monotron clone definst

[Roger Allen]

I saw in a prior post that Sam was encouraging us to post creations large or small.  This is definitely a small creation, but in the spirit of that post...

As an introduction, I'm a very new user that just started looking at Overtone after the HN video demo post from last week.  I've spent a few days playing around and trying to learn and I generally like what I see & hear.  So, I'll keep exploring...

The point of the post is to show a small instrument I made and perhaps get some constructive criticism.  It's my first, so I'm probably doing several things wrong and I have no idea what it would mean to "finish" something like this.

A few days back I found this announcement http://korg.com/monotrons# which is a nifty little toy synth based on something that probably cost quite a bit of money in the 70s.  On the website, I noticed they had a block diagram that showed the basics of the system--a perfect example synth for trying to learn Overtone!  So, I coded it up and I think it is usable. Full code here https://github.com/rogerallen/explore_overtone/blob/master/src/explore_overtone/monotron.clj

I'm most unsure with the coding of the VCF, so if you have ideas there, send them on.

Cheers,

Roger

[Sam Aaron]

Fantastic! I have no idea if it's a faithful representation of the
original as I've never heard of the monotron before. However, it does
make sounds and it's fun to play around with the params.

I look forward to hooking this up to my nanokontrol.

After we get this polished up a little, would you be interested in
contributing it as an example?

Sam

---
http://sam.aaron.name

[Roger Allen]

Thanks for responding so quickly.  I'd be very pleased to see this used as an example.  Is there a template of what a well-written example should look like?

This review has a nice example of the monotron sound that might be interesting to attempt to match via livecoding...

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug10/articles/korg-monotron.htm

On Friday, April 20, 2012 8:30:09 AM UTC-7, Sam Aaron wrote:

Fantastic! I have no idea if it's a faithful representation of the
original as I've never heard of the monotron before. However, it does
make sounds and it's fun to play around with the params.

I look forward to hooking this up to my nanokontrol.

After we get this polished up a little, would you be interested in
contributing it as an example?

Sam

---
http://sam.aaron.name

[Philip Potter]

Hi Roger,

I'm dead excited by this. A friend of mine in Cambridge has a physical
monotron -- it's a fantastically tactile instrument.

This is a brilliant definst you've created, particularly for a first
attempt at playing with overtone. This does indeed sound quite a lot
like a real monotron, from what I remember from playing with one six
months ago or so.

If we could combine this definst with some controllers to tweak the
settings then this could be a really fun toy to show off the power of
overtone. The original monotron had a switch (for changing LFO mode),
five rotary dials (pitch, LFO rate, LFO intensity, VCF cutoff, VCF
peak), and a ribbon controller (which also controls pitch). This lets
you play with the sound in real time and get a real sense of what each
parameter does to the sound. I see you've started on some control
stuff in a .js file -- I'd be interested to see where you're going
with that.

Phil

[Roger Allen]

Thanks for the encouragement, Philip.  I just pushed a mostly-working version of a control surface in the monotron_control.js file to the git repo.  It is a work in progress to figure out good ranges for the controllers (esp. pitch + note), but it is something that makes it easier to play with.

I've tried this on an iPad with the "Control (OSC+midi)" app.  It is free and it allows editing in json/javascript so I thought I'd give it a try.  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/control-osc-+-midi/id413224747
I use the midi hookup and followed the instructions on http://charlie-roberts.com/Control/ to get things hooked up.  [I haven't figured out OSC at all yet].  Basically, (on the mac) just enable web serving, copy the .js file to the ~/Sites directory & point Control on the iPad to that location.  It is nice to hit "refresh" and get an updated GUI. 

Things to polish are:
- 3 position switch for standby/pitch/cutoff.  Need some javascript to make that work right (turn off others when one is turned on).
- all ranges need checking vs. real hardware
- draw keyboard on that XY touch surface
- probably should not actually call it "monotron" as someone at Korg will likely get irritated.
- figure out what OSC needs to work

Send on any suggestions/ideas.  Thanks!

--Roger

[Roger Allen]

A bit of an update...
* Unfortunately, I found the "Control (OSC+midi)" App worth what I paid for it...nothing.  It has problems keeping up with events and is basically kind of flaky. 
* I found the TouchOSC App to work perfectly fine so far on iOS.  Certainly worth that $5.
* There isn't a custom controller, but I found the "Mix 2" layout to work for just playing around. 
* I coded the controls in a bit of a table, so it should be easily modified to work with any other controller.

So, it basically works and can be controlled simply enough.  Good enough for the moment...I'm probably going to move on to learning about other things and leave this as-is unless there is some more interest from others.  I've got much to explore in other areas...

--Roger

[Sam Aaron]

Hi Roger,

my experience of TouchOSC has also been positive. You can also make your own custom controllers if you download the editing tool and then upload your interface designs to your iPhone/iPad.

Please do keep us updated with your continued exploration :-)

--
http://sam.aaron.name

[Sam Aaron]

I managed to convince my brother-in-law to buy his 6 year old daughter a monotron duo for her birthday, and we clearly needed to test that it worked before we gave it to her...

Oh my!

That thing screams. It's insanely cool. Everyone should rush out immediately and buy one, hook it up to some decent speakers and make noise. I haven't compared it with the Roger's Overtone clone - but that's on my todo list. I also ordered a monotribe for myself which I will endeavour to clone in Overtone.

Oh, and if you do mess about with a monotron, build yourself a digital delay in Overtone and pipe it through it. It makes for hours of fun.

Sam

---
http://sam.aaron.name

[James Petry]

Thanks for the tip, Sam. I found this interesting video review of the Monotone Duo and Monotone Delay on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65piXTPE8NM 

James

[James Petry]

On Monday, July 16, 2012 10:30:36 AM UTC+1, James Petry wrote:

Thanks for the tip, Sam. I found this interesting video review of the Monotone Duo and Monotone Delay on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65piXTPE8NM 

Oops, for monotone read Monotron

James