[sdiy] Formant and ASM-1

[Peter Grenader]

My ought-2:

The fun involved with DIY is directly porportional to the limits of ones
knowledge in the field you are attempting to do yourself.

I am not an EE.  I summons knowledge once learned as an engineering tech 300
years ago to fiddle with what I attempt to do in synthsizer do-it-yourself
projects.  I am able to take the same approach in modular patch design with
circuit design. Same thing, just a couple of steps further back in the
process. Run that through one of these, this into that, etc.  Sometimes it
works out, sometimes it don't.

The only reason I do these projects is to get something done musically that
isn't available, or at a cost that does not justify it's purchase. An
example is the sequencer I just finished.  It does much more than a TBK
(although only eight steps, but you can combine them into 16 step lengths
etc) and it cost me $200.  Add a hundy for the faceplate silkcreening,
(although that will fit three Blacet modules and another two modules I've
designed).  If I went the route of Rex, the TBK would have set me back an
unthinkable amount.  Can't justify that.  OK, it doesn't have a touchplate,
but it does have a connector on the back so an external touchplate or
controller can be added at any time.

But honestly (go ahead, flog me), if these things were available, or
reasonable, I would simply buy them.  I am in this for the music. I would
feel differently if I had the expertise that most of you guys have in
design.  For me though, it's a  stressful undertaking abd thank God for all
the assistance you guys have given me. To stop a music project for a week to
research and biuld a programmable pulse generator for me is starting over
with the muiscal project.  Sometimes this makes the piece better, sometimes
though you just lose it.

Plus, I get flashbacks doing DIY from the real bozo I worked with when I was
a tech.  Weirdest damn thing.  As soon as I start dressing wires, this guy
pops in my head.  Hate that part of it!

best,  P


on 4/23/02 11:34 AM, Jim Patchell at patchell at silcom.com wrote:

> I am not exactly sure about the DIY is cheaper part for Analog
> Synths...However I will agree 150% that it is fun.
> 
> I cannot say why DIY, in general, has died out.  I suppose it is sort of
> like life...You can either sit in front of your TV and live other peoples
> lives,
> or, you can do like I did, throw that TV out the window (I did this three
> years
> ago), and have a DIY life.
> 
> Quite a while ago I wrote a letter to the editor of Electronic Musician,
> lamenting the change in the Electronic Music world from DIY (which is what
> Polyphony, the precursor to EM was all about), to buy it off the shelf.  It
> wasn't too long after that I let my subscription lapse.
> 
> Gene Stopp wrote:
> 
>> Chris wrote:
>> 
>>> we've already got it...it's called the <Internet>.....
>> 
>> Yeah at the end of the SA article it does mention "internet lists" as the
>> new place where DIY is concentrated. So this is it! Here we are, doin' it.
>> 
>> It also mentions the concept that DIY has fizzled out because the stuff you
>> used to be able to build cheaper than you could buy it is now available
>> cheaply. They give the example of telescopes and such. I think that analog
>> synthesis is a good example of an area where the "build it cheaper" concept
>> still works! Not only that, it's an area where exactly what you want is not
>> neccessarily what one of the few kit/product vendors offer. And of course
>> there's always the other two biggies:
>> 
>> a) I want to understand exactly what's going on in the circuit
>> b) It's fun
>> 
>> Best Regards,
>> 
>> - Gene
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Chris Crosskey [mailto:chris.crosskey at vicon.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 1:28 AM
>> To: SD (E-mail)
>> Subject: RE: [sdiy] Formant and ASM-1
>> 
>> we've already got it...it's called the <Internet>.....
>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Gene Stopp [mailto:gene at ixiacom.com]
>>> Sent: 22 April 2002 19:59
>>> To: Synth-DIY
>>> Subject: RE: [sdiy] Formant and ASM-1
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Yes! They actually inferred that they were partially guilty
>>> by dropping "The
>>> Amatuer Scientist"!
>>> 
>>> The magazine is certainly not what it used to be. Some kind
>>> of disturbing
>>> trend here. It's pretty watered down now. Question - does exist an
>>> alternative now? I could use something hardcore. Something like "Mad
>>> Scientist Digest". What's out there? Anybody?
>>> 
>>> I think I'm going to check out Circuit Cellar next...
>>> 
>>> Best Regards,
>>> 
>>> - Gene
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Ian Fritz [mailto:ijfritz at earthlink.net]
>>> Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 11:29 AM
>>> To: Gene Stopp; Synth-DIY
>>> Subject: RE: [sdiy] Formant and ASM-1
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> By the way, did anybody else see the "RIP DIY" article in
>>> the latest
>>>> Scientific American? Interesting....
>>> 
>>> I didn't see that. I cancelled my subscription when they
>>> stopped having the
>>> "Amateur Scientist" column.   :-/
>>> 
>>> Did they mention anything about *their* role in the decline of DIY?
>>> 
>>> Ian
>>> 
>> 
>> This e-mail, and any attachment, is confidential. If you have received it in
>> error, please delete it from your system, do not use or disclose the
>> information in any way, and notify me immediately.
>