5 ms·

Ask HN: Tired of Arduino, how can I get started to build hardware synth?

12 points by withoutsnow 4y ago

I tried to look for video tutorials or books, but the material I found never covers the basic electricity principles behind the making. Any recommendations? Many thanks!

type0 4y ago
Use teensy instead. This is a good youtube channel to learn diy synth stuff https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0/videos
rapjr9 4y ago
If you are interested in analog synthesizers then a lot of the schematics and explanations of the circuits were published in magazines in the 1970's. I think ElectroNotes was one of the premier ones, but Radio Electronics, Polyphony, Elektor and others published circuits as well, with explanations of how they worked. Here are some leads: https://paia.com/polyphny/ https://paia.com/polyphny/ https://archive.org/details/radioelectronicsmagazine https://archive.org/details/radioelectronicsmagazine https://blog.adafruit.com/2022/02/07/70s-electronic-music-magazines-with-month-by-month-synth-projects/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2022/02/07/70s-electronic-music-ma... https://worldradiohistory.com https://worldradiohistory.com https://worldradiohistory.com/Elektor.htm https://worldradiohistory.com/Elektor.htm There are still some kits available as well to learn by doing: https://paia.com/p9700/ https://paia.com/p9700/ You can also get schematics for some classic synths: http://www.arpodyssey.com/schematics.html http://www.arpodyssey.com/schematics.html https://archive.org/details/arp_ARP_Quadra_Schematic https://archive.org/details/arp_ARP_Quadra_Schematic https://archive.org/details/ARP_Solina_Schematics https://archive.org/details/ARP_Solina_Schematics https://moogfoundation.org/schematics/ https://moogfoundation.org/schematics/
- rapjr9 4y ago
  Some electronotes material is still on the web: https://electronotes.netfirms.com/ https://electronotes.netfirms.com/ The "Start Here" loads a PDF and in there you can find URL's to access the actual content (very strange way to build a web site!). Some of it might be in the Internet Archive also.
johndoe0815 4y ago
I think this book is quite a good introduction to get you started: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/make-analog-synthesizers/9781449356200/ https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/make-analog-synthesizer...
risktopark 4y ago
There are some good books... Delton T Horn's Music Synthesizers a manual of design and construction. http://lucmorton.com/lucstuf/pdf/Music%20Synthesizers%20-%20AMODAC%20-%20Delton%20T%20Horton.pdf http://lucmorton.com/lucstuf/pdf/Music%20Synthesizers%20-%20... Miller Puckette's theory and technique of electronic music http://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques.htm http://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques.htm Dave Bensons music a mathematical offering: https://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/d.j.benson/pages/html/maths-music.html https://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/d.j.benson/pages/html/maths-mus... Here is a list of other good reference books: https://sdiy.info/wiki/Synth_DIY_books https://sdiy.info/wiki/Synth_DIY_books Also, if you don't mind digital - have you seen the daisy ecosystem? https://www.electro-smith.com/ https://www.electro-smith.com/ https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyWiki/wiki https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyWiki/wiki They have built a DSP library with a lot of the basics, there are plenty of example projects, and a supportive community. https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyExamples https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyExamples https://forum.electro-smith.com/ https://forum.electro-smith.com/
fundamental 4y ago
I initially started out with music from outer space as an educational resource and recently dug through the classic of electronotes, but if you're looking for videos with a lower barrier to entry I'd recommend: https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0 https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0 (perhaps also https://www.youtube.com/c/TheAudioPhool https://www.youtube.com/c/TheAudioPhool )
brudgers 4y ago
I don't build synths. If I did, this is where I would start: https://archive.org/details/electronic-music-circuits https://archive.org/details/electronic-music-circuits There is a link to download the PDF below the viewer. Hard copies are more expensive than most books but less expensive than many analog synths. Good luck. *Edit* Came back to say, I would also consider Eurorack simply because that would simplify decisions about form factors, power supply voltages, manufacture, testing, etc. during design.

12 points by withoutsnow 4y ago

I tried to look for video tutorials or books, but the material I found never covers the basic electricity principles behind the making. Any recommendations? Many thanks!

type0 4y ago

Use teensy instead. This is a good youtube channel to learn diy synth stuff https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0/videos

rapjr9 4y ago

If you are interested in analog synthesizers then a lot of the schematics and explanations of the circuits were published in magazines in the 1970's. I think ElectroNotes was one of the premier ones, but Radio Electronics, Polyphony, Elektor and others published circuits as well, with explanations of how they worked. Here are some leads: https://paia.com/polyphny/ https://paia.com/polyphny/ https://archive.org/details/radioelectronicsmagazine https://archive.org/details/radioelectronicsmagazine https://blog.adafruit.com/2022/02/07/70s-electronic-music-magazines-with-month-by-month-synth-projects/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2022/02/07/70s-electronic-music-ma... https://worldradiohistory.com https://worldradiohistory.com https://worldradiohistory.com/Elektor.htm https://worldradiohistory.com/Elektor.htm There are still some kits available as well to learn by doing: https://paia.com/p9700/ https://paia.com/p9700/ You can also get schematics for some classic synths: http://www.arpodyssey.com/schematics.html http://www.arpodyssey.com/schematics.html https://archive.org/details/arp_ARP_Quadra_Schematic https://archive.org/details/arp_ARP_Quadra_Schematic https://archive.org/details/ARP_Solina_Schematics https://archive.org/details/ARP_Solina_Schematics https://moogfoundation.org/schematics/ https://moogfoundation.org/schematics/

rapjr9 4y ago
Some electronotes material is still on the web: https://electronotes.netfirms.com/ https://electronotes.netfirms.com/ The "Start Here" loads a PDF and in there you can find URL's to access the actual content (very strange way to build a web site!). Some of it might be in the Internet Archive also.

johndoe0815 4y ago

I think this book is quite a good introduction to get you started: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/make-analog-synthesizers/9781449356200/ https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/make-analog-synthesizer...

risktopark 4y ago

There are some good books... Delton T Horn's Music Synthesizers a manual of design and construction. http://lucmorton.com/lucstuf/pdf/Music%20Synthesizers%20-%20AMODAC%20-%20Delton%20T%20Horton.pdf http://lucmorton.com/lucstuf/pdf/Music%20Synthesizers%20-%20... Miller Puckette's theory and technique of electronic music http://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques.htm http://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques.htm Dave Bensons music a mathematical offering: https://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/d.j.benson/pages/html/maths-music.html https://homepages.abdn.ac.uk/d.j.benson/pages/html/maths-mus... Here is a list of other good reference books: https://sdiy.info/wiki/Synth_DIY_books https://sdiy.info/wiki/Synth_DIY_books Also, if you don't mind digital - have you seen the daisy ecosystem? https://www.electro-smith.com/ https://www.electro-smith.com/ https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyWiki/wiki https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyWiki/wiki They have built a DSP library with a lot of the basics, there are plenty of example projects, and a supportive community. https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyExamples https://github.com/electro-smith/DaisyExamples https://forum.electro-smith.com/ https://forum.electro-smith.com/

fundamental 4y ago

I initially started out with music from outer space as an educational resource and recently dug through the classic of electronotes, but if you're looking for videos with a lower barrier to entry I'd recommend: https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0 https://www.youtube.com/c/MoritzKlein0 (perhaps also https://www.youtube.com/c/TheAudioPhool https://www.youtube.com/c/TheAudioPhool )

brudgers 4y ago

I don't build synths. If I did, this is where I would start: https://archive.org/details/electronic-music-circuits https://archive.org/details/electronic-music-circuits There is a link to download the PDF below the viewer. Hard copies are more expensive than most books but less expensive than many analog synths. Good luck. *Edit* Came back to say, I would also consider Eurorack simply because that would simplify decisions about form factors, power supply voltages, manufacture, testing, etc. during design.