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So I've been building a 100% analog polyphonic synthesizer with an unique twist. To use only vacuum tube era technology from the 1930s. Over 300 neon gas diodes create the sound you hear. Pretty awesome for technology from 100 years ago. Still a work-in-progress, but I wanted to post a video of it with the innards spread out across the workbench. : } I call it the "Neon String Machine" 433 comments
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@animerrillproductions Thanks! : ] Yeah it's all 100 year old tech. I even used Bakelite boards and point to point hand wiring to stay authentic to the vintage electronics art form. All the basic ideas where there 100 years ago. Oscillators, Filters, Signal mixing, etc. It just took a while before engineers started to really know how to use them. @AceArsenault @animerrillproductions This sounds to be about six note polyphonic. How many vacuum tubes are you using, and are you still using solid-state components around them? @elsemusic @animerrillproductions Hey ElseMusic. : ] It's 72 note full polyphone. Each note has it's own oscillator and envelope generator. C1(32hz) up to B6(1,975hz). There is a function to start decaying unpressed keys faster, as notes start adding up. There is no solid-state anything used in this circuit. It's 100% Vacuum tube technology. It consist of over 300 cold cathode discharge diodes, 2 power tubes and 1 audio tube. (Rectifier, Regulator, Audio Impedance Amp Triodes) @elsemusic @animerrillproductions I can't tell if I'm a genius, or just a really creative dumb person. Most likely a bit of both for working with vacuum tubes in 2023. : P  @AceArsenault @elsemusic @animerrillproductions Hmmโฆ some of the best HiFi amplifiers use valves/tubes (depending on where you're from). Here's one such analog system for a mere $30k aussie dollars. https://www.theaudiotailor.com.au/products/lab-12-marantz-chario-package?variant=40560067313779 @rwba @elsemusic @animerrillproductions I know! It's crazy how expensive some of that new Tube gear costs! @AceArsenault @elsemusic @animerrillproductions how did you trim the ecact frequencies? @parityflux @Fred_S_at @elsemusic @animerrillproductions Thank you. : ] @AceArsenault @parityflux @elsemusic @animerrillproductions @elsemusic @animerrillproductions Oh , also might be a little confusing in the video, Because on the workbench I only got 6 pitches jumpered together. C, D, Eb, F, G, Bb The other six pitches (C#, E, F#, Gb, A, B) are in a box under the desk. Between the 5 packs of jumpers, I didn't have enough jumper wires to connect up all 12 boards for the demo. : P  Thank you. I spent a lot of time optimizing and fine tuning the sound. : ] It was a process of optimization, how to get the biggest thick sound out of the least amount of electronic components.  @subwoofer Thank you. : ] It was a labor of love designing and building this thing. A lot of engineering challenges too! @fat_old_anarchist Thank you for the kind words. : ] I'm a big fan of vintage electronic analog sounds. Doesn't get much more analog then vacuum tubes! @AceArsenault I've got analogue guitar combo - there's nothing better than tubes' sound ! @fat_old_anarchist I agree! I'm a tube fan myself. @fat_old_anarchist Nice! : D looks like a great amp. Bet it sounds great too. @AceArsenault Extremely cool Andrew. I enjoyed that little demo. Well done. @irwindev Thanks. : ] Many hours of soldering and experimentation went into this one! It's a labor of love, that's for sure!  @aparrish Thanks Allison. : ] It took a really long time to build and design. So I'm happy you like it! : D  @AceArsenault If you ever travel back in time to 1930, you are going to blow their minds. @mikemccaffrey It's true. If you showed this to anyone in 1930. It would have rocked their world! There is always a lag of ideas behind the technology. The technology can be available, but the cultural mindset hasn't caught up yet. It makes me wonder if there are things like that today.  @AceArsenault Oh, there are. In fact, writing as someone who tends to enjoy that "no man's land" of the bleeding edge, it can feel REALLY WEIRD when something that used to be extremely fringe becomes more mainstream. So much so that I have more than once, found myself abandoning something(s) I used to really enjoy because: I enjoy the thing(s), not throngs of people. Fascinating. I definitely need to get back to finishing my "100% digital analog clock", built primarily out of 74-series TTL logic, with an unwholesomely elaborate arrangement of neon lamps to indicate the time. @publius Nice! I got a weak spot in my heart for those TTL 74xx series ICs. I started out on those chips and even remember the part numbers of the first two dozen or so to this day 7400 - Quad two input NAND Basically how I spent most of my teenage years. Wiring those together. : ] @AceArsenault @publius I destroyed almost all the 74 series I came into contact with as a youngster โ I didnโt have a stable 5V source so I thought any old voltage I could get from batteries would do, after all, 9V is a bit like 5V surely
That is an amazing sound, and amazing work. Well bloody done. It always gives me a happy to see folk using old-school tech. @aenesidemusoz Thanks Grandalf. : ] Vacuum tubes is about as old-school as you can get for active components. : ] Designing with them is a lost art! @AceArsenault Great to see and hear! Do you have any issues with the neon oscillators changing pitch with changes in ambient light? I once maintained an automatic error correcting system for telex messages that used neon lamps as logic gates. Each one of them had a torch globe mounted next to it to maintain a consistent triggering voltage.  @AceArsenault that's super great. Thanks for sharing. :) So yeah, the neon gas diodes do have a lifespan to them. It's proportional to their current draw. So I designed everything to run ultra low currents to prolong their life. It should outlive me. : ] Part of the reason for going with neon diodes is they have no filament, So they don't burn out like a lightbulb does. which is the biggest failure point with traditional heated cathode vacuum tubes.  @AceArsenault this thing is gods damned incredible. Don't know how you feel about reddit but I know the r/synthesizers community would love to see this thing.  @django @AceArsenault Video is in this initial post: https://fosstodon.org/@AceArsenault/109730556359548668 @django https://fosstodon.org/@AceArsenault/109730556359548668 That should load up the video. : ] @AceArsenault Is there a module for transposition? I noticed the keys played half-tone-lowered notes. @240185 You got a good Ear. Yes. There is a central uniform pitch control and individual temperament controls for each 12 tones. It was about -115 cents flat when I recorded the video. Didn't think anyone would pick up on it though. Since I wasn't playing with other instruments. : P @AceArsenault As someone who grew up playing with valve tape decks (they make excellent guitar amps, with built in echo unit ๐ธ), an electronics degree and a retired software / architecture guy.. you just blew me away ๐ฃ๐ thank you! Where did you acquire the arcane knowledge to create this beauty may I ask? @phlash I got deep into electronics as a young 25 years ago. Started with TTL gates, then went into 8bit microcontrollers, then CPUs boards, then FPGAs... at which some point did a complete 180 and studied the black art of Analog circuits and some how ended up working with Gas discharge Diodes, Thyratrons and Triodes. I just felt like analog design was a lost art. So I jumped into it head on. : ] @AceArsenault @RussSharek Because Iโm not an engineer and very much donโt understand the difference between early synthesizers like the #theremin and the ondes Martenot and this (I just know the names) It is amazing and magical and I wish understood more @PhilRudland @AceArsenault  @AceArsenault I love this as a synthwave artist. I just use presets and it always blows my mind when I see the actual design behind the sounds. Hardware is a whole another league. You are a real talent. Thanks for sharing. @AceArsenault if that sound gets any warmer it would be lava :) epic work . and you can keep your tea warm at the same time :D .impressed @AceArsenault@fosstodon.orgThis is really cool. I say that for two reasons: one, vintage tech is awesome, and the fact that you could do this and have it come out sounding that unique and with enjoyable timbre is ... something i look forward to reading a post in the future that some high-level musician used it to record with. two, the frequency of me actually playing through a video i see on the internet is about 1 every 3 months. I'm actually saving this one to hear on my home system. @AceArsenault This is too cool. Iโd like to share this with my friends on the Keyboard Corner, but you are welcome to create your own account there and do it yourself. Many of us have engineering or technical backgrounds so you might get a lot of interest. Check it out if you like https://forums.musicplayer.com/forum/28-the-keyboard-corner/ @AceArsenault wow that is wild! Itโs kinda like EVHโs oberheim with a slower attack and a delightful warble. Maybe do a cover of Jump and call it 1934? ๐ @AceArsenault Listening to that recording over headphones was goosebump enduring. What an incredible sound.  @AceArsenault   @AceArsenault This is wonderful! What waveforms do the oscillators make? Any plans for filters? How do you do the key assignment without a microcontroller? I'm in awe. @AceArsenault @AceArsenault Vacuum tubes - newfangled stuff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trautonium Joking aside: very impressive! @AceArsenault is the slow attack here a choice, or a limitation of the switching speed of the underlying components? Sounds glorious, by the way. @AceArsenault and do you think the serial divide-down architecture gives different timbres to the โall at onceโ architecture of the first string synths?  @AceArsenault thatโs really wonderful, and a great sound. Iโm curious about the build process (and Iโm not an engineer). Was it a case of completely designing one note and then replicating 71 times, or is there a cutoff point where you need different components for higher/lower pitches?   @AceArsenault @AceArsenault That's awesome! Would love to get ahold of some samples of this synth. Love tube synths!  @AceArsenault What would be involved in producing a full-length version of Barber's Adagio for Strings using your instrument? (Um, also Bron Yr Aur by Led Zeppelin.) [Really beautiful work.]  @AceArsenault what an amazing instrument, and what a lot of time and attention must have gone into the design and construction. Keep up the good work, @AceArsenault I don't know about neon gas diodes, but I worked on many ships with vacuum tube technology in the late 1960's and 1970's. They were used in many systems, including radars, radios and navigation systems. @AceArsenault If you had built this and it sounded terrible, it would still be a remarkable project. The fact that it sounds this good is stunning. Great job! @AceArsenault I dig the heck out of this. Has a bit of the Hammond Novachord sound to it (now that was an instrument that predated a genre that suited it by like 50 years.) Was that your inspiration?  @AceArsenault I love the sound! Any chance you could have a go at playing the Dr Who theme? That special sound should be very interesting I think. @AceArsenault Damn, look at all that musical madness! Mine just has six strings and you've got strings everywhere. Haha. Seriously, you've got a skill set I appreciate a lot here, making instruments. ๐    @AceArsenault It's got such an interesting and unique sound to it! All those fascinating little wobbles and buzzesโฆ @AceArsenault Super cool! What's the power consumption on this like? Small room heater? |
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@AceArsenault how can something be using tech from the 1930s, yet sound like it's from a mournful future that hasn't happened yet?
Honestly, the sound this thing makes is beautiful.