it's been a minute!

seems like forever since i last posted something up here... let's see what's been happening since then.

*installation progress - i should have some nice pics of the sculptural elements by the end of the weekend as they were cast in aluminum last week and gabrielle is working on them this weekend. i decided to change around some ideas for the sound element - originally i was going to use 8 separate recorded loops that were to use ISD2560 voice recorder chips, but they're pricey and the cost per loop will be rather high... instead, i'm going to buy 8 old school ipod shuffles! much simpler/less work and i can focus more on making the VCA/opto element function better - initial results were positive using an LDR to control the voltage, which in turn controls a channel on an SSM2164 quad VCA chip, which is a nice and compact way to get all 8 VCAs in 2 chips. i need to further work out some smoothing of the control voltage so the on/off triggering is not as abrupt.

*POLY-GRACE.

more info coming on tuesday.

*the backyard garden is in full swing! tons of tomatoes and peppers coming in with beautiful cornucopia of herbs including italian basil, thai basil, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, oregano, thyme, sage, tarragon and rosemary! YESSSSSSSSS

*goddamn i need to get this custom gallery up on the site - seems like the majority of orders coming in have been for custom work anyways so it would make sense for people to be able to peep stuff out without having to go to the forum. just thinking out loud here.

*trying to get the best friend out and solidify a final design for the mountain range, some other random stuff - delay, dredging up old circuits, etc. i've got more shit on my plate than is probably good for me, but i guess what it comes down to is that i'm just a fucking workaholic... better to have the work than not, though. no complaints here.

more new finish hotness

i just finished up a nice batch of beautifully finished fuck overdrives and team awesomes. some were my own design and others were inspired by requests.

a minimalist, mark rothko inspired design.

a simple lo-fi stamped version. scratched surface with rubbed in stamp ink for some staining...

my bloody valentine theme

a simple, minimalist frank stella work

bottom of the sea

fuck overdrive demo videos

two videos showing a pretty nice range from the fuck overdrive.

first video is guitar > ibanez ts9 > boss rv5 > fuck overdrive > amp.
*i'm pretty close to the camera, so you can hear a bit of the guitar in the room.

second video is guitar > ibanez ts9 > team awesome fuzzmachine > fuck overdrive > homemade analog delay > amp.
*i'm further away from the amp here so it's a little boring to watch. this is what i get for simply recording using the camera microphone instead of a more hi-fi setup... oh well

both are on the shoegaze-y/post-rock side, which is what i gravitate to on guitar. i'm hoping other people will make some more versatile/varying videos, though...

PWM fuzz cont. 2

if at first you don't succeed, try again.

the first layout (left) was, in theory, a good idea. certain aspects of it were nice, but overall the routing that was left would have been atrocious. the second layout, while not as aesthetically pleasing to my eye, works a bit better... though i still had to do some creative layout tricks.

the fuzz part of the layout is a piece of cake, but the modulation portion is a huge bitch... i probably spent more time on it than i should have, but i really want to keep the modulation and the audio sections as separate as possible - there was no audible ticking or noise on the breadboard except for when all controls were maxed out - even then it was usable noise... ;-)

thankfully now that the one is more-or-less done, the rest will be a lot easier. goddamn it's fucking freezing in the shop, though. it certainly doesn't help things...

the rest of my day.

PWM fuzz cont.

here's a short clip of the PWM fuzz in action. still thinking of a name for it...

PWM fuzz with random modulation

sweet. i've got this bad boy up and running the way i wanted it to sound.

*it goes from huge synth fuzz to thin nasal mosquito buzz with some nice reedy shades in-between.

*the modulation is pseudo random and has a solid range from super slow to crackle-y fast. there is also a CV input which disables the random source so you can use a periodic LFO or other source. i tested it with a 9v, 5v and bipolar 9v source. the 5v had the largest range with the depth pot, though the 9v worked ok too. the bipolar source worked, but the range was much smaller and as the circuit isn't designed to work with one, i would recommend against using it. your mileage may vary with the CV in, but most sources should work fine...

*i decided to also add a "chop" switch which makes the depth either really choppy and stark (almost tremolo) to smoother (though i disliked a very smooth setting and decided to omit one for simplicity).

*tons of output on this beast.

overall the random source is really interesting. there are lots of broken sounds here as well as some subtle movement - though single notes work fine, i think the circuit really shines on legato playing, after reverb or another modulation effect (phaser) or more sustained, notes. guitar and synth clips to follow later.