The SAMTONE Biscuit Tin Bass Box!

It has...
'always-on' compressor,
EHX Bass Balls envelope filter clone,
Kay square-wave tremolo,
and modified Frantone Lo-Tone Fuzz!
(With retro switches!)

Works for bass and guitar! (Sound samples to follow in the future...)

Python Jazz Club 3!

Version 3: Random Waveforms!

I decided to modify my program so that it randomly chooses between sticking to one waveform throughout the entire song, or choosing one waveform per note like it did previously. This one's sawtooths.

https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/python-jazz-club-3-random-waveforms

Python Jazz Club 2!

Version 2: Random Waveforms! (Sine, triangle, square and sawtooth.)
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/python-jazz-club-2-random-waveforms

Python Jazz Club 1!

Fully automated Python music! (Note: Wear headphones!)

This is a piece of music generated by a Python program that I coded. It creates notes at random, and I've also randomised the notes' duration and octave. I put a slight attack and decay on the notes to 'soften' the note. I used a 15-note octave, to make the music sound more jazzy!

I restricted the limit of note intervals to make it appear more melodic, then ran the program to produce the music (in the form of a WAV file). To make it more 'Jazz Club', I 'multi-tracked' it in Audacity - I added reverb to one duplicated track and reversed the reverb in the other.

I'm very pleased with the result, and it creates a 'Delia Derbyshire' vibe.

https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/python-jazz-club-1

Squier Bronco Bass Pickguard Mod

I had a look this morning at my Squier Bronco short scale bass. 

 I changed the pickguard to an orange one which I think looks very good. 

I was going to change the pickup from the Strat single coil to a Vanson hot rail humbucker but changed my mind. I don't like how the blades are arched so the outer strings would be about 2mm further from the blades than the centre two - a 33% difference! But I liked the original pickup anyway despite it being low output so will stick with that for the time being. 

I was pleased to see that the pots are decent Korean Alpha pots. 

 

 

Squire Bronco Short-Scale Bass

New Fender Squier Bronco short-scale bass! It sounds good as it is, but I've got a Vansen Hot Rail humbucker pickup for it, and a jazzy orange pickguard!

I'll do a 'before and after' comparison between the two pickups, but here's a spectrogram with the standard Strat-type pickup. You can get a good variety of tones with the four strings and the tone pot.

Relay Drum Machine Experiment!

I did an experiment with my Relay Drum Circuit, to see if it's worth doing a monster mega-relay drum machine.

So I recorded half a dozen tracks of the circuit at different speeds and tones, and added some reverb in Audacity.

I think that the outcome is really good; it's now just a question of how many relays to have in the mega-machine!

(Please use headphones!)

https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/relay-drum-machine-experiment-1

Weird Noise Synthesizer: Relay Circuit and Swanee Whistler

The circuits in my Weird Noise Synthesizer were interfering with each other, so I decided to remove the Swanee Whistler and the Relay circuit and put them in separate jars!

The Relay Circuit! (1)

The Relay Circuit! (2)

The Relay Circuit! (3)

The Swanee Whistler!

(See Facebook page for videos!)

Triple-Chip Frantone Peach Fuzz

I'm a Fran fan!

I had got a Frantone Brooklyn and a Thunderhead relatively inexpensively, but you don't see any on eBay for under £300 nowadays! You can get the twin-LM386 chip Peach Fuzz as a kit, but I wondered what would happen if you made it a triple-LM386 chip circuit.

So I prototyped it on breadboard, did some sound samples, and analysed it on Audacity.

The third chip does make the waveform more ragged, and the spectrogram shows that it's more trebly, which does mean more fuzz! It also has so much sustain, you can go and make a cup of tea whilst it decays!

Also, the stock Peach Fuzz tone control has a really big range.

So I might build it as a proper pedal in the future.

Analysis!

Close-up of the LM386 chips!

Yet More Jazz Improvisation!

https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/jazz-improvisation-exercise-5a
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/jazz-improvisation-exercise-5b

More Jazz Improvisation

More jazz improvisation for my summer online jazz course!
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/jazz-improvisation-exercise-2
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/jazz-improvisation-exercise-3
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/jazz-improvisation-exercise-4

Weslie Sound Samples

Testing the Weslie circuit, a 'Sort of a Wobbly Leslie Simulator'. It sounds a bit like a suttle tremolo, but it does have a sound of its own!
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/weslie-sound-samples

Die Roll 2, in D Whole Tone

I used a die to create this composition:
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/die-roll-2

(Die Roll 1 is here.)

Jazz Improvisation

Jazz improvisation for my summer online jazz course!
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/jazz-improvisation-exercise-1

Weird Noise Synthesizer Update

Drilling the holes on the biscuit tin for my Weird Noise Synthesizer and entering the components. I used a cardboard template to punch some marker holes, and then used my step drill. Next step is to solder the boards together!

Weird Noise Synthesizer Layout

Finalising a rough layout of how everything will be laid out within the Weird Noise Synthesizer (a compilation of 'weird sound' circuits, which will eventually be finished in a biscuit tin!).

Owl Rhythm

I was testing the Hooting Owl synthesizer circuit tonight, and then rearranged it into a short rhythm track! (Headphones and constant loop recommended!)

https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/owl-rhythm

Finishing New Pedals - '71 Fuzz

This is the '71 Fuzz, which I finished yesterday.

I used metallic green, vibrant purple and vibrant orange paints, as well as some purple glitter, to give the pedal a '70s feel. I did have some trouble when the internals of the 1 mega-ohm pot set on fire (!), so I had to use a 500 kilo-ohm pot and some resistors instead, which limited the range of the pot (so it's really like a one-sound pony!). Nevertheless, the sound of the pedal is really good, and there are some interesting ideas that I could incorporate if I wanted to make this pedal again.

Sound sample of my vintage pedalboard (including this pedal):
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/vintage-pedalboard-sound-sample

(The '71 Fuzz on its own is the second sequence of chords, with the first being a clean guitar signal.)

Pedalboard Demos

I finished the '71 Fuzz yesterday! So here are some sound samples for my vintage pedalboard ('71 Fuzz, into Para Para Paradise, into EA Tremolo, into LPB Boost) and my Frantone pedalboard (Francard Fuzz, into Brooklyn Overdrive, into Thunderhead Bass Booster, the latter two I had already owned).

https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/vintage-pedalboard-sound-sample
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/frantone-pedalboard-sound-sample

(Vintage Pedalboard Sound Sample: Clean signal, then '71 Fuzz on, then Para Para Paradise added, then EA Tremolo added, then LPB Boost added, then everything on maximum!)

(Frantone Pedalboard Sound Sample: Fran Fuzz on (pots on minimum, then maximum), then Brooklyn Overdrive added (for the last two tests).)

Finishing New Pedals - Sound Samples

EA Tremolo Sound Sample:
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/ea-tremolo-sound-sample
(Volume pot on halfway throughout; Depth and rate pots on minimum, then halfway, then maximum)

Francard Fuzz Sound Sample:
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/francard-fuzz-sound-sample
(Both pots on minimum, then halfway, then maximum)