NS1nanosynth manual 1.0
Contents
1. li JJA u1 9sIw 20 2491unoo uN u ul adues ayy Hey OF NILIY VOA U YUM PELIS iu3lu 003 JOU O41 9u1 185 OS 5 5 YSQV 94 4283311 M 3no auenbs T0431 au YSAGV 94 JO 3ndno y YUM WIA 9u1 104002 III no se 0 01 10d 1VILINI ayi uun3 yajed s lu U Dolo ADA 941 pue VOA y 0 1no YSQV u1 s JUNOWE pajenuaye ajqepajas YUM puas am u31ed 511 ul mmmeq mmmeq punos sseq 3uidaams eu ure1qo A u nb li Jaz v aguey3 oj Jo DIWeUAP aunjon e punos y AIS p sn Ajjew sou 51 103e aua3 adojanua JO uSGV au 8 u1u soueuTSN asn s uruosu BER AO S v9 7 53 A H o S l y A0 2 m al 21 AS E z II tova 2 2 S w ot tova y eee sl 2 BEL wer ova 2 1no 3Wn1oA gt O E AS 8 0290 E mi i L H 2 LIS 9 vv S evf zZ i PUER AVM NVI 3 y v 1742 AO a V 3 T n 1256 TV gt i vasz woy O ER IN lt 4 r LELE AS E yo IN z avons 911e4 JIMPN MANN l 5 O E ESA x M x ANN Y T ch s SS miz xin H3S ETE xn gt desn 5Iseq YSAY t 199us 2164 YIL SOULUTSN sauluoeulpurnos e3e8 sq uone npouuC OO yord co va iiiuyu sououu AAO OJ Se S 3nouid OUINPAY v pue I q uuPu y uo s gess w 3ojeue qe e d peoq ay 21556 2 e oj siseq v 51 siy2. IdIIN 01 spuodsaJ y1u soueuT SN v plepuezs ay Ul TSN umd ODA 941 0 a3uey9 aui uo 1100 gsn oJou y 0 77218 pedi l q ou 1504 IAIN 011409 J919uJeJed jaaym uone npouu y 129 4402 M U 1Ed 5141 Ul e 129 4102 IW HSQV yi uo1ed snoinald y uo Sulsel A Ag u1u soueursN saulyoe punos O nol Sr 1 toval Alar Ta TUN LNO JNNIOA AIV LI NI 0313VY9 ANY Q3N5IS3Q ch MOT d PS 120 ERRATA LEE A rr gesellt Tot ii AL et A tt TT TTT a L L Os N tat Y HEADPHON uon uuo 1011 1 S 1 us u31ed YIL SOULBUTSN soUulyIBLUpunos Customizing your NS1nanosynth mounting the bottom case e VCO calibration procedure e Arduino bootloader restore e Mods and hacks
3. are a lot of ways and a couple modules that can put a great remedy to this shortcoming In a digital world we have to be ready to adapt and modify our analog heritage Needless to say we are really proud of endorsing and integrating this technology into our product opening up many scenarios to the users of the NSinanosynth including community developed alternative firmwares hardware integration with all the arduino shields sensors and companion products A last non technical note is related to the inception of this product We would like to thank Sugar Music NicF and the Maker Faire organisation for inviting us to the Rome event of Oct2015 and to push us to invent something for that occasion The NS1nanosynth has many fathers and the incredibly quick time to market of this product development started in July first products shipped in October would not have been possible without the passion hard work and crazyness of many persons And my wife without her support there would be no nanosynth A synthesis primer For the people that doesn t came from synthesis or from music production in the next two pages you will find some basic concepts that will be extremely useful to better understand the following chapter and to enjoy this instrument Let s start by defining the main characteristics of sound Among the few definition of sound stands the one that like more it s the perceptive phenomenon that our earing subs
4. board are obviously safe to use and there are no potential damages when you are patching Take some time with this manual as the universal advices like don t connect an output to another output still does apply Power Supply Specification e 5VDC regulated e 200mA supply current 1W Introduction The NS1nanosynth is a full featured minimal size analog modular synthesizer integrated with an Arduino Leonardo TM platform Out of the box the Arduino is programmed with a USB MIDI to CV firmware that you can use to control your NS1 with your PC MAC or PAD etc The NSinanosynth employs a plethora of analog modules to allow complex soundscape creation instruments analog emulation and noise hardcore annoying stuff With its full analog signal path that includes a 1V oct multi waveforms VCO a 12dB oct lowpass and bandpass resonant VCF and a overdrivable standard exponential response VCA the NS1 could be used alone or integrated with other instruments circuits and devices to build an articulated modular patch augmented by the potential virtual modules that you can code on the Arduino A great feature of the architecture of the NSinanosynth is the ribbon controller with the hold function that could allow you to use the synth without any external controller making it a really ultra portable modular synth The NS1nanosynth additionally contains the following modules two dual waveform LFOs one loopable ADSR envelope two attenua
5. optional involvement of the Arduino platform this could lead to complex sequencing like euclidean rhythms and rhythmic arpeggiators The NSinanosynth includes two NOT gates inverters one AND one OR and one NAND port each of those freely connectable Manual Controls NONE Input Output inputs and outputs to the various logic gates are indicated by entering and exiting arrows on the connector pins Tech Specs Buffered CMOS integrated circuits are AN D OR NAND used on this part of the circuit Please have a look at the datasheets of this family to learn more CKDIV clock divider The clock divider section of the NS1nanosynth comprises a standard cmos ic that divides the frequency of the incoming digital signal from 2 up to 64 The RES reset input allows to restart the internal counter This block could be used to generate sub oscillations from a VCO output triggers that will be likely processed with logic gates etc Manual Controls NONE Input Output as described above Tech Specs NONE CVDIV voltage divider The NSinanosynth have two variable passive attenuators To put in place another one of those really useful modules we implemented a fixed voltage divider attenuator that will allow the user to obtain a fixed attenuation of 2 3 1 2 and 1 3 of the orginal signal As the voltage divider is made with resistors the consideration on impedance will apply Again this will not disrupt you synth
6. to create a couple of pseudo VCA Those works really well if you can stand distorted waves interesting tansients and in general you don t expect a f cking SSL channel strip from a 200 buck modular Connect the input to a VCA output and the to a button When the button is released and its output is at OV you obtain at the output of the SUM SUB amplifier this function 0V VCO_OUTPUT It doesn t take a mathematical genius to understand that the output would be entirely negative BUT our circuit will saturate to OV and so nothing gets to the output When you push the button a 5V voltage will be presented at the input and the output function will be 5V VCO_OUTPUT This will put the VCO signal on the SUM SUB output after having inverted thanks to the AC coupling of the VCF or the VCA that you have connected the output of the SUM SUB to you can dose or better said saturate modulate the VCO output The good thing is that with the SQU output you won t notice the difference with a real VCA It works well also with the NOISE output Manual Controls NONE Input Output Each block has a positive and negative input and an output Voltage function is Vout V V Tech Specs NONE or already stated elsewhere BUTTONS We put three momentary non latching buttons on the NS1nanosynth for all kind of tasks manual gating of the ADSR a logic signal to be used with the digital part of the synth forcin
7. 1ed ujyu soueuTsN soUulyIBLUpunos 8 U3UASOUPUTSN sous DEER EN NE E ge sL 9 21 NS L It tova 2 tova we ooval 2 s ovaj 2 4 GV S 9 S V a y ev lt 72S IV gt vasz lov lt EB gt NW Eu EN l asn 5Vdc spunos ped Suls ul p sn japim SI 31 pue uJ40J9AeM ajduis e 91euuiue 0 p sn s INAAd 241 13 JJ 511 JO Jods Yos ay DUU pue s u l Hip 9IUOS 193Y9 01 Od1 BU JO p ds y pue Jajauwonuajod Md 74 oceJuins s1o JJ S8uns i l1ul Sa1g yum 1u uulj dx3 indino NHS ay uo luo qipne si 19943 au 161 Olpne o ul 03 suone npou uaym sueddeu 1euM 1nO y99y9 S eA V J qW W Y OJA JO UpIM sind v s 1e npoui ey O41 ue ppy HEADPHON 8 s Ss Km A0 S t9 Svons O Y ue punos sau 77 7070707 sap NE E e gt k ge sL o i m i m NEL 21 AS G I z O ll tova z m 2 LE mor rova ON MME c TV ERED NIVISAS NAU IN311V lt BD BT tier ova 2 LAO 3 N110A gt AS 8 0270 L SV Ds 9 vv S ev z Xa TT SE m NO a y ev t u 1252 Iv 5x m MOS aono 9 9 iy Vasc W 0V db T c caa i gt W AS Eu EN Para z r ET TUTE i ig o iol das 10 1 1 l l T Sw EBERSTTABEN S z DES Y REE 1188224 Mv T gt SEBESES xn H3S n
8. DSR stages that lengthen the times fivefold Manual Controls The module has individual controls for Attack Decay Sustain and Release stages and a LED that follows the OUT voltage It s a clear indication of the evolution of the envelope during time Input Output There two gate inputs OR ed and two identical OUT signals To use the LOOP and SLOW functions the user have to short the relative patch points as indicated on the board Tech Specs The ADSR output level goes as the other modulators on the NS1nanosynth from O to 5V If you connect this directly i e without attenuation to the VCA CV input you will obtain as designed an overdrive in the highest 0 5V zone You can use the ATTENS or the CVDIV modules to adapt this level to the VCA This is normally indicated in many hardwired synthesizers as EG AMOUNT or ENVELOPE AMOUNT LFO low frequency oscillator NS1nanosynth have two identical LFOs with triangular and square output waves The frequency goes from a slow modulating 0 4 Hz to an audio rate 160Hz controllable through the FREQ1 2 knob of each LFO There are doubled outputs for each waveform Manual Controls the FREQ1 and FREQ2 knobs sets the LFO frequency for each LFO The individual LED shows the triangular output level of the LFO in real time Input Output There triangular TRI and square SQU waves output for each LFO the signals are simply doubled on the patch points TechSpecs The waveforms at t
9. al and Sensor headers on the RIGHT Regarding the middle section take a moment to learn the logic of the module s connections It s quite simple to understand that the lower row of headers is linked to the main modules the ones with potentiometers such as VCO ADSR VCF etc and the upper one with the notable expception of the LFOs output SQU and TRI for both LFOs are the utility modules that does not have direct manual control This manual will describe in detail all the aforementioned modules the basic sketch loaded on the Arduino Leonardo and its functions and finally a series of patches and techniques to obtain the maximum from this small but powerful machine Functional Description A quick word on the philosophy of this machine The NS1nanosynth has been developed with a few important things in mind e 0 a good sounding synth e 1 completeness e 2 affordability e 3 portability e 4 easy interfacing to DIY and digital based platforms We won t push on the point zero as you will have to discover and enjoy it Regarding the point 1 you can see for yourself we crammed something like 25 full functional modules some of which quite sophisticated like the full featured VCO with its 4 waveforms output the sync and pwm capability and a couple of different noise outputs on a 22x8 5 cm printed circuit board H2 We then cut all the unnecessary things like knobs panels case jacks everything that doesn t have much to d
10. but it may held different results from what you expect Manual Controls NONE Input Output There is one CV or AUDIO input 2 3 marked with an ingoing arrow and three outputs CV D IV at the various attenuation taps Tech Specs this module is actually a resistor network and you can basically use concurrently all the outputs FIXCV fixed voltage outputs As an additional aid in using mixing and summing subtracting modules we have provided a bank of fixed voltage we divided by four the 0 5V range that could be used to provide offsets to anything you want Manual Controls NONE Input Output the module have only outputs The buffered voltages available are 5V 3 75V 2 5V 1 25V Tech Specs The outputs are individually buffered so they can drive also other electronic components like LDRs and other sensors Few milliamps are available SUM SUB adder subtractor Those two identical modules along with the mixers are one of the most fun to use and multi role blocks on the NS1nanosynth Those blocks are powered with OV and 5V and everything that surpasses that voltages will be engulfed in a time space cuspid that will make it disappear Or with other words the adder subtractor will saturate The saturation capabilities make this block available to things like waveshaping pseudo VCAs mixers and all kind of arithmetic stuff that you want to do with your CVs AUDIO signals and both Want
11. e cxn uone npolN YIPIM 3S NA z IPAS 2164 5 5 ABA 9Jenbs sOd1 9u1 YUM Osje 1u uuli dx3 199449 u1 198 no TSN 341 ui al j enueuodxe 1ou pue Jeaul SI W4 SnouJej y y3noxy uonejnpoy A u nb lq JO N4 EO Aout eym SI SIU 93UBJ 3181 oipne 0141 S OS 5041 USyM suaddey 1euM Je3H Dolo A0O S v9 7 TWILINI x 45V4134 NIVLSNS T L 1 gt e ol Es MOIS 4001 oo oo du 29 m EBSESEE HEADPHON punos y jo Ayjenb lulu34u1 ay a3ueyo NOA s r v nb li SO41 eui sulsueyd Ag Dag y isnfpe o es wo A MO S way uni pue 0 1e sqou SN3LLV UUM 11835 NOA suoJenuaye OM y sn M S32 H y JO JUNOWE y le n3 1i sOd OM ay1 YUM A u nb li pue ajejnpouw o moy Wed 8 u1u soueursN seuiu eur mmg SEET NO MEE AO AS AS CNILLV TN3ILLV AIW LI NI q414V42 QNV Q3NSIS3Q n LIO TN lt O O lt ms Pd s v 9 n s Been EXE 111111111111111114111 111 11111111 411111111411 YAA v A 1 T 7 Fe E L SS 22V TT TNR eRe uge OU enn KK ce ROR m LI lt SO41 YUM a31ejnpouiy 5 197 3 US u31ed YJU SOULUTSN S uluoeulpunos MMeg Meq 42NVNOSZ31 94 S Ulsiel Ag N3LLV 49A 34 asimy330 9 Suluin1 Yes pue b
12. emulation of acoustic instruments is not our main aim since many years now is not anyone s aim we will concentrate on creating sounds and noises that can adapt well with every kind of electronic music production from drone to techno passing through glitch and ambient At the end of this manual the patch sheets will guide you through many examples that will space from the classic monosynth lead sounds to 303 like squelchy basslines to percussive drone and self generating soundscapes NSinanosynth modules e VCO voltage controlled oscillator The voltage controlled oscillator is the heart of any analog synthesizer Wheter you look for melodic or noise content you ll need an oscillator to start whit The signal coming out of the oscillator is characterized by its pitch and the shape of the waveform The NS1 VCO is capable of tracking through the V oct standard that states that to every 1V increases in control voltage the oscillatore will increase the pitch of one musical octave five octaves At the end of the manual the rather simple procedure to re calibrate the VCO is described Manual controls The VCO has a TUNE knob that sets the oscillator s frequency This frequency is summed with the control voltages coming from other modules into the inputs The PWM knob is setting along with the relevant CV input the puls width of the rectangular SQU wave from 0 to 95 Input Output The NSinanosynth VCO has one V oct CV input f
13. es adn could also drive small loads like LEDs headphones etc RIBBON CONTROLLER One of the most immediate and intriguing features of the NS1nanosynth is its Ribbon Controller a 100mm resistive linear potentiometer that through a specialized circuitry becomes a fun to use playing interface The patch section of the Ribbon Controller top right near the robot generates a couple of identical GATE signals when you press on the ribbon and presents two different CV outputs that shares the range from 0 to 5V going from left to right on the ribbon The first one CV is the exact information about your finger s position on the ribbon including the return to zero when you lift your finger The HLD is holding the voltage with an internal S amp H to allow you to use release times on the ADSR for example and other techniques Manual Controls the Ribbon There is also an LED that lights up when a GATE is detected finger down Input Output GATE goes high when the finger is on the ribbon CV outputs 0 H E BO N to 5V from left to right HLD outputs 0 to 5V G even when the finger is lifted from the ribbon Tech Specs To obtain the HOLD function we had to insert a little time constant in the circuit and this leads to an audible slew when you drive for example the pitch of a VCO ls it important to lift the finger quick when you want to minimize this effect You will learn this in no time A quick hint if you wa
14. g VCF and VCA offsets in the CV ins and finally implementing a user interface for the Arduino platform Manual Controls the three momentary buttons on the lower right Input Output each button has two outputs The BUTTONS outputs sits at OV when the button is released and goes to 5V when the button is pushed Tech Specs NONE Quick start with the NS1nanosynth Now you can find a series of patch sheets that will guide you through different basic configurations Take your time to analyze tweak and use those as a starting point in your The NS1nanosynth team 2 532ueuos 1 USIU Olul SUIOS jlyM MO BWNIOA v d y se d ju1u s INO Jo punos y ind3no asenbs nos ay Sulsn aie lluM qouy 994 pue 19114 v aSIDISIXA 03 sqouy 32NVNOS34 pue au Md ay pue qoux ANAL 1250 v YUM sanem 1u J Jjip UUM uun oA ay 1snfpe pue jey auo 3e WDA TVILINI uunuuluiluu y JO y ino All uin oA pue YDA indino y pue 51 16 32NVNOS44u pue ununxeu o 0444 491 U YUM 31835 19114 l SUWJOJIAEM SlOU pue OJA 3Y1 NO 1593 01 UD ed oiseq Y Dolo A0T S v9 H gt Ao Lil a rm en NO I O As H mi 9 AO IVILINI JONYNOSJY lt 39V3138 NIVISNS 1 ZNILLV IN311V Md lt ano 9 Q Ino 3wmon gt m O AS mi Di Gi is g NO iy AS HEADPHON T 3 uS u3
15. he instantaneous value at the output of the circuit regardless of what is happening at its input The clock input is the responsible for the behaviour described above The following picture shows in a simple way the concept A fig 10 Sample and Hold The track and hold functionality instead of taking a quick sample of the incoming signals follows reflects to the output the same signal as long as the TR track input is high and holds the value at the output when the signal goes low Manual Controls NONE Input Output The module apart from the signal in gt arrow entering the connector have the CK clock and TR track inputs as described above The output is identified by the arrow exiting the connector gt Tech Specs The module has the standard 0 5V voltage range on all the inputs and outputs The CK input contains a gate to trigger circuit that opens for a few microseconds the sample and hold circuitry so you can use whatever signal you want to clock the module LOGIC The LOGIC section of the NS1nanosynth includes the basic logic gates that along with clock clock divisors buttons and other digital inputs can be used to implement complex rhythmic structures and trigger sequences to give motion and movement even to simple parameters like volume and cutoff frequency of the filter other than the ADSR GATE etc You can also implement button driven rolls on the melodic lines et With the
16. he output of this module goes from 0 to 5V ATTENs passive attenuators There are two passive attenuators on the NSinanosynth each controlled by a knob ATTEN1 and ATTEN2 The signal is attenuated to zero when the knob is in the 7 o clock position Manual Controls ATTEN1 and ATTEN2 Input Output There two inputs and two outputs for each attenuator Tech Specs consider ATT that with regard to impedances the attenuator is passive and parallel gt A configuration of input and output signals i e 2 more than one signal at the input will modify the relative impedances as well This is not dangerous at all but can lead to different results than the one you imagined CVGEN CONTROLLERS CV generators There are two active CV generators on the NS1nanosynth Those voltage sources controlled by their relevant knobs CTRL1 and CTRL2 simply generates at the output a voltage from 0 to 5V It could be used for any purpose including connected to the Arduino analog pins to dial parameters and configurations into an alternative firmware Manual Controls the two knobs CTRL1 and CTRL2 Input Output The module have two outputs C1 and C2 Tech Specs The CVGEN CONTROLLERS module has buffered outputs This means that you can hook up the output C1 to different inputs using a mult without degradating its qualitites General concept a buffered output will not suffer from a wide range of input impedanc
17. ice another usable quirky aspect The 1 3 and 1 1 behaviour is only true when all the channel are used or referred to a known voltage When you leave unconnected the inputs the mixer will change the gain depending on the number of the used inputs This could sound complex and awkward but it s just another tool in your toolboxl If you don t want this you can just connect to OV the unused inputs Manual Controls NONE Input Output three channel inputs one output Tech Specs already discussed MULT multiples Not many things to say here there are a few multiples scattered around the board Use them to connect more than one cable to one input output etc They are also useful as extensions Manual Controls NONE Input Output they are the same Tech Specs NONE S amp H sample and hold track and hold The sample track and hold module is a really versatile and important addition to any synthesizer From obtaining the famous stepped randomized tone speak of C3PO to creating interesting one cutoff value per step sequences up to playing with sample rate reducing like effects there are really lots of things that can be done with an sample and hold module A sample and hold is something that is coming from the era of the first analog to digital conversion and it s a fundamental part of any sampling instrumentation The sample and hold basically take a really quick sample of an incoming signal and holds t
18. ltage controlled filter C4 C5 7 8 C9 voltage controlled amplifier fig 6 Pitch timbre and loudness equivalent blocks machines NS1nanosynth RIBBON LOGIC AND OR NAND NOT SUM SUB SENSOR 2 diu BLOCKS Arduino Leonardo6 Platform Power Supply Unit DIGITAL 1 0 gt ARD_5V gt ANALOG ARD GND gt MOZZI OUT gt AN 5V gt DACOUT 2 gt AN GND gt DIGIPOT 4 gt AN 12 gt UART gt AN 12 gt fig 7 Pitch timbre and loudness NS1nanosynth modules LFO voltage controlled oscillator ENV envelope generator S amp H sample and hold fig 8 modulations equivalent blocks machines NS1nanosynth Modular Synthesizer RIBBON LOGIC 2 3 AND OR NAND Us FIXCV NOT SUM SUB SENSOR B S 2 ua BLOCKS Arduino Leonardo6 Platform Povver Supply Unit DIGITAL I O gt ARD DV gt ANALOG ARD GND gt MOZZI OUT gt AN 5V gt DACOUT 2 gt AN_GND gt DIGIPOT 4 gt AN 12 gt UART gt AN 12 gt fig 9 modulation NS1nanosynth modules Starting from this terminology and structure we can play a little with the concept of subtractive synthesis The basic concept is that starting with an one or more oscillator by putting the output tone into a some kind of filter device and then into a controlled amplifier we can basically synthesize every existing sound emulating acoustic instruments and creating new sounds Given that the
19. lways used a STEREO JACK to not stress the output amp and hear distorted tones This VCA is not suited to attenutate control voltages as is AC coupled Manual Controls the VCA module has just one knob labelled INITIAL that sets the CV for the VCA when no CV inputs are applied The output amplifier has a knob labelled VOLUME OUT that regulates the output signal strength Input Output The module has two summing audio inputs two summing CV input for the VCA gain attenuation and a single VCA output gt The AMP module has only the AMP input that is normally connected to the VCA output to bring the synth signal out Tech Specs The VCA is a standard exponential VCA with a high gain distortion characteristic when the CV input is near the 5V saturation The headphone output is a DUAL MONO connector that always should be used with stereo cables to avoid shorting the right channel with the ground This will not damage the output but could result in qudio unwanted distortions ADSR envelope generator The ADSR module is a versatile four stage envelope generator with manual controllable Attack Decay Sustain and Release stages The envelope generatore could also implement a gated looped mode where the output will cycle through the stages while the GATE input is HIGH To obtain the looping envelope the sustain knob should to be put to zero Another interesting option is the ability to have a second timing capacitor for the A
20. nic musical instruments was the simulation or emulation of traditional musical instruments Where a triangle wave resemble with a touch of vibrato pitch modulation the voice of a soprano the narrow pulse rectangular wave could trigger in our brain a certain association with the nasal sound of an oboe The secret here is the harmonic or spectral content of the waveform Without going into hairy mathematical details will just leave a reference table below fig 4 Basic synth waveforms and their harmonic content Finally another very important characteristic of a sound is the evolution of its loudness The first example is the piano An almost immediate attack that the percussion of the hammers provokes on the strings leave space to a quick reduction of the note s volume in the first few millieconds At this point if the player keeps his finger on the key the note will slowly fade otherwise the end of the sound will come in few tenths of a second We like to call the shape of the loudness as the amplitude s envelope fig 5 A piano sample amplitude envelope We briefly defined the characteristics of a sound to be able in the following chapter to give an indication of WHAT kind of blocks could be used to implement those in the real world Now a simple link between those characteristics and their implemented building blocks VCO voltage controlled oscillator VCO Tl voltage controlled oscillator D ss VCF vo
21. nt to play theremin style with the ribbon reduce the range of the ribbon remember 5 Volts is equal to 5 octaves with an attenuator and set the starting freq of the VCO with its TUNE knob The ribbon is really expressive when you learn to use it correctly and subtle variations in the finger position results in pleasant or NOT modulations MIXER 1 1 and 1 3 Those humble modules are actually together with the sum sub one of the most versatile ones in the NS1nanosynth with regards to their standard intended behaviour As we choose to mantain all the CVs and signals in general unipolar and O to 5V the MIXERs could serve many purposes Punk VCAs waveshapers and switches The secret is the saturating voltage of the mixers and sum sub blocks We choose to power those circuits with 5V and as you may know or not given some thread in some famous forums the voltage at the output of a summing static active circuit will NEVER go beyond the power supply rails VVhit this in mind we designed two simple mixers types one with the implicit reduction of the input channels to 1 3 of their voltage hint attenuation before summing and the other two mixers with a 1 1 ratio before summing The first one is clearly identified on the NS1 with MIX 3 label The idea behind this 3 was to be able to sum the output waveforms of the VCO for example TRI SQU SAW without clipping and then distortin the resulting waveform The mixers have in pract
22. o with sound and functions to optimize costs and reach our target In the end we obtained an order of magnitude lower price comparing the NS1 to an equivalent standard eurorack system We re talking about a two thousand euro value in a two hundred euro package We are not saying that are the same thing and they ll never be but what we wanted to do is to open up the feeling the methodology and the results of the modular synthesizer s world to many persons as possible from the curious ones to the critics to the students to the guys that doesn t have the space money or committment to start an eurorack system without trying it first in a more affordable format Regarding the 3 you are probably holding one NS1 in your palm as you read this so what have to say more Oh yes there are a couple things The NS1 is powered with just a simple universally available 5V input Wherever you are you probably have at hand one of the following e an USB port e A smarthpone USB recharger e A USB power bank This last point bring us quickly and directly to the point 4 the one that along with NS1 s price is pushing the NS1nanosynth in a big market We choosed to make ALL the CVs and most AUDIO signals on the NS1 unipolar and 5V This aspect that could be seen by many synth enthusiast as a limitation it is in fact a big opening to the world of the many possibilities brought to us from the latest open source digital platform like Arduino And there
23. or tuning duties in the standard firmware you can connect this pin to DACO pin of the Arduino section to derive the pitch coming from MIDI another CV input not linear but not V oct either to permit you to have more subtle modulations a PWM input that sums up with the knob s position and the SYNC input to reset the saw core with positive going signals The waveforms of the oscillator saw triangle square and sub osc are all available at its outputs along with white and pink noise sources Tech Specs Technically speaking all the waveforms have an amplitude of 5 to 6 Volts and are unipolar i e not negative e VCF voltage controller filter The filter of the NS1nanosynth is a classic OTA operational transconductance amplifier 2nd order two poles resonant filter 12dB oct with low pass and bandpass outputs Raising the resonance the filter adds ringing and harmonics to the cutoff frequency until it goes into unstable and pretty wild self oscillation Self oscillations starts at about three o clock knob position and there is a very critical position of the knob beneath nice and warm analog resonance and fricking weird tones behaviour Play it at your own risk and when experimenting keep always the output volume lower than you would respect your ear and your monitoring equipment Filters are not only good with audio signals like the output of the VCO but also inputting a gate or trigger to the fil
24. soundmachines NSinanosynth User s Manual V1 0 November 2015 by Davide Mancini C Designed and crafted in Italy IMPORTANT INFORMATION Care and Feeding Please be aware that only 5V power supplies are allowed We have protections on the device DC jack but it won t resist indefinitely against higher voltages If you didn t purchase the bottom cover please avoid touching the electronics on the bottom layer of the PCB with your hands and avoid the contact of the bottom side with metallic or conductive object that could be on your desk pens jacks nail trimmers as it can cause a destructive short circuit Those are really basic indications for the people that are used to Arduinos and similar products that tipically exposes the circuits and components to the user but could be less known to a musician or a curious guy like yourself Do not connect the unit directly with devices other modular products that could source voltages greater than 5V signals without external protection This can lead to malfunctions and eventually break some parts on the NS1nanosynth Please consider the usage of the NSbridge our own small adaptation board when planning to connect to eurorack modules The NSbridge have integral protection that should cover all the inadvertent application of out of range signals On this board there are protection for voltages greater than 5V and negative voltages The patching points on the top side of the
25. ter in modular lingo this is called pinging will generate with high level of resonances a very distintive and usable percussive tone For your infomation many analog drum machines have the main sound generators made with sometimes more than one concurrently used resonant band pass filters that are in fact pinged by the instrument trigger Manual Controls NSinanosynth s VCF has the classic FREQ and RESONANCE control knobs to control the filter parameters The resonance of the filter does not have a CV control Input Output The filter have two summed CV control of the cutoff frequency and two summed audio inputs You can input directly the VCO to the audio inputs gt without overloading the filter Tech Specs The VCF has a linear response with regards to the CV input No exponential converter has been used in this module VCA voltage controlled amplifier AMP output stage The NS1nanosynth VCA is an exponential response audio voltage controlled amplifier with a very interesting distortion at the end of the CV range When the control voltage reach 4 5V the INITIAL knob a little before three o clock position the VCA starts to distort with a very pleasant analog overdrive tone really usable in some bassline environments In this module we include the output stage called AMP that connects with the output jack and is both compatile with a line input and standard stereo headphones The signal out is MONO but it should be a
26. tors two pot controllers and a dozen micro modules like mixers multiples sample and hold sum sub blocks inverters logic or and nand analog voltage dividers clock dividers fixed voltage generators and several sensor blocks soundmachines NS1nanosynth Modular Synthesizer RIBBON LOGIC A j 2 3 AND OR NAND n We FIXCV NOT SUM SUB SENSOR BUTTONS Arduino Leonardo Platform Power Supply Unit DIGITAL 1 O gt USB gt ARD 5V gt ANALOG lt DC5V gt ARD GND gt MOZZI OUT gt AN 5V 3 DACOUT 2 gt DIGIPOT 4 gt UART C gt fig 1 NS1nanosynth overall architecture In the following picture you can see the floorplan of the synthesizer The sound flows from left to right following the classic subtractive synthesis chain that in this case is just a topologic reminder being a full modular synthesizer without normalled paths From the oscillator to the filter to the vca and finally to the headphone line out the path is clearly visible on the overlay elt ATTACK cc Ti SUSTAIN RELEASE u lt VOLUME OUT o CO gt RESONANCE gt INITIAL gt lt E e uy lt oc o a lt e LI 2 un Lu e ES machines NS1nanosynth fig 2 NS1nanosynth floorplan The NS1nanosynth is divided in three main areas the Arduino DAC digipot headers on the LEFT the main Modular synth area including the ribbon controller in the MIDDLE and the Digit
27. ystem triggers when more or less repetitive variation in the density of the air reach our inner ear organs This is not the only definition nor the most precise one but as said like it enough to write it here A sound is then characterized by a handful of parameters or qualities The optimal subset for what we are going to explain in the following pages again far for being complete under a scientific POV is e pitch e timbre e loudness Those are neither static qualities nor the only ones but they adds up nicely in this contest Consider for starter that the timbre of a sound could easily modify the pitch until unrecognizable So Pitch is the tone of the sound what we associate with the concept of note Not all sounds have a defined pitch think about the sound of the waves crashing on the beach In a more harmonic enviroment such as a techno trance song the pitch is responsible for example of the bassline that supports the harmonic progression of the piece itself Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si in Italian fig 3 Musical octaves and their pitch The second parameter the timbre is the microscopic shape of the sounds Microscopic on a time scale Mainly we are talking about the waveform and its dynamic transformations Think about the timbre of a cello in contrast to the one of a human soprano or that of a Strato passing through a fuzz pedal with almost dead batteries One of the first missions of the electro
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search