Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 3

In the first part I described the concept and basic design parameters I was looking for and then in Part 2 I looked at the detailed electronic design for a board based on the ESP32 WROOM module I have. In this part I go into detail about the code. Part 1 - This introduction and … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 3 →

ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Build Guide

Here are the build notes for my ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! If you are new to microcontrollers, see the Getting Started pages. Bill of Materials ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth … Continue reading ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Build Guide →

ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Design

For the context of this PCB design, see: Educational DIY Synth Thing. The build guide can be found here: ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Build Guide Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! The Circuit The key design decisions … Continue reading ESP32 WROOM Educational Modular Synth Thing PCB Design →

Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 2

In the first part I described the concept and basic design parameters I was looking for. In this part I go into detail about how I'm going about implementing them with an ESP32 WROOM board. Part 1 - This introduction and high-level design principles. Part 2 - Detailed design of an ESP32 based PCB. PCB … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing – Part 2 →

Educational DIY Synth Thing

For a while I've wondered if it was possible to find something that could be used to learn about the basics of analog synthesis. This is the first part of a series of posts looking at the possibilities. Part 1 - This introduction and high-level design principles. Part 2 - Detailed design of an ESP32 … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing →

ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator – Part 2

Following on the back of my ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator and in particular my note at the start that it was essentially the code algorithm and none of the electronics that might make it useful, I started to try to find the simplest possible circuit that Just Might Work as a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA) for … Continue reading ESP32 DAC Envelope Generator – Part 2 →

PICO2/AFPOC

February saw another momentous step in the ambitious John Cage Organ Art Project at Halberstadt when the playing chord changed for the first time in two years. The resultant chord will now continue to play for another two years before the next change. The project is a performance of John Cage's ORGAN2/ASLSP, generally known by … Continue reading PICO2/AFPOC →

Diagnosing and attempting to fix a Yamaha DX100 – Part 2

At the end of part 1, I've established that the basics all seem ok (PCB, interconnections, power) and that basic digital logic stuff is happening. I rounded off my write-up with the following ideas for what to investigate next: Get some proper triggering from the chip enables to check for valid data signals. Check out … Continue reading Diagnosing and attempting to fix a Yamaha DX100 – Part 2 →

CD Rack Format Zynthian – Part 2

I've recently updated my "CD Rack" box to a horizontal black box, still shaped for my "CD Rack" format modules. But as it is black, and I've a black TX816, I've rebuilt my CD Rack format Zynthian with a black, PCB front panel too. Original Design Notes: CD Rack Format Zynthian. Warning! I strongly recommend using … Continue reading CD Rack Format Zynthian – Part 2 →

Raspberry Pi Pico Synth_Dexed? – Part 6

One last thing I definitely wanted for my PicoDexed was the option for PWM output. This post is by way of a short coda detailing how to do PWM on a Raspberry Pi Pico. Part 1: Building Synth_Dexed for the Pico. Part 2: Assessing the performance and analysis of the Pico audio library. Part 3: … Continue reading Raspberry Pi Pico Synth_Dexed? – Part 6 →