Finally finished my Soundlab

Lemmy · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:40 am Post subject: Finally finished my Soundlab

It's a great sounding synth. Thanks Ray for sharing it with us!
I've also managed to learn a lot more about electronics thanks to this project and the helpful forum members here. (Specially Pehr, Randaleem, peterw, Zodiak and others. Thanks all. And Forrest Mims III Smile

In time-honoured tradition, here's a pic, and some audio - I put some Soundlab noises over an 808ish beat.
I made a Flickr set with a few more pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/59792904@N00/9U6F0i

Phew. Well I think I might try to build something a bit simpler next time. Maybe one of those flashing LED Christmas trees? Wink

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Pehr · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:09 am Post subject:

Awesome new SL there! Very Happy

Great sounding too! Cool

RF · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:10 am Post subject:

Nice looking Soundlab, Lemmy!
Congrats.

I like flashing LED Christmas trees as much as the next guy...., but ya know... Rays 16 step sequencer would be nice sitting next to that SL...and maybe a small modular....Then you can get around to the LED shrubery.

bruce

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:28 am Post subject:

Very nice work Lemmy!
Is that a S&H you fitted in there?
Stylish, clean, professional lookin. Very Happy

Lemmy · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 8:00 am Post subject:

Thanks!
Yup, it's S&H Unkle. It adds a lot to the SL's sound range.
Bruce I know what you are saying, and I was thinking at one point of making a detatchable lid for the Soundlab with a sequencer built into it.

But for the moment I am going to put my feet up and bask in the glow of finishing the SL... And make some tunes... Not putting the soldering iron away just yet though Smile

(Actually I'm thinking percussion once I've got time for a new project - DS8 or Thomas Henry? Any recommendations?)

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toybox · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:07 am Post subject:

Good job

looks and sounds vary nice!

Zodiak · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: Finally finished my Soundlab

This is the Mutts mate, you should be rightly proud of it. Very Happy

Take a few days off to fiddle with it before starting the next project Wink

tommi · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject:

Very clean work ! And I like the track you 've made with it.

gubbeper · Joined: Oct 10, 2005 Posts: 50 Location: Sweden

looks awesome. Very Happy

Congratulations!

/Per

Adam-V · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject:

Nice one! What did you do the front panel with?

Cheers,
Adam-V

Lemmy · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:31 pm Post subject:

Hi Adam,
It's a Schaeffer.de aluminium plate without any engravings. The text is done with Lazertran water-slide decals that are baked on to the metal.

Lazertran is pretty fiddly but you can get OK results if you're patient. Here are my tips for using it.

1. Cut the transfer to be very slightly smaller than the plate. If the transfer hangs over the edge, it won't bake on properly.

2. Getting the transfer onto the metal plate in one piece can be tricky as its so fragile. The best way I found is to put the printed transfer into a basin of water upside down. Leave it just long enough for the water to soak through all of the paper backing. Then lift the transfer up, with it still on the paper backing. Put the whole thing face down onto your metal plate, then gently slide off the paper backing, leaving the transfer in place. If you need to move the transfer about on the plate, or smooth out bubbles, use lots of water. The tiniest bit of friction will tear it.

3. When the transfer is in place with all the bubbles smoothed out, leave it to dry.

4. Put it in the oven at the lowest possible heat for at least an hour - an hour and a half is better. I found if I closed the oven door, it was too hot and it started to bubble up. So I left the oven door very slightly ajar for the first hour and a half.
After that, the transfer should have settled onto the metal. Close the oven door and start increasing the heat slightly every 20 minutes or so for another hour and a half, or until there is a dull shine on the transfer. That tells you its baked on.

Having learnt all this the hard way, I think I'm going to look into screenprinting the next time. Smile

Adam-V · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:51 pm Post subject:

Thanks Lemmy, I though it might have been Lasertran but wasn't sure. I've tried to use it a couple of times but was not really successful. I had more success using press-n-peel but I've only ever done small panels.

Cheers,
Adam-V

widdly · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:43 pm Post subject:

That is really nice!

What did you use for the Midi->cv part?

Lemmy · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

hi,
It was Marc Bareille's midi->cv circuit, on his site here: http://m.bareille.free.fr/

You can find some details about using the aux cv to control the filter cutoff in another thread I started.