Electro-Music Klee Sequencer Build and Applications Thread

Scott Stites · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject:

I'm on dial-up, and I've loaded the file twice - takes about thirty to forty minutes each time I load it. If a post comes through while it's loading, the software will tell me that a post has occured, I go ahead and submit, and the attachment is gone, and I'm back to square one. Confused

vtl5c3 · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:49 pm Post subject:

I just spent the last half hour wondering about this.... "Why can't I find R23-26 on the board.... oh... there's already resistors stuffed in there... which one's right?!? 6.8K or 100K?!?" scratch

Thanks for the correction, Etaoin.

Anybody else get auto-unsubscribed from this thread? I haven't gotten any notifications about new posts for several weeks.

Scott Stites · Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:12 pm Post subject:

So did the right one's get put in initially or.....not ? (hope I didn't send you reaching for your desoldering bulb).

Occasionally I get unsubscribed from a thread; I've never figured out a rhyme or reason to it.

Scott Stites · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:41 am Post subject:

OK, here's that sample with the Klee and the MPS and the pushing and the shoving and the wheeaaayyy, heeeyy lady....

mps_mechanobalism.mp3

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Klee and Mega Percussive Synthesizer (MPS)

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Scott Stites · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:45 am Post subject:

More lowdown, groovy and sedate - Klee, MPS, and the rest of the synth in a sample dignfied to be assigned by the new ruling authority as.....

The Kleestralian National Anthem.

There will be a new tax structure......

Kleestralia.mp3

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Kleestralians are required to memorize by heart, or suffer substantial tax penalties.

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Kleestralia.mp3

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vtl5c3 · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:35 pm Post subject:

jonkull · Joined: Sep 22, 2006 Posts: 164 Location: Burbank, CA

I'm thinking about building a desktop Klee with wood ends. This one was originally inspired by EdisonRex's panel design...it's evolved quite a bit since. As I've never designed a panel before I have some questions.

First...how do you know how far to space things? It's easy to throw a bunch of circles onto an Illustrator document but how do you know how much room you need on the back of the panel where all the components and wires are? Second, I would like to have the whole thing be gray on white (as shown). Can this be done from a manufacturing point of view or should I simplify my design? Last, does anyone know a good online source of knobs (in the US...with pictures preferably)? I'd like to use metal knobs if possible.

Thanks.

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EdisonRex · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:49 pm Post subject:

Jon, that's quite an evolution. I see what you are thinking though. The groupings of the i/o jacks and the left hand side is nicely thought out. This is why I love DIY, people take ideas and run with them. That is the spirit.

Now, the main control surface... yeah, the linear with offset switches. This was where I started, actually.

From a usability point of view, there are two things I care about. One, will my fingers fit/will the parts collide, and two, can I find things intuitively.

I don't see a problem with the intuitive groupings (why should I :p) but the main issue I had was spacing the switches close enough to save space (hence the diagonal grouping) and yet not in the way of the main knobs. The issue is those main knobs will be used a LOT and not a lot else will.

I went for the radial pattern to open up hand space. I intend to try a mockup before I build, by the way. I can already tell that the blue LEDs will make a nice chase pattern, but I want to make sure I can work the controls. On this design, it looks much more compact, which is fine, just make sure your fingers aren't colliding with those bat switches.

jonkull · Joined: Sep 22, 2006 Posts: 164 Location: Burbank, CA

EdisonRex · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:34 pm Post subject:

Your Voyager and Little Phatty will work just fine with this.

It must be a luxury to have desktop space! I have so little horizontal space I have to be extremely careful what goes where. Everything is arranged.

jonkull · Joined: Sep 22, 2006 Posts: 164 Location: Burbank, CA

jksuperstar · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:01 pm Post subject:

I'm going to try to take notes from the JL Cooper CS-32 mini midi controller. I've always loved packing a monster in a gerbil cage.

http://www.sonicstate.com/features/article.cfm?id=63

If the switches were push-on push-off kind, they may work as a replacement, good idea for space & finger room!

blue hell · Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:25 pm Post subject:

Randaleem · Joined: May 17, 2007 Posts: 456 Location: Northern CA, USA

Randaleem · Joined: May 17, 2007 Posts: 456 Location: Northern CA, USA

Luka · Joined: Jun 29, 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: Melb.

hey crew

ok, so this is the first panel i have actually designed myself, i would love some feedback regarding how yall think it will fit into a modular system.
yup thats right, this is not desktop, its a 5x9U panel.

I orginally went for the circular but found it hard to work with the buss, it just got awkward and it looked like starship enterprise hehe

so this is it, this unit will be on my bottom cabinet so i placed the INs toward the top left, OUTs on the left hand side and tried to keep all my controls out of the way of patch cords, and also tried to make it so you could operate one side with one hand and the other with the other.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

im thinking the left hand side is a bit crazy and all over the place, or am i just being too pedantic?? would love to hear your thoughts

Randaleem · Joined: May 17, 2007 Posts: 456 Location: Northern CA, USA

jonkull · Joined: Sep 22, 2006 Posts: 164 Location: Burbank, CA

@ Randaleem...your response to my post gave me a lot to think about. Thanks for the help.

Jon

THeff · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:21 pm Post subject: MPS / Klee samples

Hey Scott,

I just listened to your latest MPS samples and they are way cool! The Mechanobalism sample would definitely make the Cubans start dancing here in South Florida!

My favorite is the Kleestralian! There is kind of a cool PVC tube sound in there, Cool

but the 60 Hz electrocution sound is a little frightening Laughing

Keep em coming...

Tim

Luka · Joined: Jun 29, 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: Melb.

thanks randal, yup good point
time for draft 7.3 (well really only number 2, but lets give it some autechre swing)

Scott Stites · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject:

Thanks Tim Very Happy

"Kleestralia" was what I had to record before I took those current measurements for Thomas for the locked mode on the MPS. Once I was done with those, I used the same patch to create that locked sample over on the TH forum - different settings, but the electrocution is still there.

Romeo: Glad to know you didn't have to desolder. Of all the mistakes, that one couldn't have been in a worse spot. I'm glad Etaoin found it so quickly.

All: Very cool panels, indeed!

Sunday, Igor was complaining about how bored he was, so I turned him loose on the Klee. He had a great time with it, and actually produced a few sequences that left me envious of the little squirt.

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THeff · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:10 pm Post subject: Klee & Igor Pictures

Hey Scott,

I finally remembered the name of the Aborigines instrument that your Kleestralian sample emulates...a didgeridoo. The only thing that I could picture at the time was a long piece of PVC tubing. That sample really does have a down under sound.

Do I see the MPS breadboard on the left side of the Igor / Klee pictures?

Tim

Scott Stites · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject:

Funny, I thought it had kind of an Australian groove to it, too, though I'm sure the Australians would disagree Laughing

. Sort of a "Men At Work" beat, I suppose. Of course, if I were to imitate any Australian band, it would be early Icehouse. "Icehouse" and "Primitive Man" both had a huge impact on me when they came out - that Iva Davies had his synth shit together, in my book. They still rank among my all-time faves.

No - that breadboard is one of Thomas' summer projects - either the VCA or the VCO. I robbed a pot from them here or there, and I have to re-check them before I can put them back into service. I need to do that. That VCO did a pretty good turn for the bass line in the "Do You Klee" sample.

Anyway, here's a pic of the "Kleestralia" patch (same one as the "Mechanobalism" and "Locked MPS" samples I did this weekend). The breadboard in front of the synth is the MPS. The circuit isn't as scary as that thing looks. Photon might recognize the breadboard Very Happy

.

On the synth, the far left module is the triple Wilson EG. The row of switches on it consists of the time constant switch for each EG. Down is a fast time constant, middle is medium, and up is long. Basically, each switch just puts more capacitance in parallel with the timing cap. I can't begin to stress how much I use those switches. Like the zappifying sound in "Kleestralia" - it's actually the same voice as the "whacka" sound that accompanies the MPS and UD-1 to form the percussive element in the sample. When I flip the EG timing switch from short to medium, it holds the filter (MS-20 Clone in HP mode) open longer, as well as its VCA, which lets the signal through for longer, which creates the zappifier. The signal for that is a triangle wave through the CGS Wave Multiplier, with an audio rate LFO modulating the Folds CV. I use those switches all the time with the Klee. Combining those positions with the Merge Switch settings provides a huge amount of variation out of a single Klee pattern. The Klee merge switches, BTW, brought in the MPS toms and UD1 Bass in and out on "Mechanobalism". The triggers would fire much more often when busses 1 and 3 were unmerged.

The module with the red knobs is the mixer module, which I use to fade the voices in and out on these Klee samples. It's a 4X1X2 mixer, and I've waxed on and on about its plethora of functions before. In this patch, there are seven inputs to the module (though I never used the DSC2000, which is patched into mixer B, input 3)). Each 4X1 mixer has its own output, and there is an "A+B" output used in this patch to output the combined output, which is required for this many inputs. The red knobs control the level of inputs 3 and 4 for each mixer. With no signal patched into their respective inputs, they will supply a +V offset or a -V offset (3 is +V, 4 is -V). I made the knobs red to remind me that they will be doing something if not full CCW with no input to their jacks.

The VCOs are to the right of the modular - they're just PCBs with no home. I've gotten so used to using them like that, well.....

In the Igor pics, the big module sitting on the bench supply is the Triple Wilson SVVCF - my U count on the rack is such that there's no room for it until I start a second rack.

Cheerio,
Scott

Edit: The small white breadboard on the left is the UD-1 - breadboarded for well over a year, and still ticking.....

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THeff · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:19 pm Post subject: Breadboards

Wow Scott,

Thanks for the picture of the breadboards. I like your "star ground" on the left side with the green aligator clips!

Tim

Dave Kendall · Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:55 am Post subject:

Hi
Couldn't resist posting some anagrams - hope this is not *too* OT Smile

....

electro-music Klee Sequencer:
Sleek, queer ol' eccentric muse.......

electro-music Klee:
meek electric soul

electro-music synth diy forum:

Hmm, see fun old circuitry toys........
Ohms deficiency = tumult, sorry!
Slithery, fumy semiconductor
Touchily unreformed mystics
So, my old circuitry theme's fun!

Cheers,
Dave