Some months ago our local fablab has organized a series of meetings with Stefano Bersanetti, a reknown local artisan who produces synths (euterpersynth.com). It has been the occasion to refresh and learn some electronics (Stefano is a gifted teacher) and each of us pupils has begun to build his own synth.
Stefano has given us 3 PCB to start experimenting, one with 4 oscillators, one with a voltage controlled filter (VCF) and one with a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA).
From the beginning I wanted an instrument that was transportable, so fully contained in a box and complete with loudspeakers. I decided to use a wooden box – the type for bottles of wine, one of our worldwide appreciated local products. I had a couple of PC speakers from IBM Netvistas, which were nice and rectangular, so just right for my box, and broken USB speakers from which to source the electronics to amplify the stereo audio signal and drive the Netvista speakers.
The wooden construction has helped me to keep thing simple and modifyable during the building process. I opted for a Doepfer PSU to have also the 5V to drive the some standard electronics together with the eurorack 12V stuff.
Here is the current iteration.
Eurorack is pricey for good reasons, as it is analog and it must be very well crafted to produce controllable sound, but I’m no professional and just wanted to enjoy a little so in the end my bottle-box synth is more of a “noise lab” than a music instrument. But stay tuned as I plan to add at least something Arduino’s to it…
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