I built an analog POLYPHONIC SYNTHESIZER from scratch
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
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In this video I talk about the technical details of my DIY digitally controlled analog polyphonic synthesizer.
This is the first video of a series where I talk more in depth about the different components. All schematics and PCB layouts can be found on my GitHub site.
I’M BUILDING AN ANALOG POLYSYNTH - AGAIN PT1: • I’m Building an Analog...
How I built a PATCHABLE ANALOG SYNTH from scratch: • How I built a PATCHABL...
A full SYNTHESIZER on one board including MULTIMODE FILTER: • A full analog SYNTHESI...
Designing a VOICE CARD for a POLYPHONIC SYNTHESIZER: • Designing a VOICE CARD...
Thinking of a new design for an analog POLYPHONIC SYNTHESIZER: • Thinking of a new desi...
Polykit-6 Demonstration: • DIY digital controlled...
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0:00 - Intro
0:42 - Motivation & design choices
2:12 - Basic synthesizer & polyphony
4:00 - PCB layout excursion
4:56 - DCO
5:43 - State variable filter
6:41 - ADSR
7:06 - VCA
7:17 - LFO
7:29 - Chorus
7:42 - Additional components
8:11 - Conclusion & outlook
9:08 - Demo
Specs are:
- 6 voices polyphonic analog DCO based on Roland Juno 106 using a single Raspberry Pi Pico
- Sawtooth and square signal
- PWM control (manual, LFO)
- Voice stacking and de-tuning
- MIDI input
- MIDI pitch bend
- MIDI portamento • Adding PORTAMENTO to R...
- CEM3350/AS3350 state variable filter
- Lowpass and bandpass output
- Frequency cutoff/center control (manual, ADSR, LFO)
- Resonance control (manual, LFO)
- LFO
- 2x ADSR based on CEM3310/AS3310 (SVF, VCA)
- Roland Juno 60 chorus clone
Attention! This is not for beginners in electronics nor a finished product.
Synthesizer Basics:
• Video
• Video
• Video
• Video
Kicad Replicate Layout Plugin: github.com/MitjaNemec/Kicad_a...
DCO:
blog.thea.codes/the-design-of...
• How DCOs work, differe...
Yusynth VCA: yusynth.net/Modular/EN/VCA/in...
GliGli Juno 60 chorus clone: gliglisynth.blogspot.com/2014/...
#synthesizer
#polyphonic
#diy
Here is my new approach on building a polysynth: ruclips.net/video/3vlqWBn1umI/видео.html
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Amazing ! I can't wait for the video series to understand your different modules. Congrats again!
Cool, thank you! Be a bit patient though. I'll try to release a new video every month.
This is certainly not a trivial project. When I route boards I route the ground and power first. Then signals can fight their way to wherever they need to go. One must always have priorities.
Thanks! Yeah, sure. I mean this is what I came up with and worked for me. Cheers!
@@polykit I just thought it was odd that it sounded like you did not route the power and ground first. I find the best layouts come from the shortest ground paths. Once that's right the rest falls into place. Or you move stuff around until it does.
Looks and sounds fantastic. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! I'm glad you like it.
Great project ! Lots of good energy and passion ❤
Thank you so much!
Great project, what a work you've done! Thanks for sharing. Subscribed, like to see more
Awesome, I appreciate it!
Awwwwwsome!!! I love all of the analog synthesizer so much!
It's a typo. It's supposed to be "awesome."😂
Cool, thanks!
Wow this is amazing..... I might want to make something like this one day.
Man! Awesome & and very beautifull layout!! :-)
Thanks a lot!!1!
SO cool!
Kudos! Massiv work
Thanks a lot!
wow, das ist beeindruckend, kein wunder gibt's da nicht so viel material dazu in der DIY szene. Echt cooler Synth und ich mag das front panel design und klingen tut er auch noch toll.
Danke! Schön, dass es dir gefällt.
Amazing work, congratulations 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you!
This is amazing! I was just looking at how the Juno worked and thought there must be a way to do this easier now in the world of Arduinos and raspberry pi's. This video was the answer to that lol seriously great job man🙌
Cool, thanks a lot!
Thank you so much man. I’m going to (try to) build this. New subscriber ✌🏻
great build, and great sounding!
Thanks for your nice feedback!
vraiment génial !! c,est la 1er vidéo que je vois sur un synthé DIY, Polyphonique !!
j,ai meme du mal à trouver des plans, tellement cela ne concerne que les monos. Un grand merci !!!
Merci!!
Absolutle great work thanks for sharing :-)
Thank you!
Adding the idea to my stack. I now see a clear path to a hybrid patch and stand alone system. Considering the PRJC Teensy 4.1 for the digital but may parallel with a RP2040. Nice. subbed.
I am very new to DIY modular synths. My interest is the DIY electronics angle w/ the musical part secondary. As I get closer to building some modules, I have started to think about full MIDI/ Digital control of an analog synth. I like the ideas you laid out here and in your video about maybe making a card based polysynth w/ digital control. I am very interested to see what you do next.
Nice, thank you! There are quite a few DIY MIDI to CV options and also keyboards/sequencers with CV output. Keep at it, it's a very rewarding hobby!
sounds awesome 👌
Thanks, very much appreciated!
Sagenhafte Arbeit!
Danke!
Legendary vid
Cool, thanks a lot!
Wow it sounds amazing and you built in a chorus module that's cool
Cool, thanks 🤩
Really great project.
Nice, thanks a lot!
Stumbling on these videos again after a year must be a sign from the universe that I need to get into polyfonie. 😅
Very impressive! My compliments! I'd like to try but i've no experience in DIY electronics.
Thank you very much! Maybe it’s not the best project for starters but should be possible.
@@polykit i defenitely will start reading up on this subject!
I would LOVE to build this!
Go ahead, it’s all on my GitHub. Also check out my new approach of building a polysnth, maybe a bit easier to build but not finished yet. Cheers!
Very cool! I found the project files for the voice card, but Is there gerbers or anything for the interface/control panel that they plug into?
Thank you! Check out github.com/polykit/polykit-x-monosynth if that's what you mean.
Marvellous indeed. A LOT of thought and hard work. Elegant choices for all stages...a lovely chorus and filter pairing...i love it, well done sir...
i should give myself the excruciating pleasures of engineering all this myself also...
but you have done so well here. i think i would like to stand on your your shoulders and have a go at building your great poly6 and concentrate a little more on actually playing the instrument!..i wanted to ask...are all parameters midi controllable?
Thank you! No, only notes and pitch bend are controllable by MIDI. There is no DAC to control other parameters. This will be different in the voice card project I made a video about. All parameters will be controlled by a DAC and patches can be stored and controlled by MIDI.
@@polykit Aha! Gotcha. Fantastic. Thats the way - build, iterate, learn , refine...
...yes dacs and buffers for all signals is my choice too, the digital and analog are seamlessly integrated ... though of course it ups the specs! Great, i look forward to your progress onwards....
...enjoy the processes!
i asked because I'm trying to work towards a playable set up for live stuff and the constraints of two hands and feet (and a mouth ) are my control limits! Midi means i can make foot switches that can change a set of params without the twiddling process ... its all fun ...and we're all discovering as we go .... but yes, very inspiring stuff, thankyou for keeping it all open source .
💫🌟💫
Hey man! Have you ever looked into how organ-poly"synths" from Solina or Hammond work?
I personally have a Solina, and have been thinking about using that VCO and divider circuit to do a DIY poly synth. It basically works with one VCO that is divided down and split into a separate frequency per keyboard note. This means it essentially has unlimited voices, because all notes operate independently. You would still need quite a few dividers (I believe 7 or 8) per VCO, but the schematic for that should actually not be difficult at all to implement in a synth with a MIDI connection and a microcontroller/multiplexer instead of physical switches for the keys.
Actually, I did looked at it. I own a Crumar Stratus which is exactly that. All notes are derived from a master oscillator for all keys. It uses TDA1008 integrated circuits to divide down the frequency. Problem is that you still need an envelope, voltage controlled filter, VCA etc. for a proper polysynth per voice and this brings the limitation. The Crumar has that six times and a specific set of notes are assigned to one of the voices.
Really, really solid work! How do you manage tuning each voice? I've been considering a project like this, and that's one of the first hurdles I've come across.
That’s why I chose a DCO, tuning is not needed. The frequency of the oscillators is a subdivision of the microcontroller clock. Check the link about the DCO in the description for some details.
If you got something already set up just use a phone tuner for each voice
@@ChurroLightyear I don't have anything built yet - just thinking through a design. The Deckard's Dream (and probably others) use a cool self-tuning function for when it inevitably drifts a bit, but of course with a DCO you wouldn't need that. I'd be curious if there are any detectable differences between a DCO and a well tuned VCO.
@@monkeyplusplus oh that would be sick. If you find any autotuning things lemme know. but for now ill embrace the drift like my grandmas piano. Re
Most of my non diy gear has some self tuning stuff but the solely dco stuff I have all tracks really well. For my vco stuff without autotuning it all stays in tune after its warmed up for a very long time
@@monkeyplusplus there isn’t a difference in the actual waveform of an analog DCO, it’s just digital control. People claim DCOs sound less fat, but that’s due to a lack of ‘slop’, very subtle pitch instability. Particularly in multiple oscillator setups, as the very subtle unison effect of two oscillators with slight drift are perceived as fatness.
Dang it sounds wonderful. Question. I’ve always found synths with larger components (ex oscillators on Jupiters) to sound quite heavy, heavier than miniaturized integrated circuits. (Example. Sound of original Pro One vs Behringer Pro 1) Is this incorrect?
I don't think that this would make any difference. In the end it is only a package and the component inside is the same. I would assume in vintage synthesizers component tolerances were much higher than nowadays. Also companies selected specific components out of many to get a specific behavior/sound. This knowledge is most likely lost in modern clones.
wow! massive effort. How do you save/load presets?
It is not possible to store presets/patches with this setup. I’m working on a new polysynth where everything is controlled by a microcontroller and storing presets is possible.
Hi from Hellas. I like your channel and subscribe to it. Since i 've start using arduino, I was wondering if it's possible to interface a sound blaster like AWE32 or similar to build a midi synth. Of course we can use both arduino or other microcontrolers as well to combine them. I think that this approach can give even more interesting sounds. Thanking in advance.
hey i was taking a look at the project and i was thinking if it would be possible to implement glide/portamento to the DCO, unfurtunately i suck at coding so if it is possible would you know how to implement via hardware or a good midi code example?
It should be totally possible to implement this in software. There are MIDI CC commands for portamento on/off and time. I will take a look at this when I have some spare time. Thanks for the input!
I added some basic portamento functionality to the DCO, see ruclips.net/user/shortsDGcm8E8b2Ko
wish i could do something like this
Great project IMO! Is it possible to add a patch bay here which will allow to make RM, FM and HardSync between different DCOs (voices)? This feature (at least some of) is possible inside C64's SID sound chip and is pretty unique.
Hmm, most of this should be already possible in software. Frequency and amplitude are controlled by the Pi Pico. You could use the in-built ADC or MIDI to control these parameters.
@@polykit I mean the possibility of analog FM to make cross-FM possible as well. For different weird sounds :) ADC will distort FM at high ends I may suppose.
BTW, is it possible to include the triangle wave as well? I don't know if it's different for DCO (vs VCO) and how much additional space/ICs this will require.
Ah, ok, I see. No, at least not with the current design. Adding triangle output would be rather simple. A waveshaper to get triangle out of the ramp signal would be two additional op-amps and some passive components per voice.
its bit like a juno106 all a jup 8
beautiful project, one question though, how long could it take to build?
Hard to tell. It very much depends on your skills. This is not a finished product in any way. You need to have the PCBs produced, source all the components, solder everything, build a case, troubleshoot and so on.
@@polykit OK thank you. It's my last year of school and I would like to present something like this for exams and I should accomplish it in 4 months
@_General.Kenobi_ this is definitely doable. Also take a look at my voice card approach, might be easier to get something done. Good luck!
Why a DCO in place of a VCO?!
It simplifies the build a lot and you have direct MIDI control.
How many hours and dollars do you estimate it would take to make one of these, if somebody was following your design?
Hard to tell. I would say $700+ and 100+ hours if you know what you are doing. But those are really rough estimations.
@@polykit I appreciate the estimate! Great work. I'm making a digital poly synth with a teensy now. I can only imagine how difficult an analogue one would be. But well worth it it seems.
I find this super interesting and also during your design phase one can understand why back in the day e.g. the Juno 106 was built this way by Roland.
Did you have any look at the Mutable Ambika before building this? It is a more complicated design with 2 microcontroller per voice. On the other hand it is programmable and can be multitimbral. I think it is now distributed by TuneOhm.
However I find your design more elegant.
Thank you! No, I haven’t heard of the Mutable Ambika. I definitely take a look. I’m currently working on a polysynth with 8 voices based on my voice card design. Cheers!
Wie tief ist denn das Case? Alles 6 mal muss ja auch etwas Platz verschlingen :-D
Hi! Das Case ist 25cm tief. Im Video gibt es an 8:22 ein Bild vom Innenleben. Schöne Grüße!
Hi, I write industrial synthy music. May I sample this video and use it in a song? Please?
also this is an awesome synth.
Sure, go ahead! Glad you like it.
Wait so you’re telling me that your synth runs Linux?
No, it's a Raspberry Pi Pico. It's a microcontroller programmed in C/C++, quite similar to an Arduino. But it has this special PIO functionality, that's why I used it for the DCO.
Class!....but, no reverb?!!!! What were you thinking X
Great project! But discrete components means no IC’s.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_circuit
Edit: never mind! I should watch the whole video before commenting..
Today I'd say that discrete would include small scale integration ICs. Everything is relative after all. But yes technically in the classical definition discrete would mean individual components. If you were to make something like this like that it'd take up a warehouse. Which is why so little is made discrete today.