18.12.10
Workshop presentation
i was invited by Champ d'Action to collaborate on a workshop on analog synthesis, to be given to high school students. plan is to have them build their own simple synth (coupla gated NAND oscillators) and then try to have them perform a 'piece'.
always nicer to make noise than to have to listen to someone else talking about the history of it.
this is a small presentation of the workshop idea, trying to convince teachers and the like to invite us to their schools, basically.
we had a single 4093 on a breadboard, aka 4 oscillators, aka 2 pairs.
each pair has a 'main' and a 'modulator' osc, and together they're gated by a control voltage sent from an Arduino.
on the left is Champ's artistic director Serge Verstockt, layering on some pitch shifter and delay, on the right is The Wiz Roel Das, gating the oscillators and thus controlling the beats with Max/MSP + an Arduino, and i'm in the middle turning knobs controlling frequencies.
i particularly like how it looks like we're floating in mid air. (we're not. sorry.)
Woop woop.
9.12.10
hindsight II
a live rendition of 'King Of The Cabin', as found on the Tropisch Excuus compilation cd-r. Which was put together by Leonoor of Mitt Land Och Leo descent.
had a perfect soundcheck, took my stuff down when other acts had to check, and then switched my stereo out when i came on - plugged into the wrong DI's.
hence the immense volume on the Casio at 1'36". that's how loud the beats should've been.. please do your own audio maths.
and then, due to Lord Tyfus' absence, i was forced to sing the next tune -
on the cd it's his lovely squeal doing the honours.
yup, that wood bee a sour take on the immortal classic, the apex of the mans' oeuvre:
hmm. i guess you shoulda been there. or sumpin'.
hindsight
thought i'd link to some older stuff.
this one's from the LaBambaNightmare, aka the Ultra Eczema record presentation
where i was kindly assisted by mr. Tuff Fins himself, who was willing and able enough to go Old School Hardcore on the Babelfish mashup i made of the spanish lyrics.
5.12.10
Günther
part of the set at Günther, as filmed by Gee No.
prolly best to listen on headphones or a decent system - i certainly found his camera mic outdoes my laptop speakers in the bass response department.
that mutron clone does sound nice and nasty.
makes people want to go to the bathroom, apparently.
not too sure what to think of the rest of it, bit of a handicapped set, as i fucked up the wiring on a switch repair i did too hastily 5 minutes before i left for the show -
which left me with about a 60% synth.
should have taken the time to check thoroughly.. oh well.
lotsa love for mr. Higgs, outdoing himself in the story isle.
i thought i'd heard entertaining storytelling before.
i was wrong.
prolly best to listen on headphones or a decent system - i certainly found his camera mic outdoes my laptop speakers in the bass response department.
that mutron clone does sound nice and nasty.
makes people want to go to the bathroom, apparently.
not too sure what to think of the rest of it, bit of a handicapped set, as i fucked up the wiring on a switch repair i did too hastily 5 minutes before i left for the show -
which left me with about a 60% synth.
should have taken the time to check thoroughly.. oh well.
lotsa love for mr. Higgs, outdoing himself in the story isle.
i thought i'd heard entertaining storytelling before.
i was wrong.
1.12.10
Gerards Grote Ongeduld - installation view
 |
| pic © Michèle Matyn |
taken by Mitch Mitchell of Late Nite Fame, it shows the hare on the radio.
that's the one on the left.
on the right is another Heir of the Radio, mister Daniel de Botanicus aka Cassis Cornuta himself.
Remörk / Daniel Higgs / Guy Rombouts
coming up tomorrow at Günther (where?)
the coolest place in antwerp where all the hip kids go to hang out and act like they're bored
like hip kids will
we'll see what happens
especially thrilled to see his lordship Daniel Higgs!
the coolest place in antwerp where all the hip kids go to hang out and act like they're bored
like hip kids will
we'll see what happens
especially thrilled to see his lordship Daniel Higgs!
Gerards Grote Ongeduld - the Flowchart
it was an accident waiting to happen.
but it's here for clarification purposes only.
obviously.
oh, and here's a video of the thing in action on the bench - hopefully i get to document the full installation soon..
you might notice the little manual step switch needs debouncing.
yes it does. but no, i won't. lazy bum
but it's here for clarification purposes only.
obviously.
oh, and here's a video of the thing in action on the bench - hopefully i get to document the full installation soon..
you might notice the little manual step switch needs debouncing.
yes it does. but no, i won't. lazy bum
Gerards Grote Ongeduld
Got an interesting question a couple of days ago. Gerard Herman, the soon-to-be-eternally-famous young belgian artist, Shell Done Seagull member and all around good chum, came around with his grandfathers portable radio. The idea: to have it switching stations automatically, for it to be used in a Hare-y installation (that's not a typo.) yup: Beuysian Taxidermy, room 101.
nice idea. interesting. let's.
the first problem was opening the damn thing up.
nope, never thought i'd say that.
managed to take the top lid off, but was afraid of destroying the plastic casing due to the lack of proper tools (and the resulting Brute Force to be applied) in an attempt to open it up further.
as time was an issue, i decided to go with what was accessible: the 5 preset switches at the top. turned out they had 1 common connection, switching to 5 different wires going to the 5 preset thumbwheels in the back of the radio. dingdingdingding: good news!
hooked all that up to a 4051 IC (8 to 1 analog mux), to control the presets without using the physical switches.
with only 5 presets and 8 possible connections, i repeated the middle 3 presets.
had them hooked up like a pendulum at first:
5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 (repeat) but that was too obvious, the goal being a 'human' feel to the switching.
a small channel swap yielded better results:
5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 3 - 2 etc.
i know it's as much of as a system as the other, but it seemed slightly less transparent and mechanical.
i actually tried using three separate clocks for the 4051 binary controls, but results were less random than i had hoped. in the end, decided to do the obvious and just control the 4051 with a 4024 binary counter from the recycled parts bin, so it loops 1 through 8 sequentially.
because that's what counters do, innit.
good enough, fast enough, works, cool.
next step: in an attempt to make the switching more Nature and less Rhythm, i felt a possible way to go was to randomize the clocking of that 4024 in some way, aiming for variable step length. The sequence still stays the same, but the 'note length' would change, so to speak.
nothing too extreme was needed - the idea is to change stations continually, so i just had to take the mechanical edge off. working with what i had lying around the bench, i tried two 4093 oscillators, one gating the other. using the output of this gated oscillator as a clock for the 4024 and thus the channel switching was too much of a system still - some rapid switching, some stasis, some rapid switching, some stasis.. nah.
however.
i ran this setup as a clock for a 4017 decade counter instead. ten off/ons - 0/1 - low/highs are required from the gated oscillator to complete a cycle on the 4017, and with both oscillators tuned well they seemed to produce a nice window of step length. it basically means every tenth transition might have a slightly different timing, enough so to feel semi-random.
then used a single output pin of the 4017 as a clock for the 4024. works ok.
it's pretty much an elaborate workaround, but good enough in my book.
(does anyone else feel a flowchart coming up?)
as an extra, i wanted to temporarily break into the sequential pattern as well, for added random feel to the fact that we're only using the 5 presets.
so i hooked up the wires for presets 4 and 5 to a second 4051, that is controlled by a third independent oscillator on the 4093. the two preset wires get connected to eachother using the 4051 as a switch.
connecting the wires for these presets changes their frequency to a common 'interstation', which is hardly controllable. could be noise, could be Radio Minerva, who knows.
the nice thing is that now, in the timing, it is possible to not just get
555555 44444 333333 2222 11111 4444 3333333 22222
but
55xxxx xx444 333333 2222 11111 xxxx 3333333 22222
with the connection as a sixth option (x).
depending on the speed of this connection, it either occurs or not at all. the possible overlap in the transition between stations 5 and 4 in the beginning of the loop is particularly interesting to seemingly shift the timing even more, so that's an added bonus.
here you can see the whole thing mounted inside the battery compartiment.
the switch and tactile button are there to disengage the clocking on the 4051, and skip through presets manually using the cute little button so you can easily set the stations with the thumbwheels above.
small disclaimer: there's probably easier ways to do this - or better ways, less crude and pile-on-as-you-go. please, feel free to enlighten me - i had to make do with limited time, resources and even more limited knowledge.. as usual.. poor me.
nice idea. interesting. let's.
the first problem was opening the damn thing up.
nope, never thought i'd say that.
managed to take the top lid off, but was afraid of destroying the plastic casing due to the lack of proper tools (and the resulting Brute Force to be applied) in an attempt to open it up further.
as time was an issue, i decided to go with what was accessible: the 5 preset switches at the top. turned out they had 1 common connection, switching to 5 different wires going to the 5 preset thumbwheels in the back of the radio. dingdingdingding: good news!
hooked all that up to a 4051 IC (8 to 1 analog mux), to control the presets without using the physical switches.
with only 5 presets and 8 possible connections, i repeated the middle 3 presets.
had them hooked up like a pendulum at first:
5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 (repeat) but that was too obvious, the goal being a 'human' feel to the switching.
a small channel swap yielded better results:
5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 3 - 2 etc.
i know it's as much of as a system as the other, but it seemed slightly less transparent and mechanical.
i actually tried using three separate clocks for the 4051 binary controls, but results were less random than i had hoped. in the end, decided to do the obvious and just control the 4051 with a 4024 binary counter from the recycled parts bin, so it loops 1 through 8 sequentially.
because that's what counters do, innit.
good enough, fast enough, works, cool.
next step: in an attempt to make the switching more Nature and less Rhythm, i felt a possible way to go was to randomize the clocking of that 4024 in some way, aiming for variable step length. The sequence still stays the same, but the 'note length' would change, so to speak.
nothing too extreme was needed - the idea is to change stations continually, so i just had to take the mechanical edge off. working with what i had lying around the bench, i tried two 4093 oscillators, one gating the other. using the output of this gated oscillator as a clock for the 4024 and thus the channel switching was too much of a system still - some rapid switching, some stasis, some rapid switching, some stasis.. nah.
however.
i ran this setup as a clock for a 4017 decade counter instead. ten off/ons - 0/1 - low/highs are required from the gated oscillator to complete a cycle on the 4017, and with both oscillators tuned well they seemed to produce a nice window of step length. it basically means every tenth transition might have a slightly different timing, enough so to feel semi-random.
then used a single output pin of the 4017 as a clock for the 4024. works ok.
it's pretty much an elaborate workaround, but good enough in my book.
(does anyone else feel a flowchart coming up?)
as an extra, i wanted to temporarily break into the sequential pattern as well, for added random feel to the fact that we're only using the 5 presets.
so i hooked up the wires for presets 4 and 5 to a second 4051, that is controlled by a third independent oscillator on the 4093. the two preset wires get connected to eachother using the 4051 as a switch.
connecting the wires for these presets changes their frequency to a common 'interstation', which is hardly controllable. could be noise, could be Radio Minerva, who knows.
the nice thing is that now, in the timing, it is possible to not just get
555555 44444 333333 2222 11111 4444 3333333 22222
but
55xxxx xx444 333333 2222 11111 xxxx 3333333 22222
with the connection as a sixth option (x).
depending on the speed of this connection, it either occurs or not at all. the possible overlap in the transition between stations 5 and 4 in the beginning of the loop is particularly interesting to seemingly shift the timing even more, so that's an added bonus.
here you can see the whole thing mounted inside the battery compartiment.
the switch and tactile button are there to disengage the clocking on the 4051, and skip through presets manually using the cute little button so you can easily set the stations with the thumbwheels above.
small disclaimer: there's probably easier ways to do this - or better ways, less crude and pile-on-as-you-go. please, feel free to enlighten me - i had to make do with limited time, resources and even more limited knowledge.. as usual.. poor me.
10.11.10
Gristleizer continued
So i bought a DIY Gristleizer kit from Endangered Audio.
See how badly i want a functioning one? Djeezzzz.
Although they did tweak the circuit some (especially the LFO) i still got nasty ticking leaking through.
Some more in-depth testing revealed that it was all about which power supply you use. voltage inverters/doublers don't seem to be able to pull it off.
So this new version got a Xformer from an old rack EQ (which is to be transformed into a sequencer one day someday maybe), and with this 'dedicated' power supply, all is well. 220v straight to the Gristleizer.
still some ticking in certain positions, but nothing too loud or unwanted to spoil my fun now.
For my mental health, i'll assume this is inherent to the circuit.
the box: a Slendertone 4-pads-that-will-change-your-life-weight-loss-system-driver.
the grey case turned out to be as much of a pain to drill as the Hohner's original case was - same material. it either melts or breaks, but it seems impossible to drill a decent hole in it.
luckily there's some aluminum parts.
already there: 4 huge knobs, an LED, and room to spare.
added waveform selector, VCA/VCF switch, bypass switch, in/out jax.
still to come: CV in and out jaques.
it's cool to have it around to run anything through, it's nasty, and good fun - but the Effect to End All Effects, A Whole New World, Disney style, it ain't. got my hopes up a little too high there i guess.
Still, a great little box, and i can imagine the CV will take it up a notch still.
See how badly i want a functioning one? Djeezzzz.
Although they did tweak the circuit some (especially the LFO) i still got nasty ticking leaking through.
Some more in-depth testing revealed that it was all about which power supply you use. voltage inverters/doublers don't seem to be able to pull it off.
So this new version got a Xformer from an old rack EQ (which is to be transformed into a sequencer one day someday maybe), and with this 'dedicated' power supply, all is well. 220v straight to the Gristleizer.
still some ticking in certain positions, but nothing too loud or unwanted to spoil my fun now.
For my mental health, i'll assume this is inherent to the circuit.
the box: a Slendertone 4-pads-that-will-change-your-life-weight-loss-system-driver.
the grey case turned out to be as much of a pain to drill as the Hohner's original case was - same material. it either melts or breaks, but it seems impossible to drill a decent hole in it.
luckily there's some aluminum parts.
already there: 4 huge knobs, an LED, and room to spare.
added waveform selector, VCA/VCF switch, bypass switch, in/out jax.
still to come: CV in and out jaques.
it's cool to have it around to run anything through, it's nasty, and good fun - but the Effect to End All Effects, A Whole New World, Disney style, it ain't. got my hopes up a little too high there i guess.
Still, a great little box, and i can imagine the CV will take it up a notch still.
1.11.10
Papermouth
on a Remörk-related note:
here's the Papermouth debut album, the 'rawk'band i play guitar for.
available as a free download, so check it out -
and, to quote my main man George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice.
here's the Papermouth debut album, the 'rawk'band i play guitar for.
available as a free download, so check it out -
and, to quote my main man George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice.
30.9.10
stuff for which you're late
2 CD-r releases..
first: This Is Bass 3
single 17-minute recording, in preparation for Noisefest II.
5 copies..sold out. should've been there - you're late.
second: untitled (Custom Gauge) 3" cd-r.
- Sunset Fuzz (all bass Miaux cover)
- Console Classic
- Wayfaring Stranger
and classy Gaffa Repaired Ripped Speaker artwork.
4 copies,1 left... might not be too late? sold out..
first: This Is Bass 3
single 17-minute recording, in preparation for Noisefest II.
5 copies..sold out. should've been there - you're late.
second: untitled (Custom Gauge) 3" cd-r.
- Sunset Fuzz (all bass Miaux cover)
- Console Classic
- Wayfaring Stranger
and classy Gaffa Repaired Ripped Speaker artwork.
4 copies,
26.9.10
Live @ De Kreun, Kortrijk Rock City
Had a Blast yesterday!!
Impressive line-up, and supersets by BBBlood, Naked On The Vague, True Deep, Sewer Election a.o... and honoured to have met some great people.
ended up travelin' light w/ Hohner, voice and some effects.
for a first solo show based mainly on the synth, i think it turned out pretty well.
here's a Master Out > DI > FOH desk recording, mono as fuck.
Mono mortel aka Spacy.
Remörk DeKreun250910 by Remörk138
^ click to go to soundcloud for download.
enjoy.
Impressive line-up, and supersets by BBBlood, Naked On The Vague, True Deep, Sewer Election a.o... and honoured to have met some great people.
ended up travelin' light w/ Hohner, voice and some effects.
for a first solo show based mainly on the synth, i think it turned out pretty well.
here's a Master Out > DI > FOH desk recording, mono as fuck.
Mono mortel aka Spacy.
Remörk DeKreun250910 by Remörk138
^ click to go to soundcloud for download.
enjoy.
24.9.10
Preparing for Tomorrow's Show..
Remörk solo set in Kortrijk, belgium at Doe Ne Keer Moeite - Noisefest II.
not sure what i'll be doing yet, but i'm having a lot of fun trying stuff out.
hope to base the set around the synth, with some outboard effects, and i'd really like to avoid bringing other instruments. hope it can hold it's own..
not sure what i'll be doing yet, but i'm having a lot of fun trying stuff out.
hope to base the set around the synth, with some outboard effects, and i'd really like to avoid bringing other instruments. hope it can hold it's own..
16.9.10
melos effectmatic mods
fyi. note that i ended up needing a 3P3T switch for the HP/BP/LP selection, if i wanted the asymmetry in there. maybe someone smarter can think of a more convenient way of doing this, if this extra overkill option is at all needed. anyway, enjoy.
1.9.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt. XII: expansion
or, at least, room for it. see below.
once i got the envelope filter working, it did indeed get modded a bit.
mostly boring stuff to get it to do its job a bit better, like a trimpot here and there. no biggie, smalls.
for the bigger changes: see below.
in the end i liked the darn thing so much i needed it to be close to my baby - preferably in the same box. so i figured i got some place left in the briefcase lid..
which has the side effect of opening up some space for future inhabitant effects.
if you knowaddamsayin.
need to tidy it all up a bit still, but you get the idea.
sound files to come. as always. mañana.
controls are, top to bottom:
recycled Hohner Bass 3 preset array for HP/BP/LP (yes, i though that would be not-quite-ha-ha-funny. my inner nerd needs to feed every once in a while.)
then up - down switch, hi - low freq switch, asymmetry switch which messes with the resonant frequency of the filtering, expanding on the hi/low choice.
then peak pot, sensitivity pot (rather than volume - she wasn't playing nicely with the hohner so volume is now a fixed resistor), and blend pot.
then 3-pos. slope speed switch for slower attack speeds, and touch points to instantly collapse the filter so you don't need to turn the sensitivity knob at breakneck speed. me lazy.
overconfident as i was (or distracted, i forget) i prematurely drilled an extra hole for CV input, but haven't gotten round to implementing that yet. i feel it oughta be possible though.
sequencer goes OneUp! on PileO'ToDo.
oh, and the lens screwed with the perfectly straight lines of the board, obviously.
once i got the envelope filter working, it did indeed get modded a bit.
mostly boring stuff to get it to do its job a bit better, like a trimpot here and there. no biggie, smalls.
for the bigger changes: see below.
in the end i liked the darn thing so much i needed it to be close to my baby - preferably in the same box. so i figured i got some place left in the briefcase lid..
which has the side effect of opening up some space for future inhabitant effects.
if you knowaddamsayin.
need to tidy it all up a bit still, but you get the idea.
sound files to come. as always. mañana.
controls are, top to bottom:
recycled Hohner Bass 3 preset array for HP/BP/LP (yes, i though that would be not-quite-ha-ha-funny. my inner nerd needs to feed every once in a while.)
then up - down switch, hi - low freq switch, asymmetry switch which messes with the resonant frequency of the filtering, expanding on the hi/low choice.
then peak pot, sensitivity pot (rather than volume - she wasn't playing nicely with the hohner so volume is now a fixed resistor), and blend pot.
then 3-pos. slope speed switch for slower attack speeds, and touch points to instantly collapse the filter so you don't need to turn the sensitivity knob at breakneck speed. me lazy.
overconfident as i was (or distracted, i forget) i prematurely drilled an extra hole for CV input, but haven't gotten round to implementing that yet. i feel it oughta be possible though.
sequencer goes OneUp! on PileO'ToDo.
oh, and the lens screwed with the perfectly straight lines of the board, obviously.
23.8.10
19.8.10
Bow Wow
I finished the Gristlizer Prototype.
put it in a box for Jelle to try out.
although i had to tell him i'm not fully satisfied with it yet - the Fet i used might not be up to it, or maybe it's inherent to the design, but in certain knob positions you hear the LFO bleeding through more than i would like. mostly w/ Ramp Up and Square - seems the steep falling edge is responsible.
Will do just fine for industrial type processing - both throbbing and gristleing - but i will definitely have to come back to it later. I'm a perfectionist and perfect is a skinned knee, apparently.
So i started repairs on that Melos Effectmatic box. it used to crackle like hell, and it was unresponsive in certain settings (if not all.)
It has now officially been fixed by getting a certain out-of-whack voltage divider up on its feet again.
thing is, now it's lying here open and unscrewed and with its guts bare: i feel this one has room for improvement as well.. Oww boii. blend? sensitivity control? master volume? wider range? hmm.
if i can find my capital M, the Modding can begin.
24.7.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.XI: You Must Be Kidding
no really. all the electronics are in place, the switching jacks are wired as inserts for easy effects hookup - and all of it sounds, well, "pretty ok" (notice the quotation marks) to my ears.
So, on the menu for tonight: first public performance in a 7-headed improv session @ Fort 8 in Hoboken, Belgium. Granted, not quite the Place one would associate with Space, still.. looking forward to it. See you there.
So, on the menu for tonight: first public performance in a 7-headed improv session @ Fort 8 in Hoboken, Belgium. Granted, not quite the Place one would associate with Space, still.. looking forward to it. See you there.
14.7.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.X: Ponderings
the outside of the case looking pristine will not stop me from altering its insides.
while that goes for any make pedals, synths, toaster ovens, and basically anything else i get my hands on, it seems to be especially true for this unfinishable piece of kit. was that a word? is now.
i put in switching jacks for each voice (A, Arp., B) so as to be able to route them each to external effects. problem is, with the crude passive mixing i used, the volume on the master fluctuates with patching. you want the Arpeggiator going to a delay? possible. however, voice A and B will be louder on the master all of a sudden.
not my idea of fun.
so i'm going in for buffer overkill.
(yeah, i know, not my idea of fun either, but that's what happens when you don't really know what you're doing - piecing everything together one step at a time. so sue me.)
and since turning back - like turning down - is not an option, i breadboarded a little.
seems it will work out, in the end. yay.
upon which i tried a cheesy envelope filter on the Arpeggiator.
lo and behold: it started to sound like a Real Synth.
i hate envelope filters on guitar, but all of a sudden they do seem interesting.. should have an old Melos effectmatic (one of many mu-tron III adaptations) lying around here somewhere that's in need of repair. Up two steps on that ol' priority list..
9.7.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.IX: Pictures
gutshot shows wiring still not fully tidy.. working on that.
Sounds Coming Soon. (promise.)
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.VIII
did i say 'and after that.. we're done?'
ah, the folly of youth.
it's never over.
the extra gapper oscillator - or MCO, as in Manually Controlled Oscillator. yes, i actually think that's funny -
got its range switch, selecting between three speeds, with an octave (more or lessy) between them.
Chopper to BabyWantsCandy high whine. yay.
plus, i added another switch to choose its destination: the arpeggiator section, running the gapper, or the voice A filters. got its own volume control for that one, determining the submix to voice A.
Since the gapping consist of switching to 4 empty (thus silent) inputs on the Mux, i went ahead and wired them together to a jack. So now i basically have an option to run external audio through the arp section, filling the gaps, alternating with the synth sound. tried it with a heavily distorted guitar and results were funghi sweet.
(heavily distorted since the input needs a dedicated preamp, actually, but that's not there yet. Did i mention it's never over?)
Turning the 4 octave knobs all the way down gives you a squarewave tremolo on the external, with an option of running the MCO gapper as well. Dual trem. Pretty nifty. Do people still use that word, nifty?
Well then, on to the outside of the thing.. aka the Looks.
i picked up a thrift store suitcase with the exact dimensions of the keyboard.
due to my Add On and Pile Up approach, i ended up with a gazillion little subboards that all needed to sit snugly in there.
so far, no problems. loads of wiring though.
ditched the layout testing cardboard for some nice wood panelling, cut ridiculously exact to specs with the help of mr. Zeichnungsfreistelle himself.
drilled pretty clean to photoshop drilling template, so as to stop myself from making further additions: man needs to know his limits, and i'm way beyond them already anyway.
I still need to order me some nice knobs, right now i'm making do with whatever i had lying around.
Was thinking of screenprinting the faceplate, but that would make it Xmas by the time i get finished so i decided against it.
So right now i'm actually in the process of cleaning up the wiring, which sounds pretty final to me.
now for that external audio preamp..
ah, the folly of youth.
it's never over.
the extra gapper oscillator - or MCO, as in Manually Controlled Oscillator. yes, i actually think that's funny -
got its range switch, selecting between three speeds, with an octave (more or lessy) between them.
Chopper to BabyWantsCandy high whine. yay.
plus, i added another switch to choose its destination: the arpeggiator section, running the gapper, or the voice A filters. got its own volume control for that one, determining the submix to voice A.
Since the gapping consist of switching to 4 empty (thus silent) inputs on the Mux, i went ahead and wired them together to a jack. So now i basically have an option to run external audio through the arp section, filling the gaps, alternating with the synth sound. tried it with a heavily distorted guitar and results were funghi sweet.
(heavily distorted since the input needs a dedicated preamp, actually, but that's not there yet. Did i mention it's never over?)
Turning the 4 octave knobs all the way down gives you a squarewave tremolo on the external, with an option of running the MCO gapper as well. Dual trem. Pretty nifty. Do people still use that word, nifty?
Well then, on to the outside of the thing.. aka the Looks.
i picked up a thrift store suitcase with the exact dimensions of the keyboard.
due to my Add On and Pile Up approach, i ended up with a gazillion little subboards that all needed to sit snugly in there.
so far, no problems. loads of wiring though.
ditched the layout testing cardboard for some nice wood panelling, cut ridiculously exact to specs with the help of mr. Zeichnungsfreistelle himself.
drilled pretty clean to photoshop drilling template, so as to stop myself from making further additions: man needs to know his limits, and i'm way beyond them already anyway.
I still need to order me some nice knobs, right now i'm making do with whatever i had lying around.
Was thinking of screenprinting the faceplate, but that would make it Xmas by the time i get finished so i decided against it.
So right now i'm actually in the process of cleaning up the wiring, which sounds pretty final to me.
now for that external audio preamp..
4.6.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.VII
Tried the Q control on the filters.
For the tech savvy: varying the emitter R on the filters. i love you guys.
well, as far as Theory goes, it worked - but then theory only goes so far.
So no, not even close to the 'Keep It, Wire It' section.
results on the Tuba filter were boring, so that one's standard issue still.
slightly better on the String filter, but there was another R where variation was more interesting -
the 100K from buffer out to filter in got a parallel 500K pot.
changing F and Q at the same time, for more of a 'Sweepy' feel, if that means anything.
changing the Q (varying Re) together with that sweep gave a slightly larger range, but it wasn't worth an extra pot -
it was just making things more complicated, more than anything else.
last thing i'm wondering is if i should hook LFO II (the ring mod gapper driver - terminology inc., get in touch)
to the audio output in some way. seems like a waste to have an oscillator running in the audio range and not hear it ;)
and after that - we're done!
For the tech savvy: varying the emitter R on the filters. i love you guys.
well, as far as Theory goes, it worked - but then theory only goes so far.
So no, not even close to the 'Keep It, Wire It' section.
results on the Tuba filter were boring, so that one's standard issue still.
slightly better on the String filter, but there was another R where variation was more interesting -
the 100K from buffer out to filter in got a parallel 500K pot.
changing F and Q at the same time, for more of a 'Sweepy' feel, if that means anything.
changing the Q (varying Re) together with that sweep gave a slightly larger range, but it wasn't worth an extra pot -
it was just making things more complicated, more than anything else.
last thing i'm wondering is if i should hook LFO II (the ring mod gapper driver - terminology inc., get in touch)
to the audio output in some way. seems like a waste to have an oscillator running in the audio range and not hear it ;)
and after that - we're done!
28.5.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.VI
well. the tuba, string, arpeggiator and straight sounds all play together nicely now.
allpass filter on the tuba, inverter on the strings.
arpeggiator and straight sounds all got buffered, to avoid mixing problems
and to be able to give them separate jack outs if i feel like it. we'll see.
my first plan was to have two switches - between Straight/Tuba/String for the A voice, and between Straight and Arpeggiator for B. i changed my mind about that last one.
while testing everything (aka noodling for hours without actually soldering) i decided i wanted to be able to blend in the arpeggiator with it's own volume knob. so now the final mixing section would look like this:
the filter switch for A + A volume
B straight volume
B arpeggiator volume
Master volume.
the 4 octave mixing knobs will work for both B sounds at the same time, but they actually seem to complement one another nicely that way. maybe it's just me getting used to the limitations of the instrument - and actually starting to like them.
only thing i still want to try is to add a Q control on the tuba and string section.
since the resonant frequencies of the filters are fixed (and so is the alpass filter f on the tuba, so there) i'm not sure if it will add a lot to what i have. will have to hear it and see what it does, and if it's interesting enough of an effect to merit extra pots.
the second LFO for the gapper on the Arpegg is getting switchable caps i think. i really like it when it's driven high up the audio range, but the slow chopping tremolo effect is nice as well.. think extra switch. gon' be funki.
dus berijden, die blokgolf!
allpass filter on the tuba, inverter on the strings.
arpeggiator and straight sounds all got buffered, to avoid mixing problems
and to be able to give them separate jack outs if i feel like it. we'll see.
my first plan was to have two switches - between Straight/Tuba/String for the A voice, and between Straight and Arpeggiator for B. i changed my mind about that last one.
while testing everything (aka noodling for hours without actually soldering) i decided i wanted to be able to blend in the arpeggiator with it's own volume knob. so now the final mixing section would look like this:
the filter switch for A + A volume
B straight volume
B arpeggiator volume
Master volume.
the 4 octave mixing knobs will work for both B sounds at the same time, but they actually seem to complement one another nicely that way. maybe it's just me getting used to the limitations of the instrument - and actually starting to like them.
only thing i still want to try is to add a Q control on the tuba and string section.
since the resonant frequencies of the filters are fixed (and so is the alpass filter f on the tuba, so there) i'm not sure if it will add a lot to what i have. will have to hear it and see what it does, and if it's interesting enough of an effect to merit extra pots.
the second LFO for the gapper on the Arpegg is getting switchable caps i think. i really like it when it's driven high up the audio range, but the slow chopping tremolo effect is nice as well.. think extra switch. gon' be funki.
dus berijden, die blokgolf!
15.5.10
thee Gristleizer, Pt.III / Hohner continued
testing if you could throw control voltages at the Gristleizer instead of the internal LFO.
why yes you could.
running things off a crude - be honest: unfinished - CV sequencer (think Baby10), 0-5v CV works perfectly. it actually provides a slightly wider range than the LFO.
needs a little tweak of the Bias knob of course, but works like a charm.
or is that unlike a charm? i forget. (rabbit's foot,anyone?)
for demo purposes, and to keep things interesting for myself, i used the gate out of the external sequencer to step the Hohner Arpeggiator. every new rising edge is a step, so you can make some really random sounding sequences indeed. well, unless you put some effort in, in which case you could make it sound like a 4 to the Floor.
on MDMA drinking watered down RedBullVodka, that is, but hey.
hitting the sync gapper on the arpeggiator makes for a silence every time the gate drops to 0v. nice.
the whole thing is quite promising.
makes me want to finish that sequencer.
Hohner3000 + gristlizer + sequencer demo by Remörk138
why yes you could.
running things off a crude - be honest: unfinished - CV sequencer (think Baby10), 0-5v CV works perfectly. it actually provides a slightly wider range than the LFO.
needs a little tweak of the Bias knob of course, but works like a charm.
or is that unlike a charm? i forget. (rabbit's foot,anyone?)
for demo purposes, and to keep things interesting for myself, i used the gate out of the external sequencer to step the Hohner Arpeggiator. every new rising edge is a step, so you can make some really random sounding sequences indeed. well, unless you put some effort in, in which case you could make it sound like a 4 to the Floor.
on MDMA drinking watered down RedBullVodka, that is, but hey.
hitting the sync gapper on the arpeggiator makes for a silence every time the gate drops to 0v. nice.
the whole thing is quite promising.
makes me want to finish that sequencer.
Hohner3000 + gristlizer + sequencer demo by Remörk138
13.5.10
Thee Gristleizer, Pt.II
yay!
Hohner3000 + gristlizer demo by Remörk138
the arpeggiator section through the VCA, well - some, and then quickly on to the VCF.
tweakle dee and tweakle dum, as one might say.
// small postrecording edit: been toying with the clock cap, and i have the LFO running pretty pretty slow -am listening to the ramp up doing about 6 minutes per cycle right now. all in good fun, of course. //
oh, and kids: when you're handling sharp objects
such as knives, axes and the like,
always move them AWAY from your other hand.
Hohner3000 + gristlizer demo by Remörk138
the arpeggiator section through the VCA, well - some, and then quickly on to the VCF.
tweakle dee and tweakle dum, as one might say.
// small postrecording edit: been toying with the clock cap, and i have the LFO running pretty pretty slow -am listening to the ramp up doing about 6 minutes per cycle right now. all in good fun, of course. //
oh, and kids: when you're handling sharp objects
such as knives, axes and the like,
always move them AWAY from your other hand.
Thee Gristleizer, Pt.I
All the info you can eat on the effects box made famous by Chris Carter & Throbbing Gristle.
decided to try it, especially with the Hohner thing in mind..
as i mentioned it to one of the boys of the WCCC, out came the obvious: "switch between VCA and VCF? so you need two, basically?"
well. let's first try to get one to work, shall we?
temporarily housed in a neat little thriftstore box (former ampere meter) and a piece of cardboard - i like cardboard! - it's got that
Bissy Bunder Science Project look to it for now.
not only is it working, it's got one of the best LFO's in terms of range and Vpp steadiness that i have come across in such a relatively simple circuit. that said, the bias pot is indeed essential, a welcome addition, even for 'normal' operation. so if you build it: put that one on the front panel! some worthwile effects there, and you don't want to have to open 'er up every time.. only problem (well.) is that the bias pot is not really interesting throughout its full range, so there's some room for improvement there ('standard' bias at 50% and then a useful range would be nice. MultiMeterMan to the rescue).
bypass will be added later. and maybe a higher impedance input for guitar, have to try if that matters at all.
anyone noticed i tried to have some room for n°2 in the layout?
oh joy.
decided to try it, especially with the Hohner thing in mind..
as i mentioned it to one of the boys of the WCCC, out came the obvious: "switch between VCA and VCF? so you need two, basically?"
well. let's first try to get one to work, shall we?
temporarily housed in a neat little thriftstore box (former ampere meter) and a piece of cardboard - i like cardboard! - it's got that
Bissy Bunder Science Project look to it for now.
not only is it working, it's got one of the best LFO's in terms of range and Vpp steadiness that i have come across in such a relatively simple circuit. that said, the bias pot is indeed essential, a welcome addition, even for 'normal' operation. so if you build it: put that one on the front panel! some worthwile effects there, and you don't want to have to open 'er up every time.. only problem (well.) is that the bias pot is not really interesting throughout its full range, so there's some room for improvement there ('standard' bias at 50% and then a useful range would be nice. MultiMeterMan to the rescue).
bypass will be added later. and maybe a higher impedance input for guitar, have to try if that matters at all.
anyone noticed i tried to have some room for n°2 in the layout?
oh joy.
7.5.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.V
small update..
haven't had a lot of time
but we don't need time, we're already in eternity.
some clever man's quote i remember reading on a Kosjer D album sometime during the 9ties.
i'll look up that name later rather than sooner.
tried different blending options and filters, and decided - in order to finish this thing this century - to stick with the original filters (aka the tuba and string presets) on voice A. although some parts of those are still waiting to be tweaked.
the arpeggiator voice didn't sound too hot through those filters, but i'll probably be giving it a dedicated output so i can run it through whatever external filter i damn well please. same reason i'm giving A a straight option as well - no filtering.
i tried blending the 3 sounds (straight/string/tuba) with 3 pots but it didn't amount to much, so they're back on a switch now.
reading up on buffers (inverting/non inverting), needed for separation between the straight and filtered sound.
filters loaded the original so much it wasn't usable for the straight sound anymore.. buffered and splitted, sounds perfect.
more lecture on all-pass filters, needed to compensate for the phase shift in the tuba sound. the filtered sounds don't play together too nicely with the straight voice B without phase correction - too much cancellation on the pot rotation.. also, a lot better now.
in the process, i came across a nice Spice Circuit Simulation Program for mac as well: Qucs.
Silly name, but open source, and a great alternative to MacSpice which only does text-based analysis.. Qucs starts from the schemo yo. which is great if you're more into circuitry than programming.
i've a feeling i'm getting close to having all the options mapped and cut and dried and decided and all that.
when i reach the final stage, i'll do a schematic comparison.
should be interesting.
to me, that is.
more interesting than a flow-chart comparison - made one earlier to keep my head clear
and it seems there's not too much difference with the original, haha.. but i'm a sucker for flow charts.
haven't had a lot of time
but we don't need time, we're already in eternity.
some clever man's quote i remember reading on a Kosjer D album sometime during the 9ties.
i'll look up that name later rather than sooner.
tried different blending options and filters, and decided - in order to finish this thing this century - to stick with the original filters (aka the tuba and string presets) on voice A. although some parts of those are still waiting to be tweaked.
the arpeggiator voice didn't sound too hot through those filters, but i'll probably be giving it a dedicated output so i can run it through whatever external filter i damn well please. same reason i'm giving A a straight option as well - no filtering.
i tried blending the 3 sounds (straight/string/tuba) with 3 pots but it didn't amount to much, so they're back on a switch now.
reading up on buffers (inverting/non inverting), needed for separation between the straight and filtered sound.
filters loaded the original so much it wasn't usable for the straight sound anymore.. buffered and splitted, sounds perfect.
more lecture on all-pass filters, needed to compensate for the phase shift in the tuba sound. the filtered sounds don't play together too nicely with the straight voice B without phase correction - too much cancellation on the pot rotation.. also, a lot better now.
in the process, i came across a nice Spice Circuit Simulation Program for mac as well: Qucs.
Silly name, but open source, and a great alternative to MacSpice which only does text-based analysis.. Qucs starts from the schemo yo. which is great if you're more into circuitry than programming.
i've a feeling i'm getting close to having all the options mapped and cut and dried and decided and all that.
when i reach the final stage, i'll do a schematic comparison.
should be interesting.
to me, that is.
more interesting than a flow-chart comparison - made one earlier to keep my head clear
and it seems there's not too much difference with the original, haha.. but i'm a sucker for flow charts.
28.4.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.IV: first little demo
Hohner3000 first demo by Remörk138
so what am i listening to here, exactly?
well, for starters, it's only a single voice. so no layered sounds yet.
no filter section either - just the straight square waves.
starts out with the variable octave mix.
next up is a VCA test, going from short to long attack time.
then the fun stuff starts: the arpeggiator section. preset making, speed control, the synced gapper.
didn't get round to demoing the 2nd LFO for the gapper yet, but i will. one day.
then a quick reminder that the octave mix pots also work in the arpeggiator section - turning an octave to 0 makes a rest, which yields nice rhythmic patterns.
i must say, i kinda like what it's doing so far. too bad there's hardly any time for more this week.
but rehousing is in full effect, using an ugly piece of cardboard box to test knob layouts etc.. get back on that later.
enjoy.
so what am i listening to here, exactly?
well, for starters, it's only a single voice. so no layered sounds yet.
no filter section either - just the straight square waves.
starts out with the variable octave mix.
next up is a VCA test, going from short to long attack time.
then the fun stuff starts: the arpeggiator section. preset making, speed control, the synced gapper.
didn't get round to demoing the 2nd LFO for the gapper yet, but i will. one day.
then a quick reminder that the octave mix pots also work in the arpeggiator section - turning an octave to 0 makes a rest, which yields nice rhythmic patterns.
i must say, i kinda like what it's doing so far. too bad there's hardly any time for more this week.
but rehousing is in full effect, using an ugly piece of cardboard box to test knob layouts etc.. get back on that later.
enjoy.
22.4.10
Typhoïd Death Karaoke
and another little noisemaker.
circuitbending, kind of.
property of the foul Dr. Tyfus of the House of Ultra Eczema.
quick test, but the thing has proven its yummy Vom Grill worth.
BBD and feedbackloop, 2 mic inputs, 2 line ins.. all you need, quoi.
21.4.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.III
Small update: the arpeggiatorererer is working!
master clock from a 40106 drives a 4017 counter. pulses from outputs 1 through 8 get sent to the switches where they are routed to the binary control pins on the 4051. this is an 8-channel analog signal switcher, so basically you're selecting input 1, 2, 3 or 4 to be routed to the output. on the inputs are the four octaves.
0 0
0 1
1 0
0 0
however, on the other 4 inputs is nothing.. pulling the third control pin high means silence. opportunity to have a 'gapper'- hardcore squarewave tremolo. either in sync with the clock (inverted clock to control pin, 50% note length, nice!), or driven by a second lfo on the 40106.
that works, kinda. however, the fun begins if you drive the gaps into the audio range - fake ring modulation style. Sweet.
still need to figure out some final mixing options - what voice to route to what filter, and wondering if i need extra filters with more controllable parameters.
started working on rehousing the whole thing.
the case is in a pretty bad shape, crumbles when drilled, and most importantly: it's gonna be too small for all the impending gadgetry.
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.II
Bass / String / Tuba. hmm.
as far as i understand it, we have: 1 main squarewave oscillator.
its pitch (labelled 4') gets divided down to 2 lower octaves (labelled 8' and 16'). two submixes of these octaves are made, both of which are sent to their own crude single trannie VCA's.
the Main Mix VCA features: a decay control and a bypass switch for continuous sound. the result of which gets sent to 2 selectable bandpass filters. et voila: Tuba and String presets.
the second mix (no 16' in that one) has a fixed -short!- decay time on its VCA, and is only used to mimic the plucking attack of an electric bass in the 'bass' preset. which is basically the String sound, with this second voice added. seems a bit of a waste.
So.
the divider chip yielded some more suboctaves, only one of which was musically relevant. anything below this 32' ended up spewing clicks. interesting, but not for my purposes - not this time. added it to the mix.
next, brought out the fixed mixes to be fully variable for both voices. lots of new textures. and pots, for that matter.
VCA decay time for voice 2 is now controllable as well.
since detuning one voice against the other is not an option - they're both based on the same oscillator - and since the waveshapers i tried didn't seem too happy with the square waves, i decided to have an arpeggiator thingamawhatsit jumping between the four available octaves of the second voice. figured i could build one with a 4051 analog multiplexer i pulled from an old wacom tablet. ignoring future real estate problems, i thought i'd go Cook Your Own Pattern sequencer style on the arpeggiator: 8 steps, slider selectable between the four octaves.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth, just unscrew the lid and see what you can use.
as far as i understand it, we have: 1 main squarewave oscillator.
its pitch (labelled 4') gets divided down to 2 lower octaves (labelled 8' and 16'). two submixes of these octaves are made, both of which are sent to their own crude single trannie VCA's.
the Main Mix VCA features: a decay control and a bypass switch for continuous sound. the result of which gets sent to 2 selectable bandpass filters. et voila: Tuba and String presets.
the second mix (no 16' in that one) has a fixed -short!- decay time on its VCA, and is only used to mimic the plucking attack of an electric bass in the 'bass' preset. which is basically the String sound, with this second voice added. seems a bit of a waste.
So.
the divider chip yielded some more suboctaves, only one of which was musically relevant. anything below this 32' ended up spewing clicks. interesting, but not for my purposes - not this time. added it to the mix.
next, brought out the fixed mixes to be fully variable for both voices. lots of new textures. and pots, for that matter.
VCA decay time for voice 2 is now controllable as well.
since detuning one voice against the other is not an option - they're both based on the same oscillator - and since the waveshapers i tried didn't seem too happy with the square waves, i decided to have an arpeggiator thingamawhatsit jumping between the four available octaves of the second voice. figured i could build one with a 4051 analog multiplexer i pulled from an old wacom tablet. ignoring future real estate problems, i thought i'd go Cook Your Own Pattern sequencer style on the arpeggiator: 8 steps, slider selectable between the four octaves.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth, just unscrew the lid and see what you can use.
20.4.10
the Hohner Bass Threemörk, pt.I
i was given this Hohner Bass 3 keyboard by my dear friends of the White Circle Crime Club.
bought secondhand, it turned out to be DOA. them rascals were gonna throw it out, unless i wanted it. gee, lemme think.
opened up and nerded out. it turned out it was nothing a lil' TLC couldn't fix: press return to original specs. only problem: the thing, for all its - shift lock alert - Vintage Quality, sounds perfectly boring.
the original schem said 'subject to modifications'.
ain't that the truth.
Eat More Audio
i figured i need a hub. a focal point. centralised, warding off the chaos.
if state of bench = state of brain, i might have a problem here.
still, we solder on. pun intended.
if state of bench = state of brain, i might have a problem here.
still, we solder on. pun intended.
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