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• Open-Source Synthesizers Hack Chat Transcript

  Dan Maloney • 01/23/2019 at 21:31 • 0 comments

  OK, folks, let's get started! Welcome to the first Hack Chat of 2019. Looks like we have a good turnout for Matt Bradshaw, who's here to discuss all things open-source synthesizer.

  @Matt Bradshaw, can you give us a little bit of your background?

  R joined  the room.12:07 PM
  

  Matt Bradshaw12:07 PM
  Sure - I have a degree in physics, but then spent quite a few years as a web developer. I've always played in bands and enjoyed music technology, so it was natural to merge my music interests with my programming interests. This led my to Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and Teensy projects, and my last few projects have all been based around Teensy audio.

  Matt Bradshaw12:08 PM
  So I now make digital musical instruments, often with the aim of using them in my band (Robot Swans).

  manualf12:09 PM
  cool!

  Great, thanks. That actually ties right into the first question, from Andrew Bakhit: why did you go with a Teensy for your PolyMod project?

  Actually, the full question was: "For your PolyMod project, why the choice to use a Teensy to detect modules and cables to set module configuration? This seems it would result in less hardware but in much more coding"

  And for anyone who hasn't seen the PolyMod: https://hackaday.io/project/160626-polymod-modular-digital-synthesizer

  Matt Bradshaw12:12 PM
  Well, the first version of the project used an Arduino Mega to detect the connections, and this information was then sent via serial to a PC, which was running a custom soft synth written in Javascript

  Taiwo12:12 PM
  Hi

  Kevin12:12 PM
  It is a common thing to trade off between hardware and software.

  manualf12:12 PM
  Javascript?

  Matt Bradshaw12:12 PM
  But once I realised the Teensy could actually do everything, I switched to using that, because I really liked the idea of building an instrument that didn't require a PC

  Johny Radio12:13 PM
  "detect connections"?

  Matt Bradshaw12:13 PM
  Yes, Javascript was a silly language to use, but I just happened to know quite a lot about the JS Web Audio API from my previous job, so it was the quickest way of getting it working!

  Matt Bradshaw12:13 PM
  Okay, so when I say "detect connection", here's what I mean:

  manualf12:13 PM
  I think thats cool man !

  manualf12:13 PM
  json

  manualf12:14 PM
  and web api!

  manualf12:14 PM
  that rocks

  Matt Bradshaw12:14 PM
  In a regular analog modular synth, the audio flows from one module to another, as actual, analog audio (or control voltages). I really liked the idea of creating a signal chain in this way, but I wanted to do it virtually

  Matt Bradshaw12:15 PM
  So, I built a physical synth that looks very similar to an analog modular synth, and you still connect the modules to each other with physical cables

  Matt Bradshaw12:15 PM
  (3.5mm patch cables)

  Matt Bradshaw12:16 PM
  But instead of audio flowing down the cables, it's just a sort of matrix, where the Arduino or Teensy sends a "test voltage" to each module in turn, and then "listens" for that test voltage from each module in turn

  Ah, ok - just about to ask what's on the patch cables. That's pretty neat!

  Matt Bradshaw12:16 PM
  The end result is that the software synthesizer, whether it's in Javascript or on a Teensy or whatever, will "know" which modules are supposed to be connected to each other

  Matt Bradshaw12:17 PM
  At one point I had hoped to make the project as an interface to VCV Rack

  Matt Bradshaw12:17 PM
  (Open source modular software synth)

  Matt Bradshaw12:17 PM
  But a) I really wanted the whole instrument to exist in a single box without a PC and b) I didn't have the right skills :)

  Tomáš Mládek12:19 PM
  Interesting approach, would it be possible to make this anyhow interoperable with other synths built like this, or even with separate modules?

  Tomáš Mládek12:19 PM
  Or is the whole "patch" on principle contained within the one box / synth?

  Matt Bradshaw...

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