Solafide Forbes Nash Organ: Electronic synth-organ project PART III

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.259811]

Oh crap I think my thread died. What happened.

Anyway, this is my third thread. I am making an all analog electronic organ.

This organ is unique in that it:

1. will have 28 tones per octave tuned in just intervals

2. will have keys arranged in a grid not a series like on a typical piano.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.259818]

My piano will be broken down into different modules. Each module is about 11 oscillators with buttons on top. The modules will fit together and form a 6 by 18 inch grid of keys.

As of today I have the first functioning module. As in, it has 12 oscillators all of which work. I just need to tune them now and encase it.

Pic related

[Anonymous No.259826]

Here are links to your threads on installgentoo, OP.

http://archive.installgentoo.net/diy/thread/S209242
first one
http://archive.installgentoo.net/diy/thread/S245871
second one

Looking forward to progress reports.

[Anonymous No.259855]

Is there a reason you're not doing divide-down like old combo organs? It's a hell of a lot less work to build and tune.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.259861]

>>259855

What do you mean by divide down? And, what do you mean by old combo organs?


>>259826

Thanks!

[Anonymous No.259868]

>>259861
Combo organs were man-portable organs used by jazz and rock 'combos' before synthesizers came to be.
>What do you mean by divide down?
An oscillator or oscillators tuned to a high frequency, generally the highest note of the instrument, then sent through a chain of bistable frequency dividers. That gets you square, send the output through a sawtooth gen and filters, or whatever you'd like. Keeps BoM down, easy to tune and keep in tune, sounds good, cheap. There used to be ICs to help accomplish this but they're long out of production. Not too bad to implement yourself. There's lots of old kits put out so schematics probably aren't too hard to find. One of the best books I've read on DIY electronic instruments is "The Electronic Musical Instrument Manual" by Alan Douglas. I've had my copy for twenty years and I still reference it sometimes. Runs the gamut from oscillator and filter types to amplification and interface ideas.
I definitely applaud your tenacity but it seems you're reinventing the wheel for no good reason.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.260333]

>>259868

Since starting this project I have learned about this design. Where you tune just the top oscillator and divide it many times.

If I were to start again I would probably do it that way.

[Anonymous No.260337]

>>260333
Like I said, I applaud your tenacity, keep at it as is. It'll be as annoying to tune as an autoharp but I'm sure it'll have one hell of a sound.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.260439]

>>260337

Oh also, thanks for the book recommendation!

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.260978]

bumping. No progress lately.

Tomorrow I tune the thing.

[Anonymous No.260984]

Found you!
Was worried there for a minute...

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.261401]

I am part way through tuning these.

This is easier than I thought.

I am using PureData to generate sine waves and then I mix the signal with my module. Then run that into an amp and I turn the knobs on the module until they are the same frequency.

Well I cant actually get it the EXACT same frequency. But my guess is that I am getting them within .01% to .0001% error. Right now it is taking about 20 seconds for the signal from my computer and the signal from my module to oscillate in and out of phase. Which is pretty relaxing to listen to.

Pic related. Its my current set up. I am kind of entertained by the eclectic set of gear I had to set up. It includes:

- Ti 84 graphing calculator
- Laptop
- DC power supply
- Bread board
- Line 6 DL 4 delay modeler
- Ernier ball VP jr volume pedal

[Anonymous No.261422]

How do you get started with this stuff? I've built a handful of guitar effects but I honestly wouldn't know where to start making a synth or anything.

[Anonymous No.261463]

>>261401
Fuck yeah PureData!
I forget, had you ever used it before I mentioned it in thread 0? (The initial thread months and months ago when this whole project was just an idea you were throwing around. (I wonder if we can find that one in the archives as well...))

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.261476]

>>261463

Haha! No!

I remember you. You recommended it and I saved a relevant pdf. I recently opened it open and started the tutorial. It seems awesome. I definitely look forward to using it in the future.

So, I know it can generate waves so I used it to tune my module. Before I was using audacity. I think puredata is better.

>>261422

You sound better off than I was when I started this project. I had tried and failed to make a few effects pedals a few years ago. I guess I started this project with the objective of making a functional stable oscillator and I have succeeded in doing that. I would say a single sine wave oscillator is of comparable rigor to a simple guitar effects pedal.

[Anonymous No.261560]

>>261422
The same as all projects lots of reading and research.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.262377]

Okay I am back in town. Next step: Make some functioning buttons. Then the prototype will be nearly complete, and when it is, then general assembly of the final thing starts.

>>261560

Heh, well..

I personally do read and research. But if I could share my limited advice it would be to get hands on experience as well.

[The Postman !!DTw7vvt3ETo No.262386]

>>262377
This is amazing. I'm not very musically talented (I personally only played the Clarinet, Baritone Sax, Tenor Sax and then the Bass Clarinet in middle school and then Bari Sax again in high school) but I do appreciate what you're doing. I don't remember shit from band, but this is goddamn cool. Looks fine as Hell in terms of style and design.

I applaud your efforts, sir. I hope it all goes well. I'll be watching. Keep posting!

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.263286]

Bump. No progress today.

My friend who was going to help me solve my switch problem could not meet with me today. Nothing to do at the moment.

I met someone who had seen my project online today. They didnt realize how small the module is. Its 10" by 6" by 2" in case any one here also cant see that.

>>262386

Thanks!

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.264501]

Well its August 1st. My original dead line I set back in May was to be done by now with the whole thing.

Doesnt look like its going to be finished any time soon. Maybe another two months I would guess.

Here is the plan for now. I am going to make about 4 buttons and take an average of their responses. Than from there by engineer buddy Mr. F is going to help me come up with some schematic which can switch off the button below some level of volume.

[Anonymous No.264603]

>Solafide Forbes Nash Organ: Electronic synth-organ project
>Synth-organ project
>synth-organ
>synthetic organ

did anyone else think he was talking about synthetic substitutes for human biological organs?

[Anonymous No.264650]

This has probably been the most interesting summer project on here this summer. I'm glad to see you are following through. When you are finished I expect a video of you playing it.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.265182]

Made a little button mock up just to take some averages.

I made a colossal amount of stupid mistakes in making this. I think I made three seperate laser cuts because I kept screwing it up. But I guess its best to make these mistakes now as opposed to later.

Thats kind of the curse of rapid prototyping. When prototyping is hard you get everything squared away before you make the prototype. But when its easy and you can just push a button and a computer will do it for you, you are more prone to make design mistakes that the computer isnt smart enough to recognize.

Anyway, the results of my tests were interesting. I was checking to see what the resistance is when the button is fully depressed and not depressed at all. Of the 4 buttons I just made the depressed resistance had a range of 2.5k to 5k, and the not-depressed resistance had a range of 550k to 1,330k.

[Anonymous No.266466]

Bump from page 9 - Don't you dare die on me.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.266796]

>>266466

Thanks,

Progress is coming at a slower rate now unlike in the earlier threads where I could make progress every and day report on it.

[Anonymous No.268341]

Seems like a worthwhile topic to bump.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.268453]

I am waiting on a friend of mine who was going to help me develop a circuit to control the button mechanism.

Someone had a piece of advice, that most of my switch was empty space. So I made a new version that is shorter. I might be able to make it even shorter, which saves me money and wood.

>>268341

Thank you.

[Anonymous No.268463]

>>268453
You use this trip even when you're not on /sci/?!

[Anonymous No.268473]

OMFG IS THAT A WHITEBOARD TABLE?!

Where did you get that? Did you make it? Doesn't it dent? How hard is it to use? That table is so freaking amazing!!!!

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.268498]

>>268463

Yeah. I actually barely go to /sci/ now-a-days.

>>268473

Hell yeah its a white board table! I love it. One of the members of this lab space made a handful of them for us. They are about 3 by 9 feet. They are not hard to use.

[Anonymous No.268508]

>>268498
Do you not have a problem with wiping off all the ink every time you use your mouse/move stuff about?

[Anonymous No.268527]

>>268498

Wow, I made a 4x8 table for math/study but it's no whiteboard. I can't believe the thought never even crossed my mind while I was making it.

Question: Did they re-purpose a store-bought whiteboard or did they use some sort of plastic sheet? If the latter, is there any chance you could find out what it was specifically? I've been considering covering my walls in such a material (if it exists) because all of my whiteboards always seem to small and really large ones can get pretty expensive.

captcha: iexist Henry
I'm glad my name isn't Henry or I'd be shitting brix right now.

[scroton !SW7uh6H3p. No.268564]

>>268527

You can use the white pressboard they sell in hardware stores; they sell it in 4'x8' sheets with the wall paneling and will be ~$10.

If I recall correctly, you'll want to give it a shot of car wax before taking dry erase markers to it otherwise over time it will start to absorb marks, but that stuff's pretty cheap too.

[Anonymous No.268625]

>>268564

I looked into the car wax bit and turned up a lot of search results where people said they were using something called "showerboard" treated with car wax to make a cheap whiteboard. Looking into it some more I found out that showerboard could mean different things but in those cases it referred to melamine, which coincidentally is precisely what my table is made out of!

I guess this means I'm gonna be buying some car wax and treating it later on once I get a chance. I'll post some pictures afterwards in my own thread. Thanks a lot for the inspiration OP, I would've never stumbled onto this possibility if I hadn't seen your table.

Also, I'm sorry for borrowing your thread.

[resident /sci/ economist !!0CqB7P/574e No.268698]

>>268625
>>268564

Yeah, I just asked the guy who made them for the lab.

He said he bought some stuff from home depot to make them for $12. I think he called it tempered hardwood, or masonite. He had a few terms.

But yeah, a huge advantage over to a $300 white board. They feel all smooth just like any other white board.

No problem borrowing the thread.

[Anonymous No.268747]

>>259811
I see dead threads.
all the time.