Modular SyntheCYzer

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Inspiration

About a year ago I stumbled across a youtuber who made himself an instrument he dubbed the modulin. The modulin is a custom made modular synthesizer meant to be held and played as though it were a violin. I was intrigued by his creation and fell into the rabbit hole that is sound synthesis. I hope to soon buy PCBs and make my own custom synth, and I used HackISU as a medium to breadboard my whole design all at once.

What it does

A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument. The synth has 4 modules and each serves a specific purpose, but they can be combined for more complex motives. The modules are as follows: The attenuverter: This module acts as volume control for 4 channels, and as an added bonus it can invert any signal, AC or DC The LFO: (Low Frequency Oscelator) his module can lay the foundation for a tempo or a strong bass line. The ADSR: (Attack Decay Sustain Release) Also known as the "envelope generator" creates a waveform of specific proportions as specified by the user when The VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) Can modulate the amplitude of an input signal based on the amplitude of a voltage source.

How I built it

Sweat, tears, $50 worth of Digikey components, and a handful of handy schematics on the internet.

Challenges I ran into

Not all of those internet schematics were quite as helpful as they purported to be, leaving me with the occasional smoking IC.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I have never bread-boarded on this scale before, and this is the first actualization of a project that I have long imagined doing. Tuttle would be proud of me for having powered all of the op-amps correctly. I am most proud because nobody owns a combination of modules just like mine, and that makes my work unique.

What I learned

I learned that when dealing in large, tedious tasks with long intervals between tests, its best to be slow and methodical, making notes on work completed and work to still be done. Also, and more widely applicable, In the times I was feeling down for having several unsuccessful tests, or feeling lost about what direction to take my project next, I could find comfort in my friends.

What's next for Modular SyntheCYzer

I will be implementing the circuits that I successfully implemented this weekend into a more permenant PCB based solution, and eventually build a case for my modules to all be housed in one convenient location.

Built With

• buttons
• capacitors
• electrical-tape
• op-amps
• potentiometers
• resistors
• solderless-breadboards
• wall-warts
• wires