If I may be indulged, I will use this place to save a post from another thread. I worked a long time on this post, and I don't want it to be lost (a squabble has erupted on the other thread which may cause its excision from the board).



In view of the LP reviews I did earlier in this thread (and since BB was built to work with keyboards from the Fender Rhodes forward), I don't think these memories of synths and electronic music LP recommendations are too far out of place.

Heaven knows the LP's all sound fine through BB! Running one of them (Tomita Snowflakes) now, in fact.

All thanks ,

Larry

A friend and I enjoyed sharing Tomita's "Planets" when we were wore younger men's clothes. I'm much older than that now!

Big Bertha has got to be close to sensory overload in person. Very nice. Thank you for sharing.

Glad to oblige. I too wore younger man's clothes when I latched onto Tomita. I was just getting into synths at the time. I am a huge Debussy fan, and when I stumbled over "Snowflakes" at the record shop, it caught my eye, because Debussy was the featured composer.

Still, if it hadn't been on RCA Red Seal, I might have passed it by, but I decided to take a chance. To this day, it is the disc I am most glad I bought, for it completely opened my eyes toward the real possibilities of synths, and it is still my favorite electronic music album.

As for BB, yes, it's as close to sensory overload as I could get it to be, but it still needs work (probably always will).

Many thanks and best regards ,

Larry

I want to thank everyone who has been visiting this thread over the weeks and months. I hope it's been of assistance to all who visited, and hope it continues to be of assistance to many others.

Thank you and best regards,

Larry

PS: FOR REFERENCE: A thread I don't want to lose a handle on:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=193114

L

I'm out of here for awhile, guys, there is simply too much work in front of me. One sampler keyboard, two sampler modules, six synths and synth modules, two hardware sequencers across my bench in the past two weeks, and I had to spend all weekend resurrecting a 1992 IBM PS/1 386sx computer (OOS for 10 years) for use in a 1980's-vintage MIDI hardware setup, where there are jobs it can do very well (while a newer computer simply isn't needed and would therefore be wasted).

I almost forgot just how much fun an old MS-DOS (IBM DOS 6) computer rig can offer on a shop bench (CMOS battery replacement, reconfiguring, SCSI/MIDI/sound boards replaced, HD replaced, hardware/software conflicts, you name it, it happened ). Finally done, however, and all well (if I can find an outboard SCSI CD-ROM drive to use with it; had to borrow one for the weekend).

(edit 7/23/12): GOT the CDR drive, works fine...

And that's just the beginning, this is all reserve gear being conditioned to swing onto the front line. The front-line gear in my synthesizer laboratory has been essentially idle for 12 years while I was involved in other work, and the entire system must be rebuilt, every piece must be overhauled, and a lot of stuff will be culled out (shelf rot has taken its toll).

If I'm done by October, I'll be fortunate; meanwhile, BB is going to get a lot of work. I will need her scope for a lot of signal, noise and interference tracing, not to speak of outright audio work.

Best regards to one and all, and take care of things here. See you on the flip side. I'll stop through for quick checks when I can. Shoot me a PM if I can help with anything...

Larry

Have fun and take care, see you when things lighten up.

-David

Don't be a stranger!

At a good break point at the moment, so I can catch my breath. All the keyboards, modules, sequencers and adjuncts are off the racks, cleaned, serviced, tested, and put aside. Time to tear out the old cable harness assembly now...

What a mess! But how good it will be when it's all reassembled again and working!

Hope you guys are all doing well and best regards , Larry

I'm about two-thirds of the way through my synth lab project. A lot of work (and expense), but worth it. June, preparations; July, teardown, cleanup and repair; August, reassembly; September, systems testing and run-in. The system should be back on the line by the first of October, if I hit no major snags.

Hope all is well with all you guys and best regards,

Larry

Systems testing and balancing underway. 48-channel MIDI hardware rig. Moving fast now.

Best regards to everyone, hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend, should be back soon...

Larry

Project complete except for the tidying up! It was an ordeal, but the synth lab system is complete, operational and back on the line, and I even lost ten pounds in the process. After the pickup/putup/cleanup is done, then (finally) I may RELAX for awhile. It'll be "cold 807" time for sure .

Hope everyone here had a good summer and got a lot of good projects done. Best regards to one and all , Larry

Hi Larry,
I've been following this thread since it began almost four years ago, but haven't previously commented.

First, I have to say that this is the most impressive homebrew tube audio project I've ever seen. And your photos show the most neatly laid out under-chassis wiring I've ever seen. My hat's off to you.

Also, I've enjoyed reading your musical recommendations that are interspersed throughout. Seeing other people's recommendations has always been the best way for me to discover new favorites. For some reason, you just don't find these things playing on the top-forty stations.

Tonight I just did a quick re-read of the whole thread, to refresh my memory on a couple of things, since I didn't want to ask a question that's already been answered. Anyway, it was worth the time, because the thread has been chock full of interesting stuff.

You've previously mentioned that you built this to work with a Fender Rhodes and Yamaha DX-7, which I assume you are still using. Just wondering what other keyboards you may be using with this? Anything new?

Part of the reason I ask is that I have an ancient Wegman 6' baby grand sitting in my living room, and usually get the inspiration to play it only after midnight (and after a few drinks). My neighbor's house is situated well away from mine, but the bloody piano is so LOUD!! She commented over the back fence one day, "I was lying in bed last night and I heard you playing the piano." She went on to say that she enjoyed it, but considering how I play, I find that very hard to believe.

Anyway, this put me on a quest to find a new keyboard that has a volume control. Every few years, I would go looking, and find that the technology was still not quite at the point where they could make an electronic version of a piano where the actual keyboard had the touch of a traditional acoustic.

So, I was wondering what you are playing these days and what you would consider buying if you were looking at an electronic version of a traditional piano.

-----------

Inspired by this subject, I went digging through my vinyl collection and pulled out a few keyboard classics.

Years ago (late 1970's), I was heading down the highway listening to CBK 540kHz, and a Sunday night program called 'Two New Hours'. They featured Tomita's 'Snowflakes are Dancing', and played the whole album. I was very impressed. The next day, I went to the record store and bought a copy. I probably haven't played that record in 20 years, but seeing as it's been mentioned here a few times, I put it on the turntable tonight, and have just finished listening to it. I still think it's a great album, but I must say that it does sound very dated. It harks back to the days when a Moog Synthesizer was 50% musical instrument and 50% sound effects generator. I suspect this may have been due, more to the record's producer than the artist. Back in those days, people who bought synthesizer records, wanted to hear the bizarre sound effects. A friend of mine put it quite succinctly: "Gurgles, burps and farts." Case in point: Arabesque #1. Still, it's a symbol of an era: Who would want to buy a '59 Cadillac without the tailfins? On the other hand, Clair de Lune is fabulous. And this record probably was instrumental in turning me into a lifelong DeBussy fan.

Though, in those days, for synthesizers, I was more into Tangerine Dream. I have every one of the records they recorded pre-1980. After that, they sort of lost their groove.

Tonight's Playlist:
Just finished listening to Glenn Gould playing Beethoven's Sonata #32.
Currently listening to Oscar Peterson, 'Night Train'.
Coming up: Jimmy Smith, 'Organ Greats'; Tangerine Dream, 'White Eagle'; Synergy, 'Audion'; Syrinx 'Long Lost Relatives'.

Hi Bob, all thanks for your interest and your kind reply, especially concerning the build. I don't know how to build anything better than BB was built, and I'm very grateful for such praise. Thank you again .

Yes indeed, this unit was originally built for a Fender Rhodes, and modified later on as the 1980's generation of synths began to come in. I let my old Rhodes go a number of years ago, but the DX7 is still my keyboard of choice, onstage and off.

Onstage, I use a pair of DX7's with a rhythm sideman to get a trio sound that works well for ballroom dance and dinner music. In my synth lab, where I'm working on projects that are closer to classical than anything else, I use several other instruments. The DX7 and its modular cousins (TX7 and TX802) provide the FM synth perspective. For the traditional analog (i.e. Moog) perspective, I use Roland Juno-106 and JX3P units. There are also Roland D550 and Korg M1R modules for seasoning, and I get a lot of miles out of the old Roland S10 sampler series (S10, MKS100 module, S220 module). As samplers, these are primitive (and they are a maintenance PITA), but they ARE user-programmable. They can be made to do many things well, and once you've learned how to make and shape your own samples with them, they can take you a long way.

Over the years, I invested a hell of a lot of effort in learning how to program and "max out" all these units, and I built up a very large orchestral-type sound library for the samplers and for the DX7's in particular, which no one else has, in whole or in part. Among them, I can get anything and everything I want, one way or another, so (and especially thanks to that sound library), I've stayed with them and kept them going instead of turning them over for newer gear, whatever its virtues may be.

For electronic versions of a standard piano, I can't recommend anything less than a sampled grand. I have a Korg SP100A 88-key sampled grand that gets onstage and into the synth lab from time to time, although I use it mostly for practice and amp testing.



This was one of the first decent sampled grands made. If you can find one, it ought to come reasonable, and it would do you a good job. On the other hand, newer and better ones have come out since it was made. My trouble is, I don't know any of them, for I haven't been scouting for new boards since the late 1990's, and I've missed an entire generation of boards by now .

I'm glad I struck a familiar chord with the disc reviews I offered while testing BB, and I'm glad they helped. If I can ever get back to this BB project (I'm up to my ears in other work again), I'll add more such reviews.

Our tastes move along similar lines, although I never went far into the pop wing of synthesis. My primary interest in synth has always been technique (especially orchestration technique), and the classical wing of synth has been more than enough to keep me busy. It's very seldom that I put on anything simply to listen to or enjoy anymore; I guess I've been stuck in the study groove too long .

Best of luck shopping for your keyboard, and let me know if I can help in any way.

Best regards and thank you again,

Larry

PS: If your neighbor is enjoying your late-night playing, you're a good step ahead in the game. My neighbors would complain if they heard ANYTHING out of me late at night, regardless of how bad or good it might be...

L

Since others have expressed interest in BB's phase inverter/driver circuit (a modified Schmitt cathode-coupled phase inverter, or "long-tailed pair"), I'll post this pic here. I should have done this earlier and I regret not doing so, but here it is now:



This is a modified version I drew out for a fellow ARF'er's rebuilding project. In BB, a 6SF5 stands in the 6C4's place, with reverb and tremolo stages associated with it. The 6N7 part of this circuit, however, is a duplicate of BB's PI/driver.

It's based on the Fender version of the Schmitt, with resistors altered to suit the 6N7. I chose that tube for the headroom it offered for strong signals coming in, and for its ability to pass them (and especially to pass peaks) on to the output stage with no choke or throttle.

PARTS LIST

C1 - Coupling cap from 6AT6 plate, film, .1 uf 600 VDC
C2 - 6C4 cathode bypass cap, lytic, 25 uf 25 VDC
C3 - Decoupling cap, lytic, 22-33 uf 450 VDC
C4 - Decoupling cap, lytic, 22-33 uf 450 VDC
C5 - 6N7 grid feed, "top," film, .1 uf 600 VDC
C6 - 6N7 grid feed, "bottom," film, .1 uf 600 VDC
C7 - Second filter, lytic, 40-50 uf 450 VDC
C8 - First filter, lytic, 40-50 uf 450 VDC
C9 - 6N7 "top" plate coupling cap, film, .1 uf 600 VDC
C10 - 6N7 "bottom" plate coupling cap, film, .1 uf 600 VDC
C11 - Supersonic swamping cap, ceramic or mica, 15 to 27 pf, 500 VDC
C12 - Supersonic swamping cap, ceramic or mica, 15 to 27 pf, 500 VDC

(Voltage ratings shown are minimum ratings)

R1 - 6C4 grid feed, 470 K
R2 - 6C4 grid bias resistor, 470 K
R3 - 6C4 cathode resistor, 3.9 K
R4 - 6C4 plate resistor, 100 K
R5 - Decoupling resistor, 2.7 K
R6 - Decoupling resistor, 2.7 K 1 W
R7 - Feedback loop resistor, 820 ohms
R8 - 6N7 grid bias resistor "top," 330 K
R9 - Long-tail pair midpointing resistor, 22 K 1 W
R10 - 6N7 cathode resistor, 2.4 K 1 W
R11 - 6N7 grid bias resistor "bottom," 330 K
R12 - Feedback proportioning resistor, 100 ohms
R13 - 6N7 "top" plate resistor, 47K 1 W
R14 - 6N7 "bottom" plate resistor, 47K 1 W
R15 - Output stage "top" control grid parasitic oscillation swamper resistor, 1.5 K
R16 - Output stage "bottom" control grid parasitic oscillation swamper resistor, 1.5 K

(All resistors should be carbon or metal film, 5% or better, at one-half watt, unless wattage otherwise specified)

L1 - 10 HY 75 MA

Larry

Thanks for the info about the Korg. I'd totally forgotten about Korg. I had Yamaha and Roland on my mind, but did a quick check to see who sells Korg in here in town and found a dealer. That also brought up another keyboard name I'd forgotten: Kurzweil. There doesn't seem to be much used stuff available locally, so I went looking for new.

Anyway, with only one exception, the local shops have a fairly limited inventory of full 88 key keyboards.

The Yamaha dealer, on the other hand, had a very impressive selection. Actually, I'd gone in there a week ago, before posting my question here. After a bit of Internet research, I had gone in looking for a DGX-640. The saleswoman suggested that unless I really needed all of its 535 voices, I might be more interested in the P-155 at roughly the same price, but with a better keyboard action. Curiously, all of the online info I'd seen, indicated that the DGX-640 and the P-155 had exactly the same keyboard. But it wasn't so. After spending some time with both of them, I agreed that the keyboard action on the P-155 was better. Impressively so!

In the end, I wasn't able to find anything I liked better than the Yamaha P-155 (click for info), so I went back and bought it.

I've now had it for a few days, and must say that Yamaha seems to have nailed it. I've never before found an electronic keyboard with as expressive a keyboard action as this one.

Hi Bob, congratulations on nailing that Yamaha board and many thanks for the link!

That board should serve you well for a long time to come. Just marry it up to a high-fidelity amp, like one of the Peavey or Roland keyboard amps, and you may find that it's awful hard to tear yourself away from it .

It doesn't surprise me that a Yamaha board turned out to be the best you could find. I've always felt that way about my DX7 units, which can be as expressive as you could ask, IF you take the trouble to make and give them expressive patches. It's a cinch that you must make them, as I had to. Most of the factory and third-party stuff was about as expressive as a jackhammer and was completely useless to me in any case. For that matter, most of the "thousands" of patches floating around on the web add up to the same old few hundred patches, relabeled over and over again.

Good fortune with your new board and best regards!

Larry

Fellows, all my projects, including this one, must be put on hold for months to come, maybe as much as a year:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=209059

I will try to stay active on this board for the duration, but how active or focused I can be under the circumstances, I don't know.

I will take this chance, however, to once again thank all who have visited this thread, and to express my hope that it's been a beneficial experience.

Best regards to all,

Larry

I remember growing up in the 1980s a freind of mine he was a year older than me had a Korg poly800, that synth impressed me back then.
I see they have become expensive on ebay and not easy to find, i know my friend still has his and uses it to this day.

Larry, good luck with whatever is coming your way, and hope to hear from you from time to time.

-David

Thanks, David. I'm settling into the radiation and chemo (6 days out of 28 done so far), and just trying to go from day to day, dealing with whatever I must face. I'll admit that it galls me to be knocked for such a loop as this, just when I'd finished up overhauling all my gear, and just when I was getting back to projects that were waiting ten years or more. But that's the way the hand was dealt, and I have to play it as it was dealt. And I'll make it.

The projects will make it, too...

Larry