Two coincidences proabably persuaded me to flip-flop EMS development from digital/software to analog/hardware again: the lament I had at not being able to go to KnobCon 10 in Chicago, and the 50th anniversary of the release of my favorite odd-ball op amp, the LM3900. I celebrated the op amp with a post about The LM3900 at 50 over at my Beyond AN-72 blog. I'd expected to be done with my modular by now, and making that a showcase of innovation with the LM3900. Well, I was not able to do that 😂.
It's becoming more like analog and digital though. The Zynthian and Csound have a place in the electronic music studio, so it's not an either/or situation really. There can be both!
But I'm not there yet with the unique analog modular that I want.
There is such freedom in DIY analog. For one, you are actually working literally with an analog of the mathematical reals: voltages and currents that are continuous, and have noise components too. So the property of gapless intervals is important: completeness between any two ranges. For example, forming a pitch ratio. But you can build just about anything in analog, and creativity is rewarded. I have already created novel circuit designs with the LM3900.
So I think the best plan forward for my modular Model III Electronic Music Synthesizer development is to build it out with the LM3900, and then use CD4000 logic where useful for certain functions within the modules. The LM3900 gains much in combination with transistors, so some BJT designs from this blog might migrate over to the LM3900 implementations. And new ideas emerged for front panel interfaces that apply rotary function switches with color LEDs.
This DIY work going forward will be on two blogs, with the LM3900-specific design and analysis results being posted on Beyond AN-72, and any module or synthesizer integration work being posted here. Sort of the inside and outside of the Model III EMS, respectively. This synergy more represents what the Model III was supposed to be about: an interactive tool for exploration of unique sounds, tunings, and compositions.
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