I was randomly asked a few weeks ago if i wanted to be in a music video.
I posted it for a few days but the video was removed from YouTube.

A new legit version is up…and here it is

whew… It’s been a busy few weeks for me.
I got my vinyl plotter working! What a great tool. There are a few new pieces pictured below that make heavy use of this bad boy.

I finally wrapped up a project I’ve been working on for a loooonnng time.

It’s a continuation of the “VP” series I’ve been working on for a few years. Each model is based on the same echo and voice changer circuitry. The “VP” stands for vocal processor, which is an odd name because the pieces can be used to process any sounds. It just happens that each model has been made for a client who wants a vocal FX unit.

I also built a new echo effect unit that I will attempt to make a small run of. I’d like to make 8 or so. We’ll see how that goes.
I finished up the 4th semester of “Creative Electronics” at hampshire college. I have lots of pics of peoples final projects to post later. Here’s a pic of me with some of my star pupils from the last 2 years at the “inventors showcase” at Hampshire last friday.

It’s sad but true. I’ve recieved lots of enthusiastic emails about the book but have only recieved a few submissions. Fortunately the submissions I HAVE gotten are really fantastic which has reassured me that this book is a worthwhile project. I’m not deterred from my mission…. The Big Book of Bends will be made! It will just take longer than originally planned, as things often do…….

The good news is that I’m still taking submissions and will be until I have enough to make a book not a pamphlet of bends.
Send submissions and questions to

pete@casperelectronics.com

It’s of dire importance that you write

BigBookofBends

in the subject bar!!!
Otherwise your email will most likely be lost or thrown out.
Here is an example of a super duper page sent in by Benderella

Winning entry by Jose Tomas

Thank you to everyone who sent in a logo!
I recieved so many amazing designs!! I sincerely appreciate the thought and time that went into each entry. Choosing just one logo was much harder than I expected it to be. Thanks so much to Jose for his super logo.

Only a few days left to send in your logos. The deadline is midnight march 31st.
Winner will be announced april 1st.

added new photos to the texas triplets page

I’m currently building the sequencer shown in the previous post into a Speak&Spell. This is a continuation of the ST808 projected I started a while ago. More pictures, schematics and a sound file can be found here.

I made some changes from the first schematic. Added 1K resistors to ground at the input of each logic gate. This pulls the gate to ground when there is no positive signal coming from the 4017.
The transistorized LED drivers (red outline) are necessary for powering step and channel indicators. Trying to power the LEDs directly from the 4017 or 7408 can will result in dim LEDs and irratic functionality.

I’ve only tested this circuit with ONE channel. I’m concerned that there may be signal strength issues when I add three more….. but I’ll just have to try it and see. I’ll post my findings as they’re made.

I decided to build a step sequencer for the circuit bending class I’m teaching. In my usual, unrealistically ambitious manner I decided I’d just “throw together” a 4 channel, 8 step unit with varying pulse length. Sailor Mouth and Ken Stone both have a bunch of info on step sequencers on their sites. It probably would have saved me some frustration and headache had I looked through their pages before starting. I’m too tired to explain how this works. Sailor mouth has lots of really helpful info on his site… I’m hoping that someone out there who already has some idea of what’s going on will find this info useful or will have some suggestions.

Anyway, here is the schematic I’ve come up with so far. it’s pretty rough and incomplete. There are a few non vital component values that I haven’t identified yet, but over all, I think the design is sound. The main “innovation” in this design is that the pulse output of the 4017 and the 555 are fed into an AND gate to generate a 50% duty cycle pulse output. This allows you to get 8 trigger pulses from an 8 step sequence
Whithout the AND gate, it is only possible to get a max of 4 pulses from a 4017 set to an 8 step loop.

This is a fast and dirty mock up of a new drone/noise unit I’m working on.
It’s based on Ray Wilson’s “Weird Sound Generator” which you can find on his site Music From Outer Space
His site is absolutely amazing. Tons of schematics, tutorials, and info for the DIY synth enthusiast.
I also added an interesting distortion/feedback/tone effect that I found here.
It’s the “T.M.K.” circuit and it’s located about half way down the page.
I built 2 Weird Sound Generators with individual volume controls. Then mixed the signals and fed them into the distortion circuit. There’s a dry level and wet level adjustments allowing for control of the clean and distorted signals. The mixer circuitry is still pretty rough and needs some work, so I won’t be posting the schematics until that’s worked out.