Building A RELAY Sequencer For My Synth PART 2

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

What would you have done in that plonker moment i had in the vid? what a plonker hey!!!!

[@ethanchisholm4168]

lcd

[@daveayerstdavies]

Vacuum fluorescent display!

[@MonkeyOnesie]

Electro Luminescent Display =D

[@infinidominion]

The one with that cowgirls boot going up n down

[@JesusisJesus]

I don’t know, what you do is boggling and this stuff is extremely fascinating.

[@DisasterxUs]

I will actually come to England for the first time just to see your museum

[@fiver-hoo]

I've been all over the world, few years ago vowed I was done and would never travel again. Probably going to go back on my word just to go to the museum.

[@gorillaau]

Keep an ear out for word plonker being used in the wild.

[@noahdodson958]

I'm lucky, it's pretty close to me!

[@klaasj7808]

hehe wont happen, covid will keep you at home.

[@danielmendes5682]

idk why but those relay clicks are one of the most satisfying sounds ever to exist, great job

[@mafoomusic8126]

It’s like a tiny Harley Davidson revving up

[@screwbles5697]

Your builds are proof that art can really be anything.

[@107-c4l]

Art is the expression of self. How ever you define your self in an expression is the Art and variety is the spice of life. the universe happens in variation, the imbalance is balanced, the wheel in the sky keeps on turning. click click

[@KrentShaw-te5lw]

I laughed when you said “They may break” from the usage, even harder when I saw the [Will*] . My career is sound and electronics and basically everything you play around with. Its great to see someone with the same enthusiasm and respect for the little behind the scenes “ticks” that have kept the modern world going. Finding your channel recently has given me some enthusiasm to try something new and find joy in the small things again. Keep up your hard work, keep the brain healthy, keep on jamming. Your music is crystal clear, the flow and rhythm is living. You actually orchestrate rather than just create music, it’s brilliant. Thank you for displaying it.

[@Not-THAT-ChrisPratt]

As a young lad (now 55) I read how the Harvard Mark-I (an early electro-mechanical computer composed of thousands of relays) sounded like a room full of chattering teeth or women knitting. This had fascinated me ever since. You truly have made a useful machine of art. Well done!

[@ColinChick]

That is an absolute thing of beauty. There is certainly something mesmerising about the sound of a relay clicking; I still remember driving my siblings crazy after buying my first relay as a kid and constantly activating it with a couple of AA batteries in a holder. Clickety clickety!

[@sparkyprojects]

Missed steps could be due to contact bounce at high speeds. you'll probably find a max operational speed on the datasheet for those relays

[@spacejens]

Amazing work as usual! Quick suggestion: Stick labels for the clock buffer and step number boards onto the front window, same as for the other boards. Even though those boards don't have any interactive controls, labeling them would be an educational improvement worthy of a museum.

[@tudorcotoi7011]

4:20 single cylinder 4 stroke 4:27 6.2 liter V8 idling Gotta love this thing!

[@creamsiclecat]

I have no idea whats going on but it looks cool and fun

[@connorhalliday7304]

Me with every video on this channel. Watch every one 🤷‍♂️

[@thefrankenator]

This thing is BEAUTIFUL. Sam its one of your nicest builds yet, and your solution to the inverted board was actually a really nice touch, I cant wait to see what you do with it next

[@superotterboy7937]

Love how at high speed it sounds like an engine! Those relays are like teeny tiny pistons! It looks and sounds amazing! Love the old school electronics vibes! ❤️

[@erlgro]

Yeah, it's sorta like a straight eight engine ;).

[@Stingpie]

When you said Numitron, my mind instantly jumped to the Nimo tubes. For a second, I was so excited.

[@mathyoooo2]

can't beat the sound of relays

[@RaDoooh]

16:42 I spent my childhood at telephone station (named "commutator") where father worked and I still like that sounds :)

[@pieboy107]

Those clicks are so satisfying!!

[@5ANDW1CHES]

Relays are fun 😄

[@Rouverius]

"The rattling of the relays of the Z4 [relay computer] was the only interesting thing to be experienced in Zurich's night life” - Konrad Zuse

[@AlexKivikoski]

How about adding a microphone output to the box so you can get the lovely relay sounds into the mix and maybe process them with other modules?

[@UNSCPILOT]

Agreed, having the rythem and sounds of the relays as part of a track being played by the sequencer would be awesome

[@fathomisticfantasy2681]

This is a relay version of the 595 chip. Due! Too awesome!

[@campbellmorrison8540]

What fun! You really need to find a book from Oxford Uni Press called we made our own computers. All built out of relays and right down to the basics. When I was a kid I got this from the library multiple times, probably the only person that did, never understood any of it. But a couple of years back I found a copy in a book sale and now I actually do understand what on earth they were going on about.

[@lngl7149]

I hope some day you will solder all the great little things together to create the biggest modular system ever over multiple rooms

[@littlebacchus216]

I'm old AF and I love this as it looks like the displays we had at my Uni.

[@jamesh5460]

The museum is going to be retro electronic music nerd heaven.

[@connordnetto]

I had an idea! What if you stuck a piezo or two inside the box to get all the clicky goodness, then send that to a resonant filter of some sort, maybe a bandpass, and have the CV out from the potentiometers control the cutoff? You’d get a really awesome pinged percussion machine!

[@McTroyd]

I've seen professionals not managing their wires that well. Well done! Gorgeous bit of kit too.

[@bborkzilla]

Good old Radio Shack 276-1588 protoboard. Built a lot of stuff on those...

[@UsagiElectric]

Who needs a synthesizer when your sequencer already synthesizes the greatest beats on the planet?

[@rsbohn]

keep it neat and tidy. Nice work!

[@1980VINZ]

I SWEAR, I can play the relay sequencer a whole day. I fucking love your stuff

[@LondonSteveLee]

Put a mic pre in there with a dynamic mic, and another with a piezo which you can use to EQ and mix the mechanical sounds into the audio.

[@3DPDK]

The small socket mount type of relay that you are using are affected by circuit board or cabinet vibration, even if you soldered them directly to the breadboard - maybe even more so. If the cabinet back reaches a harmonic resonance with the speed of the relays this may be the cause of the dropped bit. Where you are losing the bit is right around the dead center of the back panel. One solution I can think of is to add doubling strips on the back side of the back board. This wont get rid of resonant vibrations but it will change the frequency (upward) that the harmonic vibrations respond.

[@ZOOTSUITBEATNICK1]

Love your vids, Man, and props for the nod to the awesome Fran Blanche.

[@2112jonr]

When your sequencer is so fast and mechanical, it doubles up as an audio rate oscillator ! Awesome work Sam, love it :-)

[@BeTheAeroplane]

Drill a hole in the side to let the clicky sound out! 😁 I have no idea why, but I don't think I will ever stop loving the sound of relays. There's just something so satisfying about it.

[@MrKeys57]

I could watch and listen too this "machine" all day long! This is work of a true genious! Greetings Levi in sweden

[@MikeS-1969]

You can drill some small holes at the bottom corners for more relay sound high freq comimg out and place a thin fabric as a filter behind to isolate the dust from going in.

[@abpccpba]

You are the most open presenter I have ever heard. : - ))

[@tylermark4725]

what a beautiful sound to hear all those relays clacking about

[@jakobjorgensen7773]

It's absolutely mad and steampunk - and I LOVE it

[@CoolDudeClem]

I should add that I'm a total geek and proud!

[@johnfranks]

Cable lacing would fit the build and look sweet.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

yeah i was gunna do that but i suck at it ha

[@marknesselhaus4376]

Man that relay sound is so mesmerizing. I love it :-D

[@ForTheSuperEarth]

Splended music you have there, my good sir.

[@evaDrepuS]

You had a Martin moment... Aesthetic vs function... Love watching your work on all of the stuff you make, as well as his work on the Marble Machine X.

[@107-c4l]

Hey!! "turn your damn blinker off" lol Good job. I totally dig the upside down counter build, i do that kinda thing all the time... frustrating moment for sure... Great build. love the relay especially in time like that. Incorporating the pendulum into it would be awesome. Forget about 8 bit analog, relay analog or go home hahaha!

[@ragemccloud]

Opening and closing the lid really makes me want to see a perforated circle on the front or top with a twisty knob that opens and closes to act like a physical low pass filter for the relays.

[@danielleohallisey4218]

“Platinum Plonker” is my new favorite phrase!

[@annother3350]

Gold-plated

[@davemakesnoises]

I wish I had a sample of the relay room for the 1927 barton theatre organ at the theatre i used to work at....wall to wall, floor to ceiling clicky goodness. Gotta love it.

[@WilliamMoser]

Nice one, the 8 step sequence reminds me of a thing I made some time ago. Love the numitron!

[@moogboy010]

I can hear 'Bob Moog' and 'Don Buchla' laughing 'heartily'!Great Stuff! I thought about building a 'spinning-magnet',with 'reed-relays',some years' ago? : )

[@jameshughes3014]

everything he makes is a work of art in and of itself.

[@DanielGBenesScienceShows]

And just like that, LOOK MUM & “Clicky McKlickity” change the meaning of the phrase “Click Bait” forever! New meaning = LOVE!

[@Basement-Science]

Keeping with the theme of relays, you could use the flyback voltage from a relay coil to try to run a nixie tube. Not sure if any of these relays will manage 170V, and it will probably be very dim, but would be cool. Basically connect a relay coil in series with its own NC switch contact, add a diode in between going to the nixie, put the relay across the supply voltage and depending on the relay, you might get a reasonably high voltage output. (no resistor needed)

[@ElAMPox]

Maybe it goes against the clakety clack of the design, but for the pulse generating part you can use a reed relay or even better a glass hall sensor with rotating magnet wheel

[@chegadesuade]

I honestly think this is the smartest man on youtube.

[@gavincurtis]

The other version has soldered in relays and comes with the internet troll decal applied to the plexi. Relays usually mechanically last 10's of millions of cycles if done right. Contacts are another matter. Relay computers from the 1960's are still working today.

[@emulatorretro]

Oh, brilliant idea I just had. Build one with silent relays with 3 numbers on a stand for a speed o meter for an antique car.

[@chriscoralAloha]

Stupid Me is my favorite jam. I rock it all the time. Love it man.

[@duncan-rmi]

those of us steeped in the berlin school music of the 70s are more fond of the incandescent lamps used in the moog 960 than any of the sequencers with LEDs. playing riffs on the skip switches is where it's at.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

cant beat those lamps :D got another project coming up tryiung to take the bulbs long a step :D

[@Flymochairman1]

I rue the day I was told "We're not taking that old[Jen Synthitone 2000] keyboard to the new house!" Oh for that little power-pack back!

[@PlanetDeLaTourette]

Sounds like the telephone facilities I worked in 2 decades ago. Rows of cabinets with relays processing a part of the city. I also built electro-mechanical systems with these components and lego when I was six. My father had this stuff lying around and also thought the principles of pulleys and gears. I know the sound of lego imploding under tremendous forces because a sensor, taped to it, failed to switch a relay.

[@LondonSteveLee]

Great stuff! You could add another relay (per relay) that doesn't carry an audio signal for the skip step so the skip is a mute which takes the same period of time. As it is now, skipping will shift all the notes.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Tad confused by this none of the relays are carrying audio?

[@jannepeltonen2036]

1) Fran from Frantone (and more lately, FranLab) would probably love that display unit (tube? bulb?) 2) That thing, when running at a slightly higher speed, sounds like a radial aircraft engine

[@idj20]

Does remind me of all those background lights blinking away in the bridge of the original Starship Enterprise in the classic Star Trek series.

[@johnpossum556]

Space: The final frontier!

[@slother93]

This Bud’s for you!!! Love this channel, man!

[@RaDoooh]

14:18 you can change diode matrix to rotate symbols in future.

[@toddspeck9415]

Super cool creation.

[@pavadmin2436]

from start - it sounds like old russian folk song playing on old abandoned space station falling in flames and glory from skies to Pacific Ocean. I salut respect it (and you, crazy vacuumtuber astronaut) )))

[@jamesyouens4381]

This guys off his rocker haha I love it

[@Gin-toki]

I really like this electromechanical step sequencer, provides the beat all by itself :D I know it's a bit late but a mechanical 7-seg flip display or a flip-dot display would have suited the relay step sequencer well.

[@Musicalmane]

You might be able to hear the relays more if you drilled a grid of holes on it like a speaker grill on a speaker (if that's your fancy of course)

[@BryanDenham]

i bet if anyone could make a home made bucket brigade with all 1024 caps and transistors its you . i just love watching your videos they make me want to build stuff too.

[@gavster89]

If you can find somewhere ripping out an old control panel (alas, not my job these days) you can get hundreds of DIN rail mounted relays for free/next to nothing. They're often SPST though.

[@tommyflowers7098]

Why is it that every time I see this mad-scientist/genius at work, I'm reminded of that resourceful mechanic dude from "The Road Warrior"?

[@jameshamaker9321]

It's really amazing, what can be done with relays. What's next, a drum machine, made with clock parts?

[@kaisersozeh7845]

It's such a cool sound - Deffo need to make a percussive version, using different sized relays for different tones. Could piezo that up, make cool pings!. Also, you got one to oscillate last time, but you didn't play with a variable resistor! - can you explore using a robust one as a vco, possible without killing it?

[@ebb632]

If you had the time, I think it would be great if you were to do a 'basics' series, to explain to us who don't know much about synths/electronics wtf is going on. I watch your videos regardless, it would just be cool to get some of that background prerequisite knowledge from the master!

[@CausticCatastrophe]

WOW! that turned out really cool!

[@rageagainstthebath]

Congratulations, you reinvented diode logic.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Why reinvented?

[@8bitwiz_]

Diode logic? Hah! LOOK MUM NO SEMICONDUCTORS

[@sonikboom007]

Nice work sam!

[@TannerTech]

Where is your museum at? And is it open to the public? I would love to come see it someday!

[@AndrewAHayes]

Sam, save money on cable ties by 3D printing them, there are loads of different designs and sizes on Thangs and you can play with the augmented reality on Thangs as well!

[@donaldmacleod3619]

You said "feng shui', but if it's not perfect think 'wabi-sabi (侘寂)'. Love the content. x

[@AnalogDude_]

cool, that vintage wood, to make it complete you need waved hemp thread and braid the wires. : ) like it was done in the past. that was a skill of it's own.

[@TheMalleges]

Just an idea, instead of the cable ties you could use small acrylic tubes and it would maybe look really sick. Not that it doesnt look sick already

[@johnpossum556]

14:04 For insulation on those legs you could apply some liquid electrical tape if you are really concerned about it.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

When it's running at a good clip (16:49) it sounds almost exactly like an old scooter I used to have. Seriously.

[@ford1546]

Very cool. You make the most incredible thing

[@thespazdragon]

I find it interesting that with only 1 step in the sequence, there's an audible difference in tone between the top and bottom row of relays. The top row sounds brighter.

[@StefaanHimpe]

put in a little mirror to go with the smoke when the relays finally blow up (not sure where or how, but it sounded as if it had potential)

[@spawninhell7152]

You are genius 🙇‍♂️

[@StreuPfeffer]

If you need another Clicky Clacky Thing which also displays things, Flipdot 7 Segments maybe an option? controlling them and not burn out the coils of the segments might be an issues, also i think 12-24V or so supply voltage.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Indeed! I usually act upon these things with feelings and gotta be honest flipdots dont do it for me for some reason* who knows one day I may come around!

[@dysamoria]

The version of "Stupid Me" instrumental in the beginning is cool. Is the full version available somewhere? I like the sort of electric guitar solo bit. I see the instrumental version of the regular song, but this one is different (??).

[@KeritechElectronics]

Now that's a brilliant idea :) Keep tech simple!

[@julienbeavis448]

Loving your work.

[@fmoll8748]

nice tune there in the beginning

[@kannants2651]

I really like your "ooh"

[@Danbatio]

4:26 sounds like my car 14:12 I feel your pain I wanted some Nixie tubes but now I need the Numitron.

[@annother3350]

Nice little tune