Wiardgroup

(sorry Professor, i just -had- to jump in on this)

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Grant Richter" <grichter@...> wrote:

> 
> It is a practical idea, but the world is not yet ready for it.
> 

i'm ready
but i gave up on any hope of obtaining the 'world's' approbation
decades ago, so this position doesn't really cost me anything. 
This appeals to me on multiple levels:

It reinforces one of my pet peeves which is tremendous frustration
that no sooner had the internet revealed that what i'd assumed was an
anachronistic private obsession with analog circuits was in fact a
nearly global phenomenon. But, as with all aspects of adult life, the
other side of the sword was revealed almost immediately. i discovered
to my private horror that the most popular topic of discussion would
become the 'form factor'!!!
The panel was the part of the module that i normally stripped off my
purchases and threw away! You can imagine my incredulity when i
discovered whole cults devoted to types of sockets!
Oh well.... back to the fringe with me! In my minority opinion, the
panel is, at best, a secondary consideration.  Therefore i'm all for
minimizing it's economic impedance on the creation of new designs.

One of the pioneers of bang-to-buck ratio, Paia discovered early on
that the only way they could hold the line on cost was to do their
metalwork in-house. Nevertheless this represented a serious investment
of capital and human resources. This kind of investment is not an
option for a one-man show in today's economy.

Fiberglass shatters. Metal bends. Pig iron requires that you use your
lumbar vertebrae as a forklift.  All materials have an Achilles heel.
In the real-world applications of my experience**  i have hauled
fragile DIY electroniums to gigs with impunity. I haul factory synths
too. i treat them all like antique violins and the only serious field
failure i ever had was in an (unmodified) Oberheim Xpander which is
wrapped in formed steel.  IMHO a fiberglass panel poses no greater
risk of failure in the field than any of my other gear.

Fiberglass can be translucent. This affords creative, space-saving
opportunities for visual feedback with LEDs

In terms of electrical properties, i don't believe that a dozen or
two, square inches of aluminum affords enough of a shielding advantage
to justify it's cost relative to metal-traced fiberglass. There are
plenty of simple shielding schemes that afford much better results
than a small sheet of aluminum deployed in only one plane.

This will ignite colorful and amusing tempests in the AH/Internet
teapot about cheap plastic synthesizers vs 'real' metal ones....Tally Ho!
However With great respect, this subject forces me to lament the
untimely passing of 'konkuro' If only for the rhetorical
potential....MAN! could he have torn this subject apart! 


Make 'em plastic, Professor!
George Jetson would be proud! 
Zoom!
-doc

PS:
i remember the Evenfall too!

**(5% regional touring 30% local venues & the rest parked in a bedroom
studio)

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "drmabuce" <drmabuce@...> wrote:

> PS:
> i remember the Evenfall too!
>

Wish I hadn't sold mine. I'll make a nice offer on an excellent/mint one.

That is a great little instrument.

It was originally slated to be the Wiard Model 3600, but I decided to pass on it because we 
could not find knobs to fit the little nubby pot shafts. They are just like TR-808 tuning 
pots. I feared the lack of knobs would limits sales too much.

Electronic Musician magazine gave it and outstanding review, citing it as one of the best 
engineered and most musician friendly instruments of its type, in spite of the lack of 
traditional knobs.

The story goes something like this (numbers may be in error, this is just gossip not a legal 
deposition).

The Mini-Modular is an ARP Oddyssey in a more compact package with MIDI and extra 
features. The filter is a state variable instead of a 4 pole. The whole instrument is built out 
of 1% metal film resistors for stability and low noise.

Chris originally sold them as kits for $400, and about 50 people bought them that way. 
Everyone else wanted them pre-assembled, so Chris found someone to do that assembly 
for $200 each, and added that with no markup to the $400. Twenty more were sold at the 
$600 price.

Chris then hooked up with a sales distributor, who added another $100 for sales 
commision bring the total price to $700. As far as I know, not a single one was sold at that 
price.

Chris did a brilliant job of engineering on the Mini-Modular. His PIC based MIDI to CV 
converter was tested for months by Darwin Grosse and is bulletproof. Chris McDonald, 
Darwin Grosse and myself put months of work into perfecting the technical and aesthetic 
details of the Mini-Modular.

Gabe Catanzaro came up with the idea to make them look like the holloween style ARPs. I 
did the actual faceplate drafting and designed the module prepatch. The prepatch is labled 
right on the faceplate with the orange color.

I was enamoured with Jim Johnson's TB-303 program at the time and I made sure the 
Mini-Modular was the perfect hardware voice for that software. It even supports MIDI on-
off switching of glide (portamento), some thing I had to fight with Chris to get included so 
the TB-303 software would work correctly.

Ya, a lot of dedicated people put much loving work into the project and it fizzled out like 
so many good ideas. Sigh. In comparison, the Pet Rock took in six million dollars and it's 
MIDI to CV converter didn't even have inputs or outputs ;^)

I wish I knew how to get in touch with Chris McDoanld today. I would like to license that 
PIC based MIDI to CV converter design for other Wiard projects. I wrote to him at all the e-
mail addresses I could find, but no reply. Probably his heart is broken and he just wants to 
forget the whole thing. I can't blame him.

> > i remember the Evenfall too!

> Wish I hadn't sold mine. I'll make a nice offer on an excellent/mint one.
>

I cannot forget the fantastic experience I had with mine and have been
desperately searching for a replacement ever since. I've been in touch
with Chris numerous times over the last several years and he's been
helpful with my numerous questions. I hope you do get in touch with
him, somehow. He didn't respond to my very last e-mail so who knows.


--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Grant Richter" <grichter@...> wrote:
>
> That is a great little instrument.
> 
> It was originally slated to be the Wiard Model 3600, but I decided
to pass on it because we 
> could not find knobs to fit the little nubby pot shafts. They are
just like TR-808 tuning 
> pots. I feared the lack of knobs would limits sales too much.
> 
> Electronic Musician magazine gave it and outstanding review, citing
it as one of the best 
> engineered and most musician friendly instruments of its type, in
spite of the lack of 
> traditional knobs.
> 
> The story goes something like this (numbers may be in error, this is
just gossip not a legal 
> deposition).
> 
> The Mini-Modular is an ARP Oddyssey in a more compact package with
MIDI and extra 
> features. The filter is a state variable instead of a 4 pole. The
whole instrument is built out 
> of 1% metal film resistors for stability and low noise.
> 
> Chris originally sold them as kits for $400, and about 50 people
bought them that way. 
> Everyone else wanted them pre-assembled, so Chris found someone to
do that assembly 
> for $200 each, and added that with no markup to the $400. Twenty
more were sold at the 
> $600 price.
> 
> Chris then hooked up with a sales distributor, who added another
$100 for sales 
> commision bring the total price to $700. As far as I know, not a
single one was sold at that 
> price.
> 
> Chris did a brilliant job of engineering on the Mini-Modular. His
PIC based MIDI to CV 
> converter was tested for months by Darwin Grosse and is bulletproof.
Chris McDonald, 
> Darwin Grosse and myself put months of work into perfecting the
technical and aesthetic 
> details of the Mini-Modular.
> 
> Gabe Catanzaro came up with the idea to make them look like the
holloween style ARPs. I 
> did the actual faceplate drafting and designed the module prepatch.
The prepatch is labled 
> right on the faceplate with the orange color.
> 
> I was enamoured with Jim Johnson's TB-303 program at the time and I
made sure the 
> Mini-Modular was the perfect hardware voice for that software. It
even supports MIDI on-
> off switching of glide (portamento), some thing I had to fight with
Chris to get included so 
> the TB-303 software would work correctly.
> 
> Ya, a lot of dedicated people put much loving work into the project
and it fizzled out like 
> so many good ideas. Sigh. In comparison, the Pet Rock took in six
million dollars and it's 
> MIDI to CV converter didn't even have inputs or outputs ;^)
> 
> I wish I knew how to get in touch with Chris McDoanld today. I would
like to license that 
> PIC based MIDI to CV converter design for other Wiard projects. I
wrote to him at all the e-
> mail addresses I could find, but no reply. Probably his heart is
broken and he just wants to 
> forget the whole thing. I can't blame him.
> 
> > > i remember the Evenfall too!
> 
> > Wish I hadn't sold mine. I'll make a nice offer on an
excellent/mint one.
> >
>