Atari Punk Stick Puts 8-Bit Synth In A Joystick

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Atari Punk Stick is a DIY project that puts an ‘Atari Punk Console’ synth into a joystick:

The problem with the Atari Punk Console is the interface; knobs can be fun but only keep me entertained for so long. A joystick on the other hand is a much more fun and active way to use interface. This Instructable will teach you how to combine the simple design of an Atari Punk Console with the fun interface of a joystick.

Details on the build are available at Instructables.

The Atari Punk Console Synthesizer

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In this video, Collin Cunningham from Make Magazine takes a look at the Atari Punk Console – one of the more popular synth DIY projects.

Here’s a video on how to build an Atari Punk Console & information on Atari Punk Console kits.

See our previous posts for more info on and examples of the Atari Punk Console.

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Atari Punk Console Kit A Cheap & Fun Introduction To Synth DIY

Atari Punk Console Kit

The Maker Shed now has an Atari Punk Console Kit available for $25 – which makes it a very inexpensive way and pretty foolproof way to get started with synth DIY.

If you’re not familiar with the Atari Punk Console, it’s a DIY synth/noise machine. The design, by Forrest M. Mims III, was originally published in a Radio Shack booklet, Engineer’s Notebook: Integrated Circuit Applications, as the Stepped Tone Generator.

The design got the Atari Punk Console nickname because of the devices lo-fi sounds.

Similar kits are available from several suppliers, so we’ve included them below, too.

Atari Punk Console Kit Sources:

If you’re more confident with your synth DIY or just want to be punk rock about it, you can build the Atari Punk Console off of the schematics. Here’s a video that demonstrates the punk schematic approachContinue reading