Synthesizers

I am obsessed with synthesizers. Actually I'm obsessed with anything that makes noise, and synthesizers make the coolest and the widest range of noises, plus they are the only instrument that I know of that sounds "massive" (besides maybe an organ). Guitars, violins, flutes, and pianos all sound tiny and isolated. A synthesizer can sound like it's everywhere and is some gigantic, complicated machine that you can walk into, when it's really just a little keyboard. They can also be programmed to sound tiny, but who wants that!? I guess I like instruments so much because it's a quest for sound; to be able control those sonorous sounds that you hear on your favorite CDs. It's power. Anything anyone ever wants is power. But anyway, I have three synthesizers:

-Roland HS-60 (Juno 106)

-PAiA Fatman

-PAiA Fatman (unassembled)

The Juno was my first synthesizer. I got it for $290 off of Ebay. I play the Juno the most because it's in tune and it's a great synth to learn piano on, since it has 6 voices. I play Bach and Handel on it, something I could not do with my monophonic fatman. The sound is very '80s, it sounds like the synths on the The Breakfast Club soundtrack or on a CD of The Cure. It can make those glistening, '80s style leads and pads perfectly, imitate instruments, and do some round bass, but does not do that dirty, '70s style moog, analog sound. Therefor, it works with my fatman perfectly, the best of both worlds.

My PAiA fatman is my favorite, since I built it, and since it's so rag tag. The thing is basically just a pile of wires, and it sounds so grungy and analog. I would play it more, but I can't get it in tune. I'm currently making a case for it. It will be 24 inches wide and 18 inches tall with a sloped front panel. The panel itself will be 12x24. I need lots of panel space because I am planning on adding many things to it. When I am done, I hope to have:

   -2 Oscillators with Lee Diode mod

   -Pulsewidth Modulation

   -Subharmonic Generator

   -2 -12db/oct Filters with lowpass and bandpass modes

   -2 Envelopes with invert feature

   -Basic VCA

   -4 LFOs with square or saw shapes

   -2 Ringmodulators

   -Arpeggiator

Designing the front panel layout has been tough since I really don't know what I'm going to have in the end. I've been using Adobe Illustrator for it and the panel design is based off of the Yamaha CS 40m and Roland System 100, with Moog-ish type knobs. That was a list of what I want my one fatman to have, called "Mega Zorg. My other fatman, called "Meta Zorg" will be able to connect to the Mega Zorg through midi, or injecting the oscillator signal to the Mega VCF. This will make a collosal synth with 4 oscillators and 6 LFOs!

MODS DONE SO FAR

I have just completed some mods that have really made my Mega-Zorg sound much better:

-Ring modulator (AD633 design)

-Lee Diode modification

-John Sepulva Bandpass mod (this is great for making harpsichord sounds)

What my Mega Zorg fatman looks like now

This is a sequence of the building process of my fatman. I thought anyone curious about building synths could have a good idea about what it involves, because I was wondering quite a bit myself.

1. This is the rather small bag of parts. Ahhh... quite amazing that all these little peices of silicon, plastic, and metal can be put together to make something produce beautiful sound.

2. Soldered in the jumpers and resistors. This is the longest part in the building process because there are lots of resistors, I think about 50. Soldering is not hard. Learning is easy. It's a lot like herding water droplets. After a while, it seems the solder works for itself.

3. This is my sad attempt at trying to do a quick wiring of the potentiometers. DON'T TRY THIS! Just wait damnit! But of course you won't listen. You'll be so excited to hear what the fatman sounds like; that's how I was. Having a case made before you start building would make building the fatman MUCH easier. Me, I was ambitious and wanted my own custom case. I'm not too crazy about the tiny desktop or rack cases. I want mine to look good, but you might not care, so buy the rackmount case.

4. Ah, here's a better job of wiring, onto my metal front panel. It took about two hours. Now all I have to do is test it.

5. Testing. I've got my juno as the controller and something to tune by. Then I played. At first, it made a constant tone, and I couldn't stop it. You've got to make sure the two computer chips are in their sockets all the way. Press them down hard! Don't be afraid (well be a little cautious). Then I could play very easily after tuning it.

To describe the sound of it, I would have to say it sounds like a bumble bee, if a bumble bee could talk. Very grungy and analog. I like to use the offset tune knob and then shift between the two oscillators with the 1/2 mix. It sounds really cool. The filter could be better, I am quite spoiled with my -24db juno filter, but of course I plan on changing that.

THE CASE

My case design will be a combination of many synths. The panel design will be similar to that of a Yamaha CS 40m synth (made in Adobe Illustrator). The wooden cheeks will be like a well oil moog synth, and the shape of the synth itself will be that of a Roland System 100 expander. The second fatman will be the same as the first, except it will be smaller and have a dedicate keyboard. It will look something like the Roland System 100 synthesizer (not the expander)

I have finished my case! After months and months of planning, sawdust, and frustration, it is finished, and acutally looks quite nice (even though I broke the side panel in half!). I made it from good 'ole pine, but I put loads of stain and varnish so that it's much darker. I turned out looking very moog-ish, which is just fine with me. I will have pictures soon.


				*Zorgitron* *Synthesizers*



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