Now for something different: progress on new modules has been slow in the new year, but I've been working on a tool to help diagram some of the patches that I've been experimenting with. Based on the Mermaid syntax, the mermaid-patch extension let's you embed patch diagrams in a page and it should be compatible with Material/MkDocs (which I use for this site).
A nice talk by Kliment at 39CC showed up in my feed recently: Building hardware - easier than ever - harder than it should be. I thought that the speaker did a good job of summarizing what has changed in this space in the last decade or so, and how amazing that is when it comes to making DIY electronics acccessible.
Time for a reckoning. After discovering this little corner of the universe a couple of years ago and getting some of the basics in place in 2024, I set a goal for 2025 to build a new module every two months. I figured that this would get me to the point where I had the core of a basic synth: VCO, envelope, VCA, VCF, and maybe couple of extras. Results and stats below the fold.
The last module for 2025! At the beginning of the year, I had a goal to build a new module every two months with the objective of having the core of a synth by the end. With this filter, I think that the basic pieces are in place (although I still have lots of ideas for 2026). The state variable filter is a very elegant textbook design that translates nicely into an analog circuit. The prototype came together well and the filter response fits the theory beautifully. However, there was one issue...