Mr. JP lives again!

Three weeks ago I did one of the strangest things I've ever done - and probably ever will do. I bought a Roland Jupiter-8 on Ebay, but instead of sending it back home to Norway, I sent it to a very nice person I had never met and never talked to :-D

I did this for several reasons. The two main reasons being that I knew she would love to have a JP-8 and that I find her compositions really cool.

Also, I felt, that buying such a synth unseen/unheard, it would be a good thing to have it checked by a pro before shipping it back here. It turned out that this was a really good idea, as somehow a PCB inside had broken while the synth was in transit from Kansas to Texas. Luckily, the person who received it, knew just where to go to get it fixed :) So as of yesterday, my Jupiter-8, fondly named Mr. JP, is once again able to create those great 80-s sounds!






A big thanks to the people at Switched on synthesizer repair shop in Austin, TX. They fixed both the broken PCB as well as some loose cables and two broken keys :-D

Now I am looking forward to some cool videos and compositions on Youtube, featuring Mr. JP. The synth will stay in Austin at least for a year. In the meantime I can remove the JP-8 from my shortlist of synths I need to get :)

Here are some photos:

Front panels and new synths

So, what's new... I ordered the Schaeffer panels around the 15th of October. Today it's the 20th of November, and they still haven't arrived. Actually, most of the panels were finished about a month ago, but a series of unfortunate events means they are yet to be sent from Germany. First, Schaeffer broke one of the panels while inserting some screw rods. Then, after re-milling the part, they received it back from anodizing with loads of scratches on it. They then created the same part for the third time, but those imbecils at the anodizing plant managed to anodize it in the wrong color! so, here's to fourth time lucky...

The silk screening kit arrived about a month ago, and it is HUGE! The screens are more than twice the size I expected them to be - I'm concidering buying smaller screens, as it will be hard working with the large frames. However, if anyone needs two-color posters printed, I'm your man :-D.


The kit while still in its boxes



GF holding the frame - printing press to the right

I've spent the time since the kit arrived building a UV-light box measuring about 90 x 60 cm, to expose the screens before printing. I'm going to put 10 UV fluorescent tubes in it, but so far I cannot get the tubes to light. I suspect that it is related to the tube igniter, but haven't verified it yet.




Now for some other really exciting news: I've bought two other synths! One of them is actually my first factory-new synthesizer ever. It's a special edition version, only sold in Australia, so it will take some time getting here. I intend to use it as the keyboard for my modular project, as it outputs control voltages/gate signals compatible with my modular. Also, as this version is called the "Australian Redback edition", I am concidering naming my modular "Venom" - what better to companion a Redback spider than the stuff that gives it it's sting, eh?

The second synth is a 25 year old classic. A well known but rather inexpensive synth with an intuitive and user friendly control surface.

In all, this brings my collection of full size keyboard synths to 5, including 4 80's synthesizers :-D Got to love them... Add to that two mini-keyboard synths, my modular project, the DIY TR-909 drum machine, one DIY TB-303 and the Novation KS-rack, and I'm starting to build up a rather nice collection. Now, if only I could get around to actually USE them for somehing ;-)

Pics and comments about the two newcomers will be up as soon as I receive them.

Finally, I bought a new motor for my CNC machine, as well as a new Z-axis. It's about time I start using this machine, having spent almost NOK 20.000 on it. First up, I think, is cutting some red perspex (plexiglass) for my rotary encoder/led dials. Exciting!

New spindle motor

Digitally controlled modular synth

I recently started thinking seriously about building a modular synthesizer. I do, however, want it to be different from the rest of the modulars out there. At the moment, I plan to built it as a full keyboard-equipped synth, but one where almost all parts are modules.

The frame itself will contain the keyboard, a midi controller and a bus controller. The modules will be interconnected, not with jacks and cords, but through a digitally switched 16 or 32 channel analogue bus. This will make it possible to store and recall patches.

All pots and switches will be digitally controllable through a control bus, and I will use rotary encoders and keyboard buttons to control the sound modules. This means that I can save audio settings as well.

I intend to use the same size standard for the sound modules as the ones used by Doepfer, Cwejman and others, but instead of having them upright in an euro rack case, I will have six "wells", about 10 cm high and 13 cm wide, side by side, with access from the back of the synthesizer. All controlls will be on top of the synth, but on interchangable panels, making the synth a "platform" for all sorts of sound machines.

To begin with, I want to create a polyphonic synthesizer. I am thinking of a concept with 5 voice cards, vertically stacked, taking up 1 well, but using the same bus access connectors as other modules. Each voice card will contain 2 VCO's, a VCF and perhaps some other basic modules.

Now, if I could only find the time and the money to do this...