Analog Synth Help

Hahnium · Joined: Apr 21, 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Australia

Hi Everyone!

I'm in the process of building my own analog synth and need help with the MIDI control and the arpeggiator. I'm trying to put it together for 6 Voices, with CV in on certain monophonic parameters as well as Pulse width. Now, as well as the arpeggiator, I need help with assigning the voices for 6 voice polyphony, as well as being able to have a 2 octave keyboard.

Even just Note In + On/Off would be useful.

Now if anyone can help here, it would be appreciated. Patch memory is not one of the essentail feature I want to add,
but it would be nice. The patch display just has to be a 3 number affair, as I don't want to go overboard.

Also, all Oscs, filters, Amp, and Envs are doing to be discreet components, as it is easier for me.

This must seem like a lot for a beginner, but without poly or MIDI controlled parameters, this would be easier.

For patch memory the following need to be controlled :

- Arp On
- Arp Pattern
- Arp Octave
(I need some help adding this section)

- Osc 1 Octave, Shape and Pulsewidth
- Osc 2 Octave, Shape, Pulsewidth and semitone
- Osc Mix (This is going to be a slider)
- A Ring Mod and pitch knob for both oscillators
- Lowpass and Highpass Frequency and Resonance (Again, the frequencies of the filters controlled by sliders)
- Two ADSR generators (Both selectable between Lowpass Filter Cutoff and Highpass Filter Cutoff and amount knob)
- Amp selectable between Env1 or gate.
- Mono mode, and Poly Unison between 1, 2, 3 and 6 voices.

Any help, advice links etc would be exhaustingly appreciated.

kkissinger

slugger · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:01 am Post subject:

Just something to keep in mind... if you want 6 voices in a discrete-component analog synth, that means building 6 of everything which contributes to a voice.

Also, here are some links which I've found useful (fellow noob here):

Experimentalists Anonymous schematic archives
Music From Outer Space
Squidoo Build-A-Synth links
CGS modules
E-music DIY

Also, this very site has a fine links index.

metal_head_82 · Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:51 am Post subject:

Perhaps you shoulkd start with building a completet voltage controlled module and use this little thing here:

The Doepfer MTV16
http://www.doepfer.de/MTV16.htm

They also offer some other modules. But as a starting point for MIDI this thing seems quiet right.

fengland · Joined: Feb 18, 2010 Posts: 50 Location: Burlington, VT

Hahnium,
I agree - start simpler. Usually arpeggiation is used to simulate chords on a monosynth, so I'm not sure why you want it on a polysynth or how it would work.
I built a midi to cv/gate interface with arpeggiation built in for my little modular using an atmel avr attiny26 microcontroller and an r2r resistor dac - it works pretty well. I can give you the avr C code if you're interested.