This is an audio demo video of the Planet Synth Sound Lab Plus Semi Modular 19 inch 4 unit rack synthesizer.

Planet Synth is a boutique synthesizer retailer run by Mike Lamay, who builds custom synths based on Ray Wilson’s Music From Outer Space designs.

Details on the synth below.

via PlanetSynth:

The Sound Lab Plus rack mount is being used as a stand alone sound box here. The last half of the vid just uses the S&H output to Modulate the VCF Cutoff.

19 INCH 4 UNIT RACK (19X7 INCHES)

• 2 VCO (1VOLT OCTAVE) WITH SYNC
• 1 SAW VCO (OSC 2 MOD OSC 1)
• 1 WAVEFORMS – SAW, SQAURE, PWM
• MIXER
• LP/HP FILTER
• 2 LFOs (SQUARE, TRI, RAMP, SAW WAVEFORMS)
• 2 ATTACK/RELEASE ENVELOPE GENERATOR (GATE, TRIG, TRIG REPEAT MODE)
• Sample and Hold
• VCA
• Patchable
• MANUAL GATE BUTTON
• ALL HIGH QUALITY CONSTRUSTION

Via Ray Wilson, comes a cool Music From Outer Space Weird Sound Generator mod that adds step sequencing.

via theraywilsonshow:

If you’ve already built the MFOS WSG you may be asking yourself… what next? Well maybe the MFOS 10 Step Sequencer would be a good follow on project. This video shows how the MFOS 10 Step Sequencer can be used to control the WSG with a small modification to the WSG. For complete details about the mod go to www.musicfromouterspace.com.

This video, via PlanetSynth, is an audio demo of the sound of the Music From Outer Space (MFOS) Sound Lab Mini-Synth.

Ray Wilson’s Music From Outer Space has introduced the Sound Lab Ultimate, an advanced three-vco monosynth.

Description:

If you’ve always wanted to build your own analog electronic music synthesizer, the MFOS Sound Lab Ultimate may well be exactly what you’ve been waiting for. The MFOS Sound Lab Ultimate is a completely new single board mono-synth from MFOS with the sickest set of features you’ll find on one PC board:

• Three Musically Accurate VCOs (sawtooth and variable width rectangular wave forms, pulse width modulation, hard-sync, log and linear CV inputs)
• VCOs provide plenty of tracking range. Listen to the samples below.
• White Noise Generator
• Active Mixer (for VCOs, noise and external input)
• Voltage Controlled LP Filter (12db/Oct doubles as a sine wave oscillator)
• Voltage Controlled Amplifier (log response)
• Attack Release Envelope Generator
• Two Low Frequency Oscillators (square, ramp, tri and sawtooth waveforms)
• Repeat Gate Generator (doubles as another square wave LFO)
• Sample & Hold (with variable sample rate and glide)
• Attenuator Bank (for an infinite variety of modulation patches)
• Patch Panel Design (provides infinitely variable combinations of sounds)
• Professionally machined panels and PC Boards available from MFOS
• Sound Lab ULTIMATE “Expander” already on the drawing board.

You can preview the sound of the Sound Lab Ultimate below. More details and demos are available at the MFOS stie.

This is a demo of the TF50 Modular Synthesizer, a DIY project based on designs of Thomas Henry and MFOS.

via MRBLITZER

This is a demonstration of the RADCASTle, a monophonic synthesizer using analog sound-generating circuitry driven by a microcontroller.

This was a ECE4007 Senior Design Project at Georgia Tech in the Fall 2008 semester. The team members were Robert Estelle, Logan Snow, Hoan To, and Greg Hartl.

The analog boards were purchased from Ray Wilson of Music From Outer Space. The team developed custom boards to interface the various analog synth boards with a PIC microcontroller through digital-to-analog converters.

via abovenyquist

Image: Unearthed Circuits

Saturday Synth Porn: Doesn’t this awesome build of Ray Wilson’s Weird Sound Generator make you want to make some noise?

You can find out more about Wilson’s Weird Sound Generator, a DIY synth project, at the Music From Outer Space site.

The Shoe-thesizer is a two oscillator synthesizer with a filter built into an old Converse All-Star shoe:

The synthesizer circuit is based off a circuit (WSG by Ray Wilson) which uses three schmitt triggers. One for each of the oscillators and an extra for modulation. It also uses an op-amp to make a simple, yet effective, filter.

In the tongue of the shoe, there is a piezo transducer which is set up in parallel to one of the oscillators causing the voltage to spike, giving the synthesizer some cool rhythmic sounds. There is a switch that allows you to choose one or both oscillating frequencies to be mixed in to the output. The knobs were placed where the shoe-lace holes are and the output jack was placed in the toe area. I built this circuit during my freshmen year of high school for a science fair.

Trying getting this through your next TSA security check.

Image: Aud1073cH

Synthitar

This is a synth guitar, built from a second hand First Act mini electric guitar, stripped down, and rebuilt using Ray Wilson’s WSG synth schematics. It’s black, with a metal flake flame paint job.

It features one Wacky/Weird/Zany voice, and without the oddness filter (it can plug into guitar pedals for effects and filters.) Two ribbon controllers on the neck control the wacky and weird oscillator frequencies. Controls where the pickup used to be effect the Zany oscillator, and switches near the neck control the wacky send and range.

This is an demo video for the Music From Outer Space Sound Lab mini-synth.

This project is fun for someone with intermediate to advanced electronics skills who wants to make cool sounds. It makes a great first synth project, but is interesting enough for the seasoned synth person, too.

via YpsiSynth:

A few things and some with the SoundLab.

I am building 5 like this one, a black faced, 3 white faced, and a black yellow (EDP WASP look)faced.

This is built into a Polycase ABS case. Runs off an AC adapter (included).

I’m very impressed with the tracking of these synths when Tuned correctly.

Mostly all 1% resistors used throughout. Nice smooth 24mm Alpha pots give a great feel to the knob action.

In this modular synth demo, Thomas White shows how he creates analog swing time, all while filming while looking into the camera for the first time.

It may sound a little tricky, but White makes it look pretty easy.

Got any other modular rhythm tricks? If so, leave a comment!

via djthomaswhite:

Have you ever wanted to add “swing time” to your modular sequences?

I have!

Typically I have used MIDI, or a swung clock signal from my 909 or other Roland drum machines to achieve it. But, on a plane ride back from Portland I realized what I needed to do in order to get it going in my synth.

The equipment needed is, most importantly, a VC-LFO and a Frequency or Pulse Divider. The clock signal is sent to the sequencer. The clock signal is also sent via a multiple or y-cable to the pulse divider.

Dividing the clock signal by 2 allows you to have a pulse on every other step of the main clock signal. Take that half-time clock signal and patch it to an Envelope Generator. The output of the EG goes to the FM input of the VC-LFO.

By setting the decay/sustain time on the EG and the FM time on the LFO right you can offset every “up beat” to get the swing going. It will take a bit of dialing in to get it right, but hey, it’s a great lesson for me either way.

Now I have a whole new world of possibilities opened up with my same old modular synth. Thanks for stopping by!

Now go and check out synthtech.com and musicfromouterspace.com to buy these great modules!

The LZX Industries Monolith is a performance monosynth based on the MFOS (Music From Outer Space) Soundlab Plus, featuring a 37 key 1V/Oct keyboard, as well as extensive modulation controls. 

This video demonstrates control via an external sequencer. A Midibox SEQ3 controls both oscillators and gates the envelope generator.

It’s unclear if this is simply a nice DIY synth or if LZX plans to release this commercially.

DIY Analog Synthesizer Demonstration

via GVNZ9:

This is my DIY Synth. Using schematics from Ray Wilson, Thomas Henry and Marc Bareille, i’ve bulilt my owm machine featuring:

2 XR VCO
1 24dB Lowpass Filter
1 12dB State variable Filter
2 ADSR
2 VCA
1 LFO whit S&H
1 white noise generator
1 MIDI-CV (mcv876-4CV)
there is also a modular section in the lower-right corner of the upper half, allowing to reach almost every output&input of the single circuits. Patching an input overrides the internal connections to that input.

The XR vcos are great! Those allows continuous variation (called SKEW) from triangle to saw and from sine to “rampoid” (sort of saw with sine-ish decay) waves. I added sync switches, fm switches, lfo to skew, lfo to pitch switches, vco to skew switches.

The 12dB filter has a special feature: beyond the LP, BP, HP output it has an output wich continuosly blends the LP and HP outs according to the LFO signal

the LFO outputs saw, ramp, triangle waves and a S&H stage output. The S&H is clocked by the LFO and feeded with white noise.

Apart from circuit schematics, I made everything: PCBS, enclosure, panels, knobs, labels. The enclosure is made of walnut and can be closed and carried as a suitcase.

once closed it measures (HxWxD) 23×33x14 Cm and weights around 6Kg

took many hours of work and cost me something around 250€

This video, by Thalassa77, demonstrates the Music From Outer Space 16 Step Analog Sequencer, a DIY analog sequencer, designed by Ray Wilson.

Features:

• 16 steps
• Every Step has Gate On/off
• Coarse and Fine tune pots for programming
• Internal clock with variable rate
• Clock Out
• Synced start with external signal
• Clock in ( work slaved to external clock )
• Voltage out with or without portamento and simultaneous available

Ray Wilson’s Music From Outer Space Weird Sound Generator is a popular synth DIY project.

Wilson notes:

This is not even a shadow of a real music synthesizer but merely a fun little noise maker.

Building a WSG, while fun, is not a deeply scientific or religious experience. The WSG does not look or work at all like a synthesizer used by anyone whose name rhymes with either Cakeman or Bemerson. The WSG does not have a keyboard, it has a few knobs and switches. Do not expect to use the WSG in concert. The WSG makes mildly entertaining, droning beeps and boops.

It is designed to be built on a solderless breadboard and experimented with or put on a proto-board or PCB and placed into an outlandish case for fun by electronics hobbyists. That, as they say, is the entire enchilada.

Resources:

• WSG at the MOS site
• Matt Stanfield’s Awesome WSG Blog
• Scott Stites’ DIY site
• Dozens of Weird Sound Generators on flickr

This is a demo video of the Whacky Sound Generator, a synth DIY project from Music From Outer space.

MFOS Modular Analog Sequencer 1 of 8

Click here to view the embedded video.

MFOS Analog Sequencer 2 of 8

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MFOS Analog Sequencer 3 of 8

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MFOS Analog Sequencer 4 of 8

Click here to view the embedded video.

Are you ambitious! If so this is your project! This is not for the faint of heart synth diyer. There are kludges, value changes, two boards a new front panel. But when you are done you will have a truly cool piece of analog synth gear. If you’re looking for your next project and you’re a seasoned synth diyer this may be the one you’ve been looking for.

Details are available at the site.

• Nine new modular synth panels, including designs for Oakley Triple LFO, Oakley VC-LFO, the Wogglebug and more
• PCBs – YuSynth CV Standards boards and kits.
• EMS-style knobs

Bride Chamber is turning into a great resource, offering supplies for building CatGirl, Music From Outer Space, Tellun Corp, Oakley Modular, YuSynth and Bride Chamber modules.

As Wilson describes it, “Whether you need weird sounds for a movie, performance art, neighbor annoyance, or you just like making weird sounds in the woods this circuit is for you. You could put this on a radio shack breadboard and be up and making weird sounds in an hour or so.”

The project is small, cheap, battery powered, quick to construct and can make an interesting variety of sounds.

“If you have kids make one for them and they’ll keep their sticky little hands off of your Moog or Buchla or (and far more importantly) your lovingly crafted synth-diy treasures,” notes Wilson. Modular synthesists take note.

Because of the simplicity of the circuit, it’s becoming a popular DIY project, with many builders hacking the synth into interesting enclosures.

Wilson’s site also features many other DIY projects, including the Sound Lab Mini-Synth.