ATC ST Connect it to a hi-fi amplifier and BUILD A PORTABLE SYNTHESIZER create your own special music effects. IP THE TENA “BLECTHONEE MUSE ser: ize calls to your mind 4 pictre of Water Carlos Wandering “1s eed mong 4 room Til of ealipment fs. fooned Wh thouends of RIOR 386 siches und draped with miles of cable youre litle ot of touch Aer eats of peteing togeter the acpi exeilator, Aes amd other in iid mass af ha sly dap woth Ses, an inerewing putea Yepan <9 merge. Manufacarery and Use ale ‘Thcoveted that moat ofthe weal sounds thatthe eqrpment could produce were bramble with a handful of inerent patching arrangers That was the te fining of the "normalized pararming ‘ynmestet Basclly normalized symheszer is ‘ne in which the sepa clement tre Reatue s Sp cotrn (oscars feeding alters reaing tes feeding the ouput, ordinary) wih font panel consol to slat varou 9 cilator waveforas ands the level of tdi and conel smal. Excex. ‘ula, Uniserty of obhy machines, ich cords "ee rare and sounds are anges simply by tart & Rood of tip Ping nich by JOHN S. SIMONTON, JR ‘To show how rormillzion work, and to gke you a really low eat incodoction ‘o ‘synthesis. peerally, we present the GNOME The GNOME isa micron heer tat employs te same vorage ontrl echigies that sve syntesers the alot unkimied verwlty while featuring cons thar are > simple 1 operat even clren ean ik out sonds {od tance in th at fw nu What's a synthesizer? The erent fashionable way of think ing of sybase em tars of analog comput, This baste double advantane of ring the eketroks tecmilan ck Inga movie background tsertng pot loser w hs home omping son, I fo ses the man an euvalency be tween electronic cents and the te ‘huniealcountorparts that he steady ‘oom, For example, the osellatar of & syatlesier cormponds to the Wbrating igs, reeds, or whatever of = muiel instrament. The tr correspond tothe esonane proper of the toy of the inntrumest. ‘The truer dynes (Giiack "and ecuy) cvtepond tothe Yoltgeconroned amples /funcion gen ‘rior comtination nthe sytbesar (Once a sytesner ie viewed ia hee termi hecomes immeditly apparent what ihe eel strength ofthe egepment fre Tt wool be iil 4 bud nme haneal Insurer that sombiaed the farmool suuctre of a ibeaing sing vith the reson characterises of x ge ombone, But wih the electrons equiva Ten at these elements auch ange "rose breeding fs elatvey simp. ‘The GNOME A Block diagram of he normalization scheme is Bown i Fig 1 Te bultin Contes (a siple voltae Siver) po vila co vgs ea vo ie poston of ke wiper probe lon ota of tondcive chdone The fronpne switches. routes ti conto) tele to cher the vohase contolet raltior (¥OO) er wotape conto fir (VCE). “The VCO bas two base ouput ware form: a ifarele aod 8 sare were faa cont on th met of he vat Shans th Wauearvateform apt ‘erry ale aputewore gs {2 thon duration ple ng wet ‘be opin af fer waveform 3 ow fox lace Inia eet conta Reprinted with permission from Radio-Electronics@ November, December 1975 and January 1976; - ©1997 Gemsback Publications, Inc, NY. 9101 uaeanonRADIOELECTRONIOS on the axl’ to ontate allow for selecting or mining he desiced waveforms The outputs of the owllator feed © common aldo bus as does the cutpat of the GNOMES internal noise soure, also with its own lve control, The sui bas always drives the GNOME’ VCF, but 2 switch atthe input ofthe voltage- ae ono FIG. CONTROLLER CIRCUIT contol the eration of he oscilitr best Auvanve& RADIO-ELECTRONICS ‘CONTROL SETTING Meu O}O0};0 Msn | MsxenW | M seen MA, Tanta spring ket suerte er seam yo / |. | eee Saas oaigrecthce TEREAT TAR / | eee Serpe ene cer igpranceesné op enti frome pte Rie tins yaa a ey = aan eee omer sts tr SS sue - [PERCUBSION retest S 1 | Sgrean sames, ss asta \ = wrt ~ ‘Normal sustain sesporse. Attack ae susan FIG. 19 (top lel-EFFECTS of varing the FH. 20 idle Wt) EFFECTS ofthe aut- ‘ain and repet switche 10 £1 (botiom fl}-EFPECTS ofthe sum fn properties of the resonant chamber, In ‘yee the pth (regency) of the dlr i detested by he gs a convo! Yoage upped wo 4 Yalage- ‘ontolled oniitor (VCO). Control yviagss cen be desived fom a number of ponble sours aching Stulp contol (as with the GNOME), Heyboars programmable ures of vat ‘ow pes (eoqoeners,fineion genera tors, e), foot pedals and so on. All of thet controls have in common he fst that some action onthe prt of the ope tor produces predictable changes ithe Soniralle?s ipa volage "te simulation ofa struments amis, synthesizers diverge sigh from thei coomepart mechani stems. It Wontd be ata! saan tha he os st or siggted” in some fort of way to mike its aeck and decty Slat the marl stromen eg de Tn fac the output o he ost Is orsant snd thy balding vp and 35ing aay ofthe sod simplemente by Var. ing the gain of an empire you on Inge ie would be a best amberome to tele the knob of an amplier fat rough 1 sla percussive stck bat er sean wllage conrl comes tthe reseu inthe form of a voRage-ontoled smpliter (WEA. nay th gx of he air ix male proportional othe magnitude ot 2 contol vorage and In rom exes it Controlling slag is generated by 5 p> fammabie fonction generate. ‘A funtion genre simply an els tuoi ct that in respose (0a aS ing gna produces vote tht bes to pres lel an amount of line se by {ne contol hnob(arviex) apd tea Pls Sack to ero in an amount of tne et hy {second Enob (occa). Sustain is ord tariy ondles by keoping the tieeeting ‘Salon forthe Sxred sot interval Fire 16 shows» typical example of an opiate fending 2 VCA tat being Contre bya funetion generator 0 p= ite ded emvloe "This eaves ws wth only one of the most asic natral properties 0. simulate Tce As with mechanical istumens Iminy ofthe timbre! peoperics of sound eth rol of te extn aver Brodused by the vibrating element inthe SEnrmeot and the remainder ofthe ie ‘ral orovertes ar the rest ofthe car Stee of the reson that coupe those vralons othe a. Eater we di sed the Bering characteris of ra {al rowonsor been we were leads ip to the we of an electron fers an fuuhalnt eicoit for this mechanical property. The se of eles iter wed be GNOME sta bandpass fle. sine rave applied fo te Input of tandpes fiter wil pass trough elavely one hanged it [bs at is center eequency te Ber bt il be atenuned a SSne other Gegueney. Sina, the sine (eon on pare #2)PADIO-ELECTRONICS SYNTHESIZER (continued jrom page 48} wave components of «comple signal that fare within te pess Band of the filer wil be unchanged while the components out side the passband wil be atenaated, thus Producing planned and comtelle “dis fortion” of the complex waveform. ‘Since many naura instruments depend upon the characteristics thei resonators being changed to produce diferent tones, there must alo be some means of con trolling at Teas the center frequency of ASymthelcr's ler. Ay you see expec, voltage contro i the ansuer. CConirol_voltages for a voltage con- trolled fer (YCF) can originate from ‘asisally the same sourtes a8 those that contol the osilators. If the center fre- ‘ans ba ita ita aang th ‘hanging plich of the oscar, the same voltage that is controling the oscillator in also be routed to the fer. For the “waivaa's tht ste characteris of elee= nis musi, the oalrl can originate in a function generator. in our analyin we ave deal cexclosivey with “pitched” sound soures sources that have a readily discernable frequensy and therefore an easly recon rized msieal piteh. There are aso "us pitched” sources. The concept of an uaptced musi sound mey a fist sem a exter the sound of lapping han, bot ts tally ‘ery easy vo tadertand The Ms tat You ear from en FM radio thi ned ‘einen stone i at amped so End mee yatta have roiion fer oie source tot produces hse fect. From a tecnal standpoint, i 8 the result of somvmingfogter randomly ‘arving amplitudes of al posible Tre. {eorets whi neve faqueney band "The apalcatons of nose ate Very oad, FEF example, the sound of the Share fw sare deci with pte sive envelope Ry processing noe through the proper fiery the wounds of the suet and wind re easy simulated 60, now we know afte tt abou how msl insuments Work and BOW ee tonics can be tse 10 srnte the prop. fis of thveinoments les 1k at the GNOME and depn appiying some ot these prices ‘Tha GNOME Th the early days of syntheses, each clement of a aytem war freestanding ‘module and the specie electrical eonnee- tions were made using patch cords. Patch cords allow great fnibliy but the laos ‘us task of setting Up patches Tor each ‘oice is 0 disadvaniage Lo most perform ing musicians. Ina small stem that will rot be expanded beyond 2 specie cape big, @ noemelized connection (one it Which & specie arrangement of elements Je geesniced) ir definitly the way to 95. Figute 17 shows the signal and contro! paths through the GNOME. The VCO ale Ways feeds the input ofthe VCF and the ‘VCA can set is imps either dire from the VCO ar fram the aut of the VCE. The contol voltage forthe VCA always ‘comes from the function generator. The contro voltage for the VCO can come Sither from the self-contained controll fr the power supply andi adjustable with the VCO tine contol. The VCF contrat valiagss cam come sther fram the fanc- Hon generator or the eoatroter, or Dot. This is a fairly typical noeralization seheme for small symtbesiaers and while it unquestionably limits the versity of ‘he machine, th limications ate minimal and entirely consistent with the inherent Timitatons of the simple, lw cox i city ofthe GNOME. Controle The front panel nomenclature of the GNOME is such that the controls are divided into sx sections corresponding 10 the sx major efrenie that rake up the lun These sections are 1. Gontroter 2 Tagen 5 Noise Sourco 4 Voltage Controlled Osctator 5 Voltage Controlled Filter 8. Votlage Contes Apter Controller section The builtin contol stip is nothing ‘more tan an exposed resistunee clement {hat has one end grounded and a positive votage applied to the other end. The sav {Tooth euts on the resistance sip along with the paralleling resistors inside the ase combine 10 produce a voltage distr Intian along the canal erp thet Ss ex: ponential If it were not fr this exponen Tal volnge dstibution at the contol strip semitone intervals atthe low end of the stip would seem to be bunched (0- Dutber While those atthe top end of the ‘irp would be spreat! apart, This ‘eats back othe distribution of semitone ite. val in the equally tempered musical scale The Conitlier ance. potentiometer varies the voltage that appears ecross the ‘control strip. At che maximum postion of this contra she sip i ite Jee than 4 ‘etaves long While st te mlnimam sen itis lighdy more than 12 ocive long. AS we shall ste Tater on inthis atic, the Controller and VCO nas controts inter: Act to lace the musical “length of the controler at any desired postion within the eailtors #ostave range, "The to sige switches within the con troller scion of th from patel cones the voltage that is picked off the contra strip by the wiper probe tether the VCO ‘or VCF. or bath. Sliding tha switch ba in the direction of tbe arrow connects the voltage tothe element indicated Trigger ‘There fx only one contro within the triger section ofthe front ganel and tht 5 the Tauccee bution, Whenever this bat toa is pressed, «voltage is applied tothe Urggeting inputs of the funtion penera- {ors sesvited with the VCP tnd VCA, Provisions have been made internally t9 reduce multiple triggering caused by “noisy” switch contact, but a fm prey sre om the bution iy needed 10 prevent fontact bounce Notas source ‘The single control within the noise sec lion ofthe front pane i a Lave contr that determines the amount of white noise that will appecr on the commen cusio Dus. At the minimum poston ofthis eon tel, the noise source is folate from the bus’ and the oie level increase wilh sockwisereaion font Maxim, sco ‘The nae conto whim the VCO se fon ah ont pla eens ot the cont vols nat ine of he oc- Ito cal on er ot tere stays, When the Coleco wv {hes comma vonage fe apled fo the VCO nance contol slowing these Ino o heat wo some cnn: pac a 'indepeden of he cones eon ‘When he Controle veo sth sc, the VCO mayor and. Controle atvat rio canbe usd together to atthe Aabest and lowest pitches waite fom ‘he conta si. Fg Trae hs by sme a bar 10 represen te fatal ave rage ofthe seater. Te Sle nied arom above the bar presi ‘ange of the cote sep. Rotting the Contolee ver sont wad ut tum ineais the length of the dude feded arrow acon the width of the bor For ezampe, vith bah contele ts sve, the veng o e sone fpprosinetly fom 600 Hs wo 600 He We Contler tater contol temas 3 mts, th comin wl rinlitle over thre ortaves ong but reducing the VCO miner ean cause these three oc {aves to run from 30 Ha ta 380 Hz. Notes ‘The same sight nor-lineaities that in most cisumances maka the GNOME ‘oscillator incompatible with Keyboards will ako make the length of the control sirp variable depending on the setting of the VCO nance coatral, bit under normal circumstances these errors will not be no ticeable or abjetionable ‘At the minimum setng of the RANGE control, the oxillator is off regardless of ‘the condition of the controler of the st {ing ofthe Controller veo switch, The SKEW control is a Mle unusual for synthesizers but it allows the GNOMES simple YEO to. produce 4 tal rtm (ea in SET Ns ae fener en ee ES inoreaee with a clockwie rotation ofthe contra, "The equare wave caniral determines the amount of pulse/square wave applied to the common atdio bus. The laval ine creases with a clockwise rotation of the contra vor “The vollage contralled iter may be eliminated from the audio path ently Syning the neocr switch 10 the OOF alton ® ‘There are four possible combinations of sang of the REMET and,SOSTAN Sriches and each of thee combinations produce diferent reipone. These com faton ave most any apse tb. Siar for a show in Fig 20, “The nner contol mtn the VCF se ‘am of ha fot panel an atlesator on the outpet ofthe VCF's fonction seer {Er Irv the aman of conto okase Spied to the fier from the fenton fenrator only. Shoe the regan of ie fiers i ay from one unt he net ths control danse vo tat rston fay clockwise to sax provides contd teltge arena han the asim range ote iter, This srs that maxoom Tange wi be avaible o all wis, Val et eignatng rom ie corte when the Conor ver mvtch i on 76 ot mec hugh Ms nance conte ‘The artic, contol within the -VCF secttn of fhe font pel determines he tne regu for thet’ funtion se. Eraor ouput tof ts peak The rnge ‘ths cont fom O08 seconds te finimum eng fos ie over 1 secon at main. ‘The pent conto determines the tine required forthe utot of the ft fone tn geertor fo fal fom the atc peck tacks down (0 no outpt. The range of ths conral the sae af the ATFACK contra. ‘The rasa consol is the only control that actually makes some change fo the fier sleek oan ofthis con tol rans he frequency af the fer we Simatanouny decesie te Q and Creag the fos ofthe er. normal {tr the lame of the sound to decene fs the rnea/a conto ironed fm 8 loci dieaion, vor ‘The SuSTAN switch within the CA section of the front panel serves roughly the same fonction as the SUSTAIN switch does for. the VCF. With the SUSTAIN ‘switch off (switch io the lft), presing the “HuGGeR button will cause the VCA's func tion generator to attack and then im- sdiately decay. As long asthe THOGER button is held down, the attack and decey times will be as set by these controls ‘When the Tmooen is released, 0 “muting” function takes over and qviely tums the YCA oft. ‘Turning the sustan switch on (10 the right) causes the function generator to Thal st the peak level a lng asthe THG> ‘oem botton is held down. Releasing the “rmcasa now Zauses the envelope ta decay atthe rate set bythe DECAY control. These ‘egponaee ara tabulated in igre 21. ‘The arrace contol determines the ‘amount of ume required ror he output ot the amplier to build to a peak. The range of this controls from .002 seconds at ‘minimum to sighly more then one sc- nd at maximum. "The Decay control determines the ‘amount of time required forthe amplifier {o tur off. The range of the contol is from.005 seconds at minimum to slightly ‘more than one second at maxim. ‘There are two jacks onthe back ofthe NOME cre, The mininture phone ck fs the output and it requires @ standard ‘minitore phone plog for conection Coaxial cable should always be used to conmeet the ONOME output to the fxput ofthe amplifier being used ‘The black pin Jock on the rear ce of the cas is an exiernal trigger input. For bes operation, she rlgger vole applied to this ack should exceed 8 vols bu tra- er voltages greater than 4 vols ll Pro- dhe a triagering action (triggers less than ‘voles wil not allow the Tuncdon gen: erators 10 go to their maximum level), ‘Extra! rgpering voliages must be refer enced 1 the GNOME case ground, R-E