focus on my new album again. I haven't signed a contract yet, but I need to stick to a tight schedule to make October. You can find more information on the sequencer on this URL:

http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/SEQ16_2006/SEQ16_2006.php

Yusynth (Part 26)

Yesterday I visited my old employer Bird Electronics again. We made some more YuSynth PCB's long time ago already, but I still needed to drill 0.8 mm holes in them. So that is what I did using the drill you can see in the picture. It was about 4 hours of work. After that I cut the PCB's to the right size. Usually there is always some excessive material around it to be able to hold it better and you don't want to loose the print on the edges when etching. After this is also drilled some 3mm holes for fastening the PCB's later on on the mounting brackets.

After that my former colleague Marcel helped me to wash the PCB's. There is a small layer of etch resistant material still on the copper that wasn't hit by the UV light. The material has to be washed of with thinner. And after drying from the thinner Marcel sprayed on a protective layer that also helps the solder flow better. And then the batch was layed outside to dry in the sun. While waiting we had a nice lunch over there and talked a bit about a lot of stuff. It was good old times again :)

And here is the end result. There are some PCB's on there that I made before like VCA's and Envelope Generators (ADSR's), but most of the stuff is new. Mainly logic modules like frequency dividers for the sequencer clocks, but I also made the PCB for the CV standards module that Yves made. I already have the front panel and everything for that, but I forgot that PCB in the last run. Well for now I have more than enough, because I guess this won't even fit in my modular desk any more. I'm looking into howto make some modules in Eurorack format now, because that saves a lot of space and I still have plenty of room left in the right 19 inch modular desk extension.

Modular Power Distribution (Part 2)

This morning I did a lot of work on the power distribution in the modular desk. Here you can see the power distribution board in the left part of the desk. As you can see there are quite some cables already attached. And all of those were hand made. By now I used about 200 meters of wire already and I'm about half way I think. On the right you can just see once of the YuSynth VCA modules I build. This gives a clear picture I think how everything is mounted and connected. It is really great that things a finally taking shape.

On the other side of the cabinet I still need to do a lot of work. You can see this also on the picture on the right. But I cannot continue at this moment because I ran out of black wire. I did calculate that black would go twice as fast as the other colours because all ground wires are double on the connectors, but it seems that twisting the wires takes up a lot of meters as well and then there is always some waste of course and you cannot go in a straight line sometimes from the modules to the power distribution boards. So I'll have to get some more cable to be able to continue.

So after this I started to create some patches to test if all modules that I connected also worked properly. I have tested them all prior to mounting them in the cabinet, but sometimes a wire can come loose of course when you pull them through the cabinet. But so far it looks like everything works. Not everything has a led either by the way, so for some modules you can't even tell if they are on or off. It was fun doing some patching on this big modular. I'm already working for a long time on the project, but was never before able to do this. So I'm starting to get excited about the whole thing now and can't wait until I can use it usefully in a track. That might even be the case on my upcoming album already. I'll let you know when I do of course :)

MOTM-300 VCO's (Part 1)

I started building 3 MOTM-300 VCO's. They are supposed to be very musical and accurate. I bought the PCB's from Synthesis Technologies, but unfortunately they don't sell complete kits anymore, but they do sell special components kits with the hard to find parts. So I had to source the components myself. I did not have trouble finding the rest at all. By now the PCB's are all done. I also ordered the front panels from there and the brackets that mount the PCB to the front panels.

The only thing I forgot to order is something they call a 'hardware kit'. It holds the nuts and bolts you need to screw everything together. I thought I would have that myself, but all nuts I had didn't really fit. It just took a long time before it was here, because I ordered them together with the power distribution boards and those were out of stock. So I had to wait for shipment until everything arrived there first. But I must say it is a very nice way to mount the PCB.

The only thing I'm missing now are the potmeters. MOTM uses other types than I'm used to. Spectrol potmeters I think the same as I had in my Oakley modules, but they sell those as kits as well. I have been looking around which types I need, but I'm lost. So if anyone reads this and knows order nr's from Farnell or Mouser I'd be more than happy :) I'm also sending Scott from Bridechamber a message. Maybe he has them to. Well as soon as I got the potmeters I can finish them of and start testing en calibrating them. For now they already found a place in the modular desk.

Modular Power Distribution (Part 1)

Yesterday evening I started work on the power distribution in my modular desk. This is the inside of the modular extension. On the bottom you can see the three MOTM power supplies that I've build and on the top right is another power supply that I will use to power the Synthesizers.com modules that I bought. I calculated that the MOTM-950 doesn't have enough power to take on all my modules. Especially the Q960 sequencers take 240 mA together on the +15V and the MOTM-950 only has 400 mA on the +15. On the top left is a power distribution board that I will use to convert the MOTM format connectors to the synthesizers.com power connector for some modules that go in the extension.

From the power supplies I am going to do cabling to a terminal block inside the big module. From there I'll wire the power distribution boards. The only problem I ran into is that I'm out of cable. So today I'll get some new one so I can continue. I'm very happy by the way that I can make those MOTM style twisted cables myself now. It looks really neat actually. After this I started removing modules from the cabinet to make room. And I needed some good spots to mount the power distribution boards.

And here is how I mounted them On the vertical support struts that are in the main modular desk. The boards you see here on the bottom is the same as in the extension before. It holds 3 synthesizers.com connectors, but also some MOTM style bigger 6way connectors. Those are also on the MOTM-950 power supply. The next problem I ran into was that I was short of synthesizers.com power cables. I did have connectors but no suitable cables, so in the end I cut existing cables in half and made new connectors on them. The cables I got were too long any way. All synthesizers.com modules are now connected and hopefully I can power them up tomorrow. I also ordered new MOTM connectors since I'm going to have to produce a lot of MOTM power cables for the rest. I'll keep you posted on the progress :)

Another MOTM-900 Power Supply

This morning I build another MOTM-900 Power Supply. Since my modular setup is quite big already I couldn't power everything with the two Power Supplies I already had in place. These MOTM-900 are not very difficult to build since the power unit comes pre-assembled and you only need to fasten everything together and wire it. It does require soldering of the wiring to the transformer and the power distribution board, but I think it is suitable for a beginning DIY enthousiast. This power supply delivers +15 and -15 Volts on standard MOTM connectors.

After I tested it I screwed it in the modular desk extension cabinet on the left of my main desk. There are two MOTM-900's now in there and one MOTM-950. That last on delivers +15, -15 but also 5 Volts for the Synthesizers.com modules I have. But also this one isn't heavy enough. To solve that I have another power supply in the back of this cabinet that can do much more power, but I need to make some kind of front panel for it. Next job is to put all the power distribution boards in place and wire them. And then I can start hooking up some modules :)

Last MOTM Power Parts Arrived

Last week I received the last parts I need to make the power bus in my modular desk. I'll be building one more MOTM-900 power supply. In the picture you can see the parts on the left for that power supply. The parts on the right are some more power distribution boards. And in the middle on the bottom is something called a hardware kit that I forgot to offer for the MOTM VCO's I'm building. It is just nuts and screws, but they are needed to fasten the PCB's to the front panels. So hopefully I can show you some new stuff from the modular corner soon :)

Sound Effects on System 100m

The coming week I need to finish a track that I'm making for a sampler CD. The track is ready in a rough version and the coming week I'll be adding some sound effects to the track. But before you can add sound effects to a track you need to make them right? :) So Today I decided to take the Roland System 100m from the top of my modular desk and temporary move it to my main desk on a keyboard stand. I made a lot of different sound effects for about an hour and after that selected the best ones. 75 were left after this. The most difficult job is always to think of names for them by the way for them. And I just started fitting them in the track. I hope that when this track is finished I'll have some more time to write on this blog by the way. I'm just a bit too busy at the moment for that. I'll try to keep you posted.

Modular Progress Overview 3

I promised to make a new overview picture of the modular that I'm building. As you can see the center cabinet is almost filled up, but not everything in there is ready yet. Only the modules with all knobs on are done and tested. On the left extension there is still space for some MOTM style modules. I will build some more drum modules that will go in there. And on the right there is more room for 19 inch stuff. I'm still waiting for a power supply from MOTM and some power distribution boards. So not everything is powered yet. But when that stuff arrives that will be the first job I'm going to do. But for now I'm still working on finishing up a lot of modules that are halfway done or so. I think I'm also halfway the whole project now. So this picture is a nice landmark I guess for that :) You can click the picture by the way for a bigger version.

Modular Desk Extension (Part 4)

I also finished work last week on the newly installed extension on my modular desk. First of all I installed power in it with a 19 inch power switch bar. I move the PAIA 9700S into the 19 inch rack and in its place I installed an equalizer and DI. From here I wired the amplifier in the bottom 19 inch rack. This all works now, so I finally have good sound too (from the front) on this side of the studio. So far I used a couple of PC speakers, but this is way better of course. I also wired the power on the mobile modular rack that you seen on the right. There is just one power cable coming from it now in stead of four. The modular desk is really started to take shape now. I still have a lot of modules to finish and even some projects yet to start, but more and more starts to actually work :) I will post a new overview picture very soon.