How to build a DIY 3X VCO module from scratch

[@theVHSvlog]

Hey Moritz, I really wish your channel existed in 2010 when I was just learning about synths and attempting to build my own. You've honestly given the community a huge gift with these tutorials. Thank you

[@vincentfree1889]

This channel is such a gem, absolutely love every video you put out. Would also love to see some more jam content, that setup looks amazing!

[@MoritzKlein0]

Vincent Free i‘ll see if i can come up with something worthwhile!

[@martylawrence688]

When you started doing your layout on the dotted paper (7:18) I got shivers... something about tech stuff laid out this neatly makes me inordinately happy. AWESOME work Moritz, really informative and entertaining, I've subscribed and can't wait to see what you make next!

[@wesleymays1931]

My schematics, at best, are electro-lasagna

[@oscarmoralesjuarez2274]

This channel is just insane. Congrats for this sublime content.

[@lucashenry2556]

Thank you so much for this content! I've been building a modular based on Sam's designs, but having a more in depth discussion of the circuitry is SO important to me. I plan on building this as my next project. Keep up the great work!

[@fakenamerealguy7084]

I am gonna build this. Thank you for this channel, the quality is really top notch (or at least is exactly how I like it) ! I hope your sub count explodes (or your Patreon{or both!}), but until then I wanna convey my appreciation. It's nice to share the world with folks like you!

[@svg98]

What a ride, loved every second of it!

[@arsenicjones9125]

I’m late to the party but I find a step bit is much easier for drilling holes after the pilot hole is drilled. Also I don’t cut the retainer on the pot anymore, if you grip it w some pliers and torque it sideways it’ll snap off clean every time w no risk of tiny metal bits shooting off like sometimes happens when you cut them. Great work. Love the cosmo format! Big everything feels big

[@alexandrefails2312]

I am starting to learn more about synths. Your channel is just nothing short of incredible

[@Add1sondeSaulenet]

Bro.. wow thanks. I'm so late to the party, but trust me you are one of a kind. These videos are gems

[@MoritzKlein0]

hey thanks, i appreciate it 🙏

[@mattbutler5095]

Dude you are an absolute genius, watching you do the strip board layout , I was amazed, I wish I had that ability, great work dude best of luck for the future dude 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@akasickform]

I wish this channel existed years ago, as it's now helping me to further realise myself and progress, also reaffirming existing knowledge. Thank you for providing.

[@DiaconescuAlexandru2024]

05:38 you can also make your own PCB's, although you will have to handle ferric chloride (which as long as you wash your hands and don't start sniffing the fumes will be more of a danger to your iron tools than to you). You just need a plain copper board and a permanent marker/corrector paste to draw the tracks on it. Before drawing the tracks I recommend drilling the holes for the components first and then connecting the holes with corrector paste while having some cardboard under the copper board. After the track drawing is done you need to put the board in ferric chloride and move it around (you can drill a hole in the board and put some wire trough it) every 20-30 minutes until you see that all the exposed copper was corroded. Then you get the board out, wash it under warm water with a steel sponge and then pour back all the ferric chloride back into it's bottle. Everything that has touched the ferric chloride HAS to be washed. Also, I usually recommend perf boards when you don't need to care about stray capacitance and inductance, so I use DIY PCB's for RF stuff, signal generators I really care about and high power stuff, it's a waste of my time to make a PCB for every little circuit with some LED's and transistors.

[@coreyfridinger8242]

Absolutely brilliant!! Nice how you expanded the VCO from a single voice to three and the option of the variable VCO to blend the two waveshapes together. You should definitely get some interesting sounds. Simple, yet satisfying!! I will be following you during this entire project and am hoping for more insight on your modular rack. I have built a MIDI to CV unit (using a PIC) that adheres to the 1V per octave standard. Your insights on the control and operating aspects are really good. Looking forward to future videos!! Keep up the great work!!

[@MoritzKlein0]

thanks, much appreciated!

[@michaelliuzzi]

Just subbed to your patron. Just give you a huge thanks. I learn best in a project oriented fashion and your explanations and process are extremely lucid. Thank you.

[@socks7545]

Oh I'm about this, and that shirt you're wearing during the demo is sick

[@CircularMirror7]

Holy hell that's a good idea. That way you use too design a panel will help me greatly. No more screwing up placement.

[@EngineerNotFound]

The process of drawing the schematics could definitely be extended into an ASMR video; wonderful to watch. Anyway, DIY modular has been on my bucket list for a few years now and I might be ready to start at the very beginning, by following your more basic videos; glad I discovered your channel. Also; I love your dotted paper idea, and will probably be stealing it for my own projects (not related to synths) if I want to take them beyond the prototyping stage.

[@TimSavage-drummer]

Love the series. For drilling panel holes, get yourself a step drill. They are a big timesaver not having to change bits between hole sizes and you can also give the holes a de-bur with the next step.

[@MoritzKlein0]

thanks for the tip, will look into it!

[@finonomastropiero4261]

Best diy modular Channel

[@Jack-hy3ye]

Great work mate, this channel is incredible. Quickly becoming one of my favourites!

[@ProductOfTV]

when you cut the small nibblets on the pots, instead of cuting you can break them off cleaner with normal pliers, they break right off and wont leave any pertrusions. Greetings :)

[@johnvcougar]

Dude! That's one very neat hand you have there.

[@dcsapporo]

Moritz, thanks for your great videos.

[@simmelj]

This is soooo cool! Thanks for these informative and easy to follow videos. I know what my winter project is going to be! :D

[@spartang0]

great content, great editing and great sound. thanks for making this video

[@woosix7735]

I built it about a year ago now in Kosmo format, it's great!

[@MutluKaraköse]

Respekt! Ich bewundere dieses Wissen und könnnen!

[@watchclark6482]

Love it, nice work!

[@firfen3782]

This was a fantastic build, only had one problem with the VCO so far and wanted to post the solution (just in case). If the VCO is inexplicably oscillating at a very low frequency no matter where the tuning pot is, disconnecting and reconnecting the negative power rail will fix it. For some reason if you disconnect power entirely it still oscillates too low upon a restart. I have no idea why this happens but there you go!

[@channelite]

Awesome! I am inspired!

[@juansoto3469]

U are actually amazing bruv thank you

[@Gin-toki]

Really great content you have made and nice explanations of your thoughtprocess aswell as the circuits. Great for teaching beginners in making DIY synths :) A recommendation for drilling holes in thin sheet metal, use a step drill, it creates almost perfectly round holse and leaves littel to no burr on the edges, compared to a standard twist drill which makes traingular (tribolar) holse when drilling in thin sheet. It is also easier to center correctly, especially when making larger holes, since you start off with a small pilot hole.

[@MoritzKlein0]

will try that next time, thanks!

[@lucianomartinez2927]

What a big proyect!! excelente!! keep going hermano!!

[@christianverryckt1342]

Hey Im professionally versed with electronics and your descriptions go beyond tank and valve, r & c circuits water dynamics equivelents. Great analogy descriptions.. Divider and offset, tune are well described.

[@pseudopseudo3679]

Your videos are really special :D

[@PWMaarten]

After drilling the pilot holes I recommend removing the paper. Paper will make your drills ga blunt faster.

[@dooterino]

I'm a big fan of the Look Mum No Compu'ah method of panel design: paint it black and go nuts with a silver sharpie

[@MoritzKlein0]

same!

[@existential_fred]

Yeah I thought it was one of his tbh

[@skriptico]

Lovely stuff, the vero project would be really great!

[@JUANJIANT]

Love your stuff❤

[@HanjoSynth]

amazing channel! thanks for sharing

[@IG-88r]

you can bend the legs of the sockets using a piece of perfboard: you put them in place, align a second perfboard and then move it sideways, the legs will be slightly bent, just enough to hold while soldering but not enough to damage or break

[@victorlucas9169]

Crazy shirt, got that jakin and bohas representation

[@floretion]

You know, those tiny protrusions on the potentiometers next to the knob axis have always annoyed me and I never thought of the obvious: just try to cut them off. Great little tip there!

[@junglimikejunglist191]

Thank you so much for the video!

[@rafecamp]

love this channel

[@jj74qformerlyjailbreak3]

Great stuff I just stripped a 50” Panasonic plasma tv. I removed the panels leaving me with a nice solid aluminum panel and solid box for a complete diy experience. Built solely from what god gives me. Right now I’m toying with a digital J11 16 bit processor simply because of its name. We have a few things in common. 😂

[@daithibailey]

Great video, regarding the finish of the face plate: when finishing guitar pedals I find a good idea is to use a combination square to mark the drill points with a small cross, then you know all the knobs will be in line with each other. You can use a nail to punch a mark on the metal to give the drill bit something to bite into, otherwise it might wander off course. The best way I've found to finish enclosures is to draw up a design in photoshop and include a drill template. Then you can just print off the template and punch and drill knowing it'll fit in perfectly with the design. As for getting the design from photoshop onto the faceplate, I've had really good results with waterslide decal. It might look a bit labour intensive at first, but it's actually fairly easy once you get used to it and the results can look really professional.

[@MoritzKlein0]

i'll be sure to try that out! thanks!

[@ClesleyHonorato]

Another incredible video! Thank you so much!!!! An idea for a video that I think it would be easy for you and will help me... rsrsrsrs I am looking for a simple trigger sequencer, 16 steps, made with 4017 for trigger some drums module

[@MoritzKlein0]

i‘ll do a video soon on a slightly different trigger sequencer using shift registers - maybe that‘ll be interesting for you?

[@ClesleyHonorato]

@@MoritzKlein0 of course... Looking forward to watch... Keep doing your vídeos please!!!

[@jimmy_jamesjams_a_lot4171]

You’re great!! How long did it take you to go from playing around with schematics online and in books, to actually starting your way with actual designs, to where you are creating your own layouts and all the parts in schematic form? I mean, you are a terribly thorough person, and you seem to be quite cautious and careful with your progress. I have these fears of suffering fails that become costly, until eventually I spend too much time triple checking, and less time failing! Your theory is so strong, as well as your practice. And your work shows that it pays off infinitely, no!!? That crazy sequencer that’s stepping along in the end, the one with the wiggling LEDs, what module is that?! The one that’s on top row and about third or fourth one from the left? That’s really cool, how the lights move along in that one! I’m guessing it uses a shift register as a sort of memory for keeping track of drum patterns or something like that. Really cool, THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!

[@wedkarzkosma]

maan i love every thing you've made

[@obe726]

Diylayout for the pc is a life saver when designing for perf or strip board. Edit: drilling if you want to get the holes perfect. Use a center punch

[@ewencousin]

keep doing it, its so great!

[@autoalejoangora6173]

thanks a lot Sr.!

[@UnauthorisedService]

Great content...and build ... ! 👏

[@machmar]

12:55 Its easier to break them off (bend them to the side). That way youll have a cleaner sureface afterwards and its way easier.

[@MoritzKlein0]

you mean 12:55? how would you go about bending them?

[@stevenhasen4646]

@@MoritzKlein0 yeah you can grab them with pliers and just kind of wiggle it back and forth till it comes off.

[@machmar]

@@MoritzKlein0 Yeah thx I looked at the time wrong. What I do is I just grab them with regular pliers (not snippers) and force-bend it to the side. It will resist for a bit but then it will just break off and it will leave a smooth (almost) surface that is flat.

[@davidreichert9392]

I love that you do it all on paper, but I would think that it would save a lot of anguish to use software to plan the stripboard layout, something like VeeCAD.

[@Roy_Tellason]

That "protrusion" on the potentiometers is referred to as a locating pin. You don't need to cut them off, just grab them with a pair of needle nose pliers and bend, they should snap right off if they're case like these are, or just bend over if they're the sheet metal type.

[@vitaminscene]

THANKS

[@mojibake7868]

Super video. This is something I'd love to be able to do. I'm an artist/programmer/musician by trade and I've always been 'scared' of building hardware. You should look into screen printing your design on the aluminum. It very cheap, much more accurate/tidy and can be done at home! The colour of screen prints can be fabulous as well compared to digital/laser/inkjet print. Plus, it instantly looks more professional :)

[@josepharamide3640]

The mixing circuit is really really good, I just simulated it now on multisim, as expected at 50% position percentage of the potentiometer it blends to the two nicely together, but at 0% I see pure FM wave which stays 5 volts but whats interesting when its 100% its give me am which a few volts higher than my input of 5 volts.

[@nict2618]

That is awesome.

[@cesarsuarez4491]

What a great channel! Looking forward to building this. Does the Patreon provide any detailed circuit analysis.

[@MoritzKlein0]

you mean a mathematical analysis?

[@lumotroph]

Holy shit that is so cool.

[@milosimon1519]

Awesome video man! I was wondering if I were to build something similar to the required dimensions of a eurorack module if it would be compatible with other eurorack modules. Thanks and keep up the great work!

[@MoritzKlein0]

yes it would! though you‘d have to use a proper eurorack power connector to hook it to your power supply.

[@XtianApi]

As far as the labels I would look at anodizing because the way that came out you may as well just use a silver Sharpie marker and draw the lines

[@nscolieri]

I love the music you played while designing the stripboard layout... what is it? :) 7:21

[@MoritzKlein0]

just some random chords i had the finished module play!

[@EricBalcon]

I really appreciate your tutorials and the way you explain. I just don't understand why you don't use EasyEDA and JLCPB to make your boards and front panels. The cost is ridiculous and the result looks professional.

[@nict2618]

Yeah seriously.

[@MoritzKlein0]

mostly because i enjoy making stuff "from scratch" as much as possible - and because i like the hand-made aesthetic.

[@nict2618]

@@MoritzKlein0 I really like your hand drawn masks for the outside panels. That's a really nice aesthetic.

[@tupointgg3907]

thank you sosososoosso much❤

[@FreddyBNL]

Impressive👍

[@bartconinckx]

Fritzing could help in the perfboard design.

[@strakee8644]

I have a question about the wave output, since I haven't seen any numbered scope outputs on this. This was all done in SPICE simulation (lack of parts currently) By AC coupling the output of the saw wave, I don't get it centered around 0V, but rather it swings from cca 200mV to -750mV. This can be remedied by just adding DC offset at the end, but I don't see it in your schema. The question is then - is the simulation set improperly and in real life with real power supplies the voltage swings around 0, or is the sound unbalanced and the offset is needed for balanced audio. Is there a remedy for the peak of the saw wave I somehow missed? The pots seem to only affect frequency and voltage divider. Thanks !

[@strakee8644]

Addendum: This was maybe caused by only having the sawtooth part. When I added a voltage divider between the two sawtooth opamps it is now centered

[@dunichtich100]

Junge du bist sowas von krass! 🤯💥

[@penalvalouis554]

Great work mate. Any chance to know where u get ur shirt or the brand ? Thx sir

[@macelius]

That's it, three videos in amd I've decided to build myself a "Moritz" xD. Now, which module to start with?

[@callum.dokkodo]

This is awesome. I'm just getting into modular, and want to know if these oscillators are easily connected to keyboards/MIDI systems? I want to make a modular setup for my studio and control it with keyboard instead of sequencer. Thanks for your content 🙏

[@MoritzKlein0]

to be honest i have no idea about midi to CV interfacing, sorry! from what i gather you'd probably have to use a microcontroller though!

[@DoctorKarul]

If your keyboard has a CV output it will work immediately. Arturia's Keystep is very popular for this. If your keyboard outputs MIDI, you can get a MIDI to CV converter box, there are dozens to choose from. Cv.OCD is popular. As Moritz said, they use a microcontroller since MIDI is a digital signal.

[@DoctorKarul]

This one is a midi to cv converter designed to match this synthesizer format. www.lookmumnocomputer.com/projects#/1007-midi-cv

[@martijnklasing7815]

Hi, Moritz. The design your suggesting in this YT video doesn't work very good in LTspice, espicially the square wave shaping part. Which is generally speaking a 'bad' sign. I took the liberty to alter your design to make it work better in LTspice. If you want to, I can send you a rough LTspice sheet

[@palmsandcacti5663]

Can I get a link?

[@zanemaklin4553]

An update would be much appreciated

[@kiranscottdemartinville3304]

That shifts module looks really cool, could you explain what it does? ty and keep on making content :)

[@indivisiblemomentum]

Hi! great video and series, thanks for sharing all that knowledge to the community. You mentioned that you had troubles making a master cv input, what kind of problems were those? I really want to make the oscillator have a master cv, and would like to know what I'm facing to.

[@MoritzKlein0]

nothing really difficult. for some reason i assumed a single buffer shared by all three VCOs would be sufficient, but that's not the case. you need one buffer for each vco.

[@paulhooze]

Excellent !!!i was Looking for a triple oscillators,close to the model D...and yes,no triple vco !!!duo,quad...but triple !?!?

[@AndrewGilmour-qld]

tip For your art work you could you modeler tape, it come in 1mm 2.imm , and 3mm roles

[@timcampbell3735]

Great video! One question: what is the third potentiometer (first and second channel, or last on the third channel)? Is it the 1M pot from the FM IN path, or the 100K connected to the third op amp?

[@straticah2865]

ok wow i am just blown away and it looks so complex for me but i would love to learn more! my music is very analog, so can u explain what makes a module analog or digital sounding? I would like to learn how to build modules with analog circuitry because i love the sound of my analog compressor and my tape machine. Greets Julien

[@aaakzt-itsme]

very nice videos, i startet with pedals and then did some mini drone machine circuit bend stuff with the simple oscillator from lookmumnocomputer. now i want to built a bigger synth for drone and noise music. your video are very helfpul for the filter section and now im thinking about making it voltage controllable to add a baby 8 like sequencer. i was thinking about adding a stereo delay aswell. maybe you are interested in making a video about analog fx or fm synthesis in the future :D keep it up!

[@MoritzKlein0]

yes definitely! delay and reverb are on my list.

[@pkp_tv554]

Couldn't you do the pulsewidth mod with a comparator, so another op amp jnstead of the schmitt trigger inverter, leaving you with a fully used tl074 and just one of 6 schmitt trigger inverters?

[@zerstaerker]

Hey Moritz, thank you for this great SDIY video compendium. Nicely put together btw. When deriving more than one oscillator from a single 40106 chip, have you gotten around the issue of a weird sync or phase-lock if those two oscillators are tuned close to each other? I faced that problem when I built a dual VCO with single supply V/oct current sink a few years ago but don't know how to fix it. Have anice sunday. MfG. :)

[@maruasg2574]

Hi Mortiz, I have a doubt. At what components did you connected the potentiometers?

[@jarisipilainen3875]

2:36 CV IN. there is it answer im looking lol. would nice schematic help bit? on basic tut lol. 14:13 only schema for saw.was it basic tut how get other shapes lol

[@VanBroicz]

Great video ! For stripboard design: Why not using "DIY Layout Creator" (free software tool)?

[@MoritzKlein0]

mostly because i enjoy getting away from my computer - but good recommendation!

[@alvarobyrne]

Good call. Will check. Thanks @Louis Pierre Geerinckx

[@VanBroicz]

@@MoritzKlein0 I love your style and commitment ;)

[@mo55yoak]

Is there a components list for this one? It would be very usefull!

[@AndrewGilmour-qld]

tip use a center punch to mark your drill holes

[@marlstormqc494]

I'm quite new to vco and I was wondering what is the FM input on the schematics

[@MoritzKlein0]

@@marlstormqc494 the FM input allows you to modulate the frequency of the oscillator with a control signal (an LFO, an envelope etc.) it’s similar to the v/oct input, but does not work to play melodies from a v/oct sequencer.

[@94BR]

i am very sad that i didn't get MKI as a prof. Grande mki dall Italia 🇮🇹 💪🏻

[@TheNimasan]

grossartig....ebenso verständlich für einen laien wie mich. aboniert!!! neue fav kanal!!!

[@alexandrebreton4720]

Hi ! I can't understand what chip sockets are and what are the utility of those ? I guess there is one by oscillator + another one for I don't know what, that's it ? Thanks a lot for your content ! Really helpful !

[@alexandrebreton4720]

Or are they TL074 OP AMPS ?

[@MoritzKlein0]

chip sockets are useful because they allow you to swap chips after everything is soldered together. also, you don’t have to apply heat to the chip’s pins while soldering, which can damage them quite easily.

[@alexandrebreton4720]

@@MoritzKlein0 Thanks a lot ! I think I get it, you solder them and then put the 40106 IC (in this case) into it ?

[@andisyntz7160]

hello, great vco. I have a question though. Where is the 1m poti behind the fm in? and whitch type of the NTC 10K temp should i take? Are ceramic capacitors possible or do they have to be foils?

[@MoritzKlein0]

i opted to omit the FM input because it wouldn't have fit on the panel. for the thermistors it doesn't really matter, just make sure they're NTC not PTC. and ceramic capacitors work, but they might have a worse sound quality. check here: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/69919/ceramic-vs-film-capacitor-which-one-is-preferred-in-audio-circuits

[@andisyntz7160]

@@MoritzKlein0 thanks for the quick answer

[@JKiefer]

Wirklich sehr schöne Videoreihe, vielen Dank, Moritz! Sobald's wieder ein bißchen mehr in der Kasse klingt, kriegst Du noch ein Patreon-Abo :D Was die Beschriftung des Gehäuses angeht -- hast Du mal über Metal Etching nachgedacht? Eine Spannungsquelle hast Du ja, zur Not tut's aber auch eine Batterie, und es ist haltbarer als Lack.

[@HeegeMcGee]

Awesome tutorial! Can you share a link to your Stripboard layout and the schematic?

[@MoritzKlein0]

schematic is already on my patreon, stripboard layout will be up soon (with some revisions).

[@simonburns1055]

How are you triggering that module when it has no black cables from the sequencer being input into the module ?

[@burgerboyrules]

Excellent content! do you happen to have your soundcloud or something? Would be nice to hear your music!