Synthesizer DIY Ressources
My journey into synthesizers started around 2013. I am lacking any music theory skills and was more interested in building stuff than actual producing music. After playing around with a few second hand drum machines for a while i found out about Modular Synthesizers. Almost a decade and a giant backlog of half-finished machines later i got a fairly good overview of popular systems and lesser known projects. So this is a little collection of circuits, noise-makers and ressources i found, researched or even built myself over the years.
Formats
Most modular synth systems have specific technical format. This format can consist of size, mounting method, power delivery, cable connectors and other details. But a lot of circuits can be modified to be used in a different format than they were intended for. Personally i am familiar with the common formats of Eurorack, Serge and Moog. Older systems usually have their own specs (eg. Roland System-500, ARP 2500, Buchla etc).
Synth designs/inspiration
- Music from Outer Space - Ray Wilson
- Cat Girl Synth - Ken Stone (Archive Link, NO SSL)
- Lunetta CMOS - Stanley Lunetta (Lunetta inspired synths)
- Castle Rocktronics - Kieran (Lunetta inspired system, NO SSL)
- YUSYNTH - Yves Usson (Analog 5U Format)
- North Coast Synthesis - Matthew Skala (Various schematics)
- Gieskes.nl - Gijs Gieskes (Unique noise boxes and Eurorack modules)
- benjiaomodular - Benjie Jiao (Open source Eurorack modules)
- Mutable Instruments - Emilie Gillet (Digital Eurorack modules)
- Music Thing Modular - Tom Whitwell (Creative Eurorack modules)
- Moffenzeef Modular - Ross Fish (Schematics on Github)
- Schmitzbits - René Schmitz (various classic designs)
- Paper Circuits - Peter Blasser (if your art teacher drew schematics)
- Tagboardeffects (Guitar FX Layouts)
Forums
- Modwiggler - Old-school but lots of information
- Electro Music Old-school but an absolute treasure trove
- lines Forum - Modern synthesizer discussion board
Software tools
- DIY Layout Creator (Simple layout program for beginners, open source)
- KiCAD (Professional electronic design software, open source)
Literature
- Make: Analog Synthesizers - Ray Wilson
- The Art of Electronics - Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill
- Electronotes - Bernie Hutchins
- Engineer’s Notebooks - Forrest M. Mims III
Part and kit sourcing
- Tayda Electronics (TH) (Parts, audio focused)
- Mouser (US) (Parts)
- Thonk (GB) (Synth kits and parts, 3U, 4U)
- Loudest Warning (GB) (PCBs and panels, 4U)
- Slightly Nasty (GB) (PCBs and panels, 4U)
- Exploding Shed (DE) (Synth kits and parts, 3U)
Youtube
Going deeper
If you are interested to follow the rabbit just hop over to the SDIY Wiki. They got a great starting guide and plenty more of links and ressources.