The simplest DIY audio oscillator? not a 555 chip. reverse avalanche

SIMPLEST OSCILLATOR DIY PROJECT
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[@Pterrordon12]

This is the reason for youtube

[@billfusionenterprise]

i thought cat videos were

[@vielobst]

YES YES YES YES

[@aa.music.production]

@@billfusionenterprise cats and synthesizers.... and more cats

[@billfusionenterprise]

@@aa.music.production and the ocational 'hold my beer video"

[@emil-9432]

LoL, I was gonna write exactly the same comment, you beat me by two years! :)

[@bubakawara]

Didn't build anything in almost ten years, but after seeing this I decided to try something. Salvaged some parts, burned my fingers and built 2 wien bridge oscillators using op-amps. Each one with one potentiometer for gain and one for tuning. Now I spent an hour twiddling with them, smiling like a child. Thank you so much for the inspiration!

[@jesusquintero7010]

can you explain how you made a gain potentiometer like I'm 5 yo?

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

please share your schematics and part list and all that jazz. It really gets me excited to build that too :) OpAmps are fun to use and fairly inexpensive to come by so this would be awesome to try.

[@Hoptronics]

And after reading your comment I bought a zillion arcade buttons, some perfboards, transistors, resistors caps, and a billion other odds and ends a few months ago.. .. now I'm here reading the comments before I get started building this thing. Lol.. 1st project in almost 8yrs for me..

[@bubakawara]

@@KRAFTWERK2K6 I am not sure anymore, what I did exactly. It was pretty adhoc thing. But if I remember, it would be the first diagram from wiki "Wien bridge oscillator". Instead of bulb I used one potentiometer for gain and for tuning I used two track potentiometer in place of R1 and R2. For op-amp I used TL064. It can be used with low voltage, so I just used 4AA batteries to get +/- 3V. Also it's resilient and cheap so you can just experiment and see where it takes you. I use these pretty much everywhere.

[@W1RMD]

@@bubakawara save your old smoke detector batteries. they have a lot of life in them for projects and can be hooked in series for more voltage.

[@RetroPlus]

7:22 You've basically made a THX machine.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

check this year's videos - 1000 oscillators. Is this the circuit he's using ? Don't know

[@Abossow77]

@@thewhitefalcon8539 it is almost exactly the same circuit, but with some other features to make it more reasonable to make it voltage controlled, also there is a way to control volume for each oscillater individually

[@integrationofmanandmachine4714]

thx dude

[@Strateggo]

this guy... 14k subs and growing, and it's not actually clickbait for once. don't ever stop what you do mate.

[@carolynmmitchell2240]

Strateggo look what he's at now

[@cashel1111]

i came to comment the same thing, genuine quality sifts to the top always

[@MrJimmyjammmy]

@@carolynmmitchell2240 175k now!

[@lapislignum]

@@MrJimmyjammmy 278K now. ordering some bits soon so I can put them in a box and never get around to making one of these :)

[@JaydenLawson]

53 million now!

[@BookooZenny]

There is no excuse. I have to do this.

[@nikmak]

Do it!

[@FrankHarwald]

I've seen this circuit before, but it's SUPER genius combining this with a light-dependent transistor! *Applaus* I've got another idea: use such an oscillator circuit that has both the light-dependent transitors & an LED & feed the light of it back into the LDT to create a simple mechanically adjustable (meaning at least one of the L.D.T. or the LED must not be mechanically fixed, eg flywire etc or adjustable transmission, eg a strip of cardboard or semi-translucent paper) combined electric/optic chaotic wave generator! Note: frequency sensitivity matching between LED & LDT & ambient light interferencing may be issues to watch out for.

[@danielmoraes743]

did you do it

[@Crazyeg123]

did you do it? I'm thinking of doing it. i bought a soldering kit off amazon and now i need transistors and conductors and wires etc...

[@d4vied4rko]

fr 💀

[@DirkIronside]

Avalanche oscillators are so cool. I sometimes feel rebellious using them cos they're not "supposed" to avalanche!

[@johnvankampen2020]

Can you explain avalange oscilators? I took screenshots from the scematic and the lay out on a breadboard and it won’t oscilate. Which side of the transistor is connected via the LED to zero? There is a difference between the lay out in the you tube film and the website.

[@jongdonglu]

would love see a diy electronics for begginers series from you.

[@yvanflodin]

thats sort of the point of the whole channel, this video is a prime example

[@antoniobertolini9358]

@@yvanflodin it's actually not really beginner friendly, being that I can't figure out how to power the oscillator and I don't even know how to listen to it

[@yvanflodin]

@@antoniobertolini9358 this oscillator is one of the first thing an audio diy-er will do, i can't really think of anything easier..

[@antoniobertolini9358]

@@yvanflodin i already builded 3 of this but I needed an external forum, the video wasn't clear for a beginner

[@jazminmarulanda3388]

@@antoniobertolini9358 Can you share the forum link? i would like to build this but i dont know how to conect each oscilator to a center plate :(

[@svg98]

Some troubleshoots for when things don't work right away: - Turn your transistor the other way around - Pick a smaller cap value if you can't hear anything when you run it through your speaker (like a '0,22 µF cap')

[@EarJuice]

Does the cap voltage matter?

[@nimaschacher1907]

@@EarJuice No they just make the sound diferent. High cap value = low oscilation low cap value = high oscilation

[@photonicpizza1466]

@@nimaschacher1907 They were asking about voltage rating, not capacitance.

[@photonicpizza1466]

@@EarJuice Not particularly, no. Just make sure the cap is able to tolerate the voltage you're going to supply it with. Some capacitors can't quite handle 18V (12V max isn't uncommon on older caps, for example), so just be on the lookout for that. Other than that, you should be fine with anything.

[@stuartchapman5171]

@@EarJuice as I listen to professionals more knowledgeable than me, I use aprox 3 times the voltage rating. I know lots of amateurs who use less ie 16v on a 9v circuit with no issues. So on an 18v version, you may get away with a 25v capacitor. I may get corrected. I'm one of the amateurs. It probably depends on what type of circuit. For the sake of 0.02p per cap, I err on the side of caution.

[@g-lurk]

what exactly is happening with that blue cable? i tried to do this and got as far as blinking LED but there is no sound coming through my speakers.. hooking ground to green and the end of the 100k resistor to white on my speaker wires. do i need another input between the osc and the speaker? thanks!

[@spemobuildsandrepairs2226]

built one today - with a cheapo chinese 2N2222 . Works nicely at 12V with a 420 Ohm Resistor. Thank you for this!

[@untrust2033]

What voltage capacitor did you use? Did you solder a 3.5mm female jack onto it?

[@chillmisha]

Thanks for the tip! Changing some resistors helped me, now it all buzzes!

[@6884]

9:54 "how many is too many"... well now we have a lower boundary of 1000....

[@KitsuneAlex]

7:50 a mental image of the THX logo appeared in front of my eyes

[@harrythewizard498]

KitsuneAlex Yess

[@tahtguycass]

THIS!

[@dbzlouis]

Discovered your mixtape 2 days ago, I instantaneously bought it, it's soo good ! You are doing a very good job mate ! Cheers from France !

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

THANKS!!! :D really appreciate it. all funds are going towards inventions! mark my words

[@beknee6990]

can someone tell me how to connect the oscillators and get a sound output?

Ben Herrera i also need to know

[@ToasterShow]

same ... my guess so far, get the "audio out" as red wire to soundsystem/speakers and then wire the over port of the speaker back to the ground of the oscillator!?

[@tshupenia8940]

I like how vague he is, yet still explains what to do. It leaves room for experimentation, which is the best way to learn. Keep attaching wires to a cheap toy speaker to try get sound!!

@@tshupenia8940 that's a very good way to put it. i was kinda lazy at the moment and just wanted to get things done lmao

[@00x2A]

There is a "sound-output" wire in the circuit. Thats how you get the sound. Connect this wire to a speaker and the other wire of the speaker to the ground and you should get audio!

[@isaiasgarcia8687]

"the link is here" :D (points out at nothing) Who in KZbin thought that reomivng anotations would be a good idea

[@richardgiannelli134]

This is my first attempt at a project. I‘m a bit confused about where the negative of the battery goes. Also, on a 1/4“ jack, would the output go to the tip?

[@dirkk82]

oh nice sounds wayyyy better then the harsh 555 output, think i may build up a 32 oscillator circuit for my polyphonic keyboard i put together .. thanks for sharing cheers from Germany !

[@firestarter5205]

dirkk82 dude thats gonna take a lot of power. If you use 18v for each oscillator it would be 576v

[@dirkk82]

Firestarter I have already built a polyphonic keyboard using 32 555 timer chips and it does not use 500 or so volts lol .. The circuits would be in parallel the voltage stays the same but the current changes and these circuits use very little current :-)

[@firestarter5205]

dirkk82 yeah I'm kinda an electronics noob

[@dirkk82]

its cool dude we learn and grow with each passing day :-)

[@baqcasanke]

dirkk82 no way. This sounded so much worse than the 555 circuit i just put together

[@madbeanpedals]

Great video! A bit late to the party and as some have mentioned the schematic shown appears to be incorrect. If using the 2n3904, the emitter goes to the 10k pot and collector to the anode of the LED (cathode to ground). Also, the bypass cap should go to ground and not the anode of the LED. The stripboard layout is totally correct, though. Reverse the connections on the 10k pot if you want the pitch to go up as you turn the pot. As is, pitch goes down clockwise. 10uF is close to the limit of useful audio range at the lowest pitch (although 22uF might be fine, too) Thanks for the share!

[@firefly618]

Thank you! I was banging my head on the table trying to get this to work! By the way, you can do away with the LED and other stuff. The basic circuit is: Emitter through resistor to VCC; emitter through capacitor to GND; collector to GND. VCC needs to be at least 12V or it won't work. The signal is picked up at emitter (it's literally the only net other than VCC or GND!) You can get audio and higher frequencies, but for some reason I couldn't get it to oscillate below ~ 7 Hz, neither by increasing the capacitor nor the resistance. I still have no clue how it works.

[@subluxuk]

How to make the THX cinema intro at 7.45 XD hahaha. Nice video, definitely gonna have a go at building one of these :P

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

haha!!! yeah you know it!!! good luck!

[@JLMoriart]

Dude, every time you throw a bunch of oscillators together, I desperately want you to tune them to the harmonic series, it would sound so good! Especially with the higher harmonics like the 7th and 11th, this would be other-worldly.

[@patrickpostlewait8453]

The bit at the end could've fit in well in the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack. Brilliant.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Patrick P. I'll get one sent to Hans zimmer. Try ease him off those pluginns! Ha

[@workethicrecords5901]

Patrick P. Came 2 post

[@patrickpostlewait8453]

I came to watch and learn, monsieur troll. I've done some DIY builds and this is one of my favorite channels. And he kind of reminds me of my favorite Young Ones character Vivian. So that's a bonus.

[@workethicrecords5901]

Haha, what? I'm agreeing with you. Like, I was going to say this sounds a lot like the 2049 sound track, but you already did. Just saying I was going to post what you already posted

[@patrickpostlewait8453]

Doh! My apologies. So used to seeing snarky replies on youtube threads I jumped the gun.

[@billybob7858]

i have spent years trying to find a non 555 ocilator. FINALLY NIWJDMIQWEJ

[@themadduck8784]

Got this working on a breadboard! It sounds pretty cool, I like it! I was able to resample it as a wave file and use it in Serum, so now I have an analog sample :)

[@anthonyfranks793]

For any one that it might help, the 2n3904 wouldn't work for me. I read some comments that mentioned there may be differences between the various production runs of it? So, I swapped it out with a BC547. Had to connect to an amp with a 1/4 ts to be able to hear the signal. Two bare wires one side and the 1/4" jack on the other. Connected the cable's sleeve wire to ground and the tip wire to audio out. I also switched my cap to 4.7 uF. Thank you @lmnc for an interesting project that I'll build on further.

[@Renegadezombies]

Very cool! If you out there want to upgrade your circuit slightly and save your speakers in the long run, replace the 100k resistor with a unity gain opamp. You get improved input impedance and more importantly no DC to your speaker.

[@BoringStranger]

Any tips on how to do this?

[@simplyengineering2350]

could also add a decoupling capacitor. aka an ac coupling capacitor. the op amp will prob do a good job but a capaicitor is much easier, and this is already a class A amplifier circuit. a decoupling capacitor goes between the 100k resistor and the speaker. positive pin of capacitor to resistor, negative pin of capacitor on the speaker. you may have to lower the resistance values but class A amplifiers are designed to have a decoupling capacitor. the decoupling capacitor sets the average voltage to the speaker to 0v so it oscillates in between -V and +V.

[@Jademalo]

@@simplyengineering2350 what sort of value would you want on the decoupling capacitor? I'm looking to build a bank of 9 of these and wanted to make the output a bit nicer. Do I need one for every oscillator, or is there a circuit I could build on the board that merges the outputs at all?

[@jaccokiezenbrink9744]

Love your video's! This circuit works very nice at 12v with S8050, S9013 or S9014 transistors. I built a 6 voice drone machine with caps ascending from 4.7uf to 0.22uf. It covers most of the hearable spectrum (at least in my ears...). Try different types and brands of capacitors - some work, some don't. Thanks for making this video. Keep stuff like this coming!!!!

[@jjjjulian]

thanks so much for the info :D

[@MOPtooth]

Bought all parts, solder them together and BOOM, no sound, just an adjustable LED :( I guess, not all 2n3904 work here. I‘m off crying about these poor transistors wich lost a leg now :‘(

[@dezmondfur6271]

MOPtooth :c they lost a leg

[@zcohent]

I have the same problem actually, how is it possible to solve?

[@kringekiddo8492]

Hippity Hopity me too

[@thomastruant8837]

I feel like I'd just bend the leg up and around till I knew it works but that's just me

[@kaisersose5549]

Some transistors don't wanna reverse voltage cascade. Even if you're using nothing but 2222's, you might have to try three or four of them to find one that does what you want. Not much to be done about it, except to use a different circuit.

[@yakacm]

Shows how powerful music is to humans, because when the note is dissonant you really really want it to resolve and the relief of tension when it does is really satisfying.

[@ersa7072]

Hi, on the oscillator scheme you connect one leg of the capacitor to 'plus' of the LED, but on the stripboard layout this leg is connected with the 'minus' of the LED... I'm sorry , this question may be stupid, but I am no master of electronics... Am I wrong? Or is it correct in both ways? Or isn't there a difference and I am just too stupid to see this?!? By the way, Thank you for these brilliant videos!

[@felixteutloff1999]

It depends on what kin of capacitor you are using. Ceramic can be handeld both ways, electrolyte capacitors have a certain direcion, otherwise they will break. I just build one following the scematics, and mine works as intended. Maybe that helps. ;)

[@MatthJenks]

You are correct. There is an error in the schematic.

[@IsaacJDean]

Just beginning my journey into electronics and this is so inspiring. Thanks for making awesome stuff! Your other video on recording the 'room' over and over was fucking awesome! You've given me so many ideas from a doom/drone metal perspective

[@justincomisk]

This was an excellent maker video. I'm definitely gonna solder one up, I got those transistors already.

[@massimookissed1023]

A 555 timer IC will oscillate with 1 each: resistor, pot & capacitor. Pin 3 output is a square wave, but pin 2 to the capacitor is a sawtooth. And pin 5 is a VCO input :)

[@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda]

@@Dude-Smellmyhelmet or 30 internal components, more like

[@simplyengineering2350]

all you need is 1 cap and 1 pot. but yeah pin 3 square pin 2 sawtooth.

[@simplyengineering2350]

@@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda if you add up the price of all the components then the price of a 555 circuit is about the same. 555 is more capable tho.

[@firefly618]

Yes, 555 is much less fiddly. Also the regular LM555 will operate at 5V and the CMOS version LMC555 will work down to 1.5V, while this one requires 12V. But a 555 chip contains ~30 transistors plus resistors inside of it, while this is literally 1 transistor, 1 resistor and 1 capacitor, so I can appreciate the beauty of it. And yes, you can do away with the LED and other stuff. The basic circuit is: +12V through Resistor to Emitter; Emitter through Capacitor to GND; Collector to GND. Signal is picked up at emitter (it's the only pin out of all 3 components that's not +12V or gnd.) Frequency is given more or less by the usual RC formula.

[@ShaniArshadMusic]

Not sure if I have missed the audio out part, how is it connected to the speakers?

[@DJ_Merkury66]

Thanks for the cool videos. I built one of these and I would like to connect it to my small eurorack, but I am a little concerned about doing so. I used a 12V power supply and modified the capacitor value. When I look at it on an oscilloscope, I see the top of the wave around +12.5 V and the bottom is at about +8 V. If I check my eurorack oscillators, they go from about +4 V to -4 V. I am afraid to plug it into my eurorack because the higher voltage might damage something. Any suggestions or advice? Thanks!!

[@stretchmetalfanclub]

Hey shawn, curious what your pin connections on your module looked like? thinking about adding mine to my case too.

[@DJ_Merkury66]

@@stretchmetalfanclub I never made the transition to a case with it. I guess I moved on to bigger and better things. This was a great start to my audio electronics journey though. Soon after this, I started to find schematics for full VCO designs with 1V/Oct pitch inputs and all. I eventually built that and many other modules. I found a place called GMSN! that was open source and learned a lot from them. Befaco also publishes their schematics. Ultimately though, for this basic oscillator in the video - probably not the best idea to put it in a rack.

[@stretchmetalfanclub]

@@DJ_Merkury66 ha yes- I like you and concerened by the lack of regulators in this too trust it with the fragile eurorack.. will explore GMSM. thanks!

[@the_eminent_Joshua_E_Hrouda]

You can make a square wave oscillator with just an op amp, 3 resistors and a capacitor. You can get 5 pin op amps for 89c (AUD) on Mouser. But you will need a dual rail power supply. Or just add 2 more resistors and it will work on a single rail power supply.

[@FilipPandrc]

can it be VCO?

[@jeanse27]

Wow thanx!! I'm going to try that but I'll wait for your next vid to see how you implement it with cv pitch in... Is it going to track 1v/oct? I'm going to wire it to my euro bus board... What will be the range with +12 volts? 2 or 3 octaves? Keep comin' your vidz! I learn a lot from these!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

hey! sadly this probably wont track 1v/octave. its an extremely lofi oscillator. sadly!

[@jeanse27]

No problem! At lest its going to track some cv!

[@timzhukov8869]

That could be a super-simple clock lfo, right?

[@DashGlitch]

I love your videos! Quick question are you powering this via AC or DC? I'm getting power and the LED is lighting and flickering but I can't get audio, I've tried swapping the capacitor around as it looks like the diagram and video differ a bit but still no luck, could my DC PSU just not be cutting it?

[@RTomoT]

Can anyone explain how they all get wired to the output jack?

[@plop-4269]

I think they are all solder together in paralelle

[@RTomoT]

@@plop-4269 will give that a go, thanks dude

[@kraio-sfu]

Will this work on a breadboard? I was trying it and I wasn’t sure if my transistor wasn’t reverse avalanching because it couldn’t, or if the long leads of the breadboard were causing it not to be able to

[@mightyheights7331]

Did you find a fix? I'm also struggling to breadboard it.

[@KieranAtkins]

Im struggling too :(

[@goekgoekgoek5494]

same problem, couldnt breadboard it so i soldered it to a little stripboard alltogether... no output at all. :/ maybe 20Volts to much?

[@hetchelletomikko-n3929]

Only some transistors work, some others don't.

[@lukabread4099]

I built it on a piece of cardboard so the breadboard isnt the problem

[@CamTarn]

Oh man, that five oscillator bank sounds *gorgeous*. The circuit generates a really lovely sounding saw wave without too much high frequency content. Totally want to build some of these now :)

[@deltaray3]

It's funny going back and watching this video and hearing you ask the question "How many is too many oscillators?" back in 2017, knowing that later you really would find out.

[@CoreyLaGray]

Well done, man, that's really cool.

[@conorburns5956]

How stable are these oscillators? Could you build an electronic organ with say, 61 of these where each note has its own oscillator, sort of like a 1950's Allen/Conn, but with a much different sound?

[@nickthompson9661]

this guy sets you up to fail just so you can go on his patreon and buy the more detailed version

[@sixthview]

Ok... Got the schematic working after trial and error and fixing. My question is, why the choice of resistors? Can those be changed (different values) and what effect will it have?

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

experiment :) theres no right or wrong. the 100k is just there incase you want to chain a few together to the same output

[@sixthview]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER Thanks for the reply and for your videos too

[@myowelt]

Fantastic. Always been a fan of your vids, but this one made me sign up to patreon and support you there. Could you please please please show how to make this track 1v/oct!? I'd solder dozens of these funky little bastards if they spoke eurorack. Keep up the good work!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

wow thanks very much! really appreciate it! this month is most definitely oscillator month. im not too sure this circuit will really track 1v/oct as its super lofi however ill have a play with it! im also going to touch on a slightly more tech oscillator soon that is REALLY good. and only slightly more complicated than this one! keep your eyes peeled.

[@myowelt]

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER Yay! Looking forward!

[@ozerik]

You could use a LM13700 like a variable resistor that you could feed with a temperature-compensated differential pair of transistors and tune this (maybe?) to get 1V/oct, but dude... then you're adding ridiculous amounts of circuitry, losing the whole simple, cheap, low-component-count point of this *amazing* project. Hey Simon, LOVE your videos, and stripboard is great, (never used it, just perfboard) but my construction technique is cheaper and (for me at least) easier. Hey. I should make a video of how I build circuits!!! :D

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

juanito moore worth a try but that's getting complicated with powering and part count. The aim of the game is simplicity 🙃

[@firestarter5205]

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER what about a Synthrotek Vac Pak instead of the potentiometer?

[@nimmen]

When you get them really close together it reminds me of the sounds of those old WW2 fighter plane games like Aces over Europe and Aces over the Pacific.

[@Woodythehobo]

im getting a strong cyberpunk vibe in this video and i like it.

[@spawninhell7152]

Hey men you are doing great work i like it and i tried to do it today i made it its beautiful thank you

[@Celestialtapes666]

this is really amazing, would you do a tutorial on the process of soldering them all together?

[@NeuronalAxon]

There's _loads_ of tutorials on how to solder. Use lead containing solder, not the crappy 'green' shite. That's my tip.

[@BertGrink]

@@NeuronalAxon I agree, the lead/tin solder melts at a lower temperature, which makes it much easier for beginners in particular. Just make sure you have plenty of ventilation to avoid breating in the fumes!

[@DJRY360]

@@BertGrink ee been breedin dat fumes mi hole lyf and em fin

[@mokshdhawan1966]

I’m late to the party I know, but would you use an op amp summing amplifier or would you just solder them all onto the same strip? I’m new to this

[@KingNopq]

0:10 Red Ball's website. What have you been watching huh huh? ;-)

[@pixelstift]

I have rebuilt everything, the LED is lit and can also be controlled in the brightness. BUT!!!! no sound .... why ??? the output is 2.4 - 2.8 volts I need help ups almost forgotten super side super typ super equipment ..... blabla everything super ;)

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

pixelstift did you cut the middle leg off the transistor? Try the capacitor the other way around.

[@pixelstift]

yes the middle leg is from ..... capacitor plus turned to minus ..... have already tested other capacitors 100uf 47uf .... 10kohm 22kohm 100kohm potentiometer also already tested ... transistor rotated ... and others resistors. once soldered and once on the breadboard. but unfortunately no sound, that is the reason why I ask you. a little annoying beast. thank you and have a nice evening

[@awildkiera]

Did you ever get this to work? I have the same issue

[@pixelstift]

No, I did not get it to work. sorry but I'm so glad that I'm not the only one;). But I have no idea why.

[@calinasmaria]

Mine is working perfectly on the breadboard, gorgeous sound. How are you connecting the circuit to the audio jack?

[@liweilin6649]

Beg a pardon, but how can i let 2 or more OSC output to the same speaker? Should i just soldering 2 OSC‘s output line together?

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yep!

[@tritile]

I'm here because of channel's name. I can't stop laughing. It took 2 hours to write this post.

[@billybob7858]

you are my god. no more stupid 555's!

[@viktorstanger6228]

I love ittt, got a question tho, is there any chance of burning either an amp or a speaker as we increase our input voltage? How can we be sure our output signal voltaje is safe to plug either to other modules, speakers or even audio interfaces? Thanks a lot!!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

good question. when i was looking at the signal on the oscilloscope it stayed quite constant however i will check again very soon. the 100k really helps to keep it at a nice level

[@fletcherpink9704]

thanksss c:

[@ivanm5649]

A hexschmit ic is a good oscillator circuit to

[@seemikehack]

Last question before I put these parts on order: what capacitor did you use for the higher-pitched tones? It sounds like it's about an octave. Is that just a factor of 10, i.e., 1 microfarad?

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

the lower you go it gets reall low (22uf) high ones were 1uf

[@seemikehack]

Awesome, thanks! I've got something cooking now based this, a little more complex, but probably nowhere near your upcoming "how many is too many" video XD These are just so simple and sound so fun that I can't *not* build it :) I don't really upload here, but I'll try to make an effort once the build is done. Thanks again for sharing this with the community!

[@furlag2]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER i have a issue with pot - 10k acc to schematic - it works only in half range - did you raised the value of pot or go with different capnvalues. Thank youbagain for this idea....sounds massive.

[@greekartvlog8712]

How you combine each oscilator? Shared ground and all audio outputs in one cable?

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yep

[@nesterukivan]

nobody noticed that the negative leg of the cap goes direct to the ground on the stripboard layout, while on the circuit drawmade the same - leg cap goes to the + leg led ??

[@nesterukivan]

i mean its near the same but..

[@aidansmith6360]

Yeah, that fucked me up too. Also, I could only get sound to come out if I put the output parallel with the LED. When I put the 100k resistor in and then the output I couldn't get anything out... Did you have any luck with it?

[@nesterukivan]

i put the cap inverse way :I.. even when i fixed my mistake.. couldnt get anything with two 2222 (first i thought the transistor could be dead) and 9014 transistors in 19v and 18v...

[@nesterukivan]

Hi Aidan

[@fu4mkgic]

Aidan, how did you wire up the output in parrallel with the LED, ive made 2 of these now and I can't even get the LED to light up let alone get any sound out of it

[@willbill808]

I bet the reason it doesn’t oscillate with too much metal on the base is because the metal adds capacitance. Suddenly the P type silicon in the center has extra metal to charge up.

[@awildkiera]

I built this on a breadboard and the only sound coming out is an awful ground buzz. I've swapped the capacitor around, tried different transistors in case one was burnt out, tried it with everything from 12v to 24v, rebuilt the circuit over and over...nothing! The LED lights up and turning the pot changes the brightness but it doesn't flicker at all and the only sound coming out is a loud buzz that doesn't change in pitch. Any ideas?

[@88MoreKeys]

Would that have anything to do with the transistor leg that needs to be removed?

[@RichieWitch]

I'm having the same issue. Built it on a breadboard, then stripboard. Tried changing every component, three different types of LEDs, 10 uF and 2.2 uF capacitors, reversing the transistor... I mean everything I could possible think of. But all I get is that low frequency hum. Have to add a lot of gain to hear even that. I've watched the video a dozen times looking for clues, but this has me stumped.

[@mikehindley3]

Have you grounded the jack?

[@RichieWitch]

Yep

[@belabertalan]

Have you managed to get it to work yet?

[@asj3419]

Another oscillator that is close to that simplicity is the hartley oscillator. It uses two coils, a transistor and a resistor. You can then combine these two coils and a third to make a transformer that amplifies the signal.

[@ElSahmo]

great video! i think theres a mistake tho with the curcuit at 1:57. both the transistor and the led are supposed to be parallel to the capacitor. the stripboard layout at 2:57 shows it right. or do both ways work?

[@TubeYouDubeDood]

I got it to work the way he shows in the pink schematic on a breadboard, with the 3904 backwards from how he has it, haven't tried his stripboard design

[@farosonico]

@@TubeYouDubeDood so only the transistor is wrong in the schematic? stripboard and drawing are different

[@specimen5847]

I had to make a quick oscilator just now and immediately thought of this video. Just checked your website for the first time while looking for this video and i have to say i do like it, love the simple design and clear information. Great job. Also love your stuff but i feel thats kinda needless to say

[@saltdriven9137]

Are you using linear or log pots? I imagine linear is the best

[@saltdriven9137]

Awesome video by the way, I can't wait to see how you sequence them

[@galfisk]

My favorite oscillator! I made a xmas ornament with ten of these many years ago, using bits from my junk drawer. It has a nice glittering light effect.

[@untrust2033]

A series of mini modular stuff? Please. A mini diy modular setup is the perfect idea

[@R.E.Z.]

This is far simpler than I would imagine. You can simply tune them like a normal synth, add a keyboard and filtering and boom custom synth

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

yeah i'm planning to use these oscillators as a soundsource for a DIY trautonium kind of instrument because those usually have a sawtooth oscillator. Combining that with a subharmonic generator and a frequency shifter and BOOM!! Absolutely awesome soundscapes.

[@cablevamp3163]

Supersaw beast synth!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

you wait till in a week or two! its gunna be super super super ridiculous saw synth... so many saw waves you would want to keep it away from forests.

[@cablevamp3163]

LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER dude I cannot wait. I love stacking oscillators. I don’t do modular so I just use a master midi controller controlling a Moog Little Phatty module, Roland Jupiter 8 and a Korg Monologue. So I got 6 oscillators there. I’ve got you on notifications so I cannot wait to see what monster you make next.

[@jessebridges4473]

When wiring up several of these awesome boards, do you still supply ~12-18 volts or do they require higher voltage. Also, are they all connected to one phone jack out? I couldn't really see that part in the video. Superb build, my friend. Thanks in advance! I think I found my new favorite channel. as soon as I close on the purchase of my new home, I plan to support yr patreon channel. This is incredible.

[@UnCrucifiedJesus]

Very cool project, thanks! Took me a while to make it work though, you got the transistor the other way around in your schematic (it's correct in the stripboard picture). And in stripboard layout capacitor goes straight to ground while in schematic it goes through LED. Both capacitor variations seem to work but give different sounds. Which variation did you end up using?

[@marcelomardones5060]

Hi, amazing project. How do you do it with the volume? I tried with the S9018 transistor in my- power supply limit- case and works well but it has a really low volume (lower with the lower capacitors). Also, I tried to lower the resistance on the out pin(until 51k) sounds higher, but the oscillator kept acting on each other. It depends on the amp/speaker only? Or its because its a SUPER SIMPLE OSCILLATOOOOOOOOOR? Thanks! Great great channel!

[@connorkleitz764]

can anyone explain how he wired them all together/how the audio out worked? im a beginner and was able to solder the main perfboard but am confused as to how the audio out works as well as how i would chain multiple osciallators

[@julianblow4739]

To chain the oscillators simply solder + to +, - to -, and audio out to audio out.

[@dancoffeyuk]

@@julianblow4739 I never knew it was as simple as that! Is that basically how a passive mixer would be wired?

[@theothertonydutch]

Man, you're the kind of artist I wanna be. Show them how you do it, no secrets, showing all magic is for everyone.

[@hanpieckfilho]

Hell Yeah im gonna support you on Patreon Bro!!!!! awesome stuff bro you rock man!!!1

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Han thanks very much Han! Every little helps! It's all going on very worth while things. like loads of potentiometers and components for the video im talking about at the end of this video! :D

[@hanpieckfilho]

You know Bro, i wish could help with more! fortune is on the way for those who wait, so yeah...things will get tasty! i just love your entusiasm and the love you put in teaching us stuff man!!! hell bro when in UK i will defnitly look for some your gigs"!!! big love bro!!! you rock man!!!

[@elnugget5309]

Hey really awsam! When is the cv video for this oscillators coming???

[@AlexWitney]

Sound like bagpipes!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

haha i know right! i was thinking that at some point. cant wait to hear what the "how many oscillators is too many" hopefully it will sound like a whole football team of bag pipes

[@krolik3456]

I can't get this to oscillate. I've used the 2N3904 (16+ V) and the S9018 (8+ V). All I get is an LED dimmer switch. Not sure what I might be doing wrong.

[@evelyn-it7pe]

Krolik same here, did you ever figure it out???

[@maxs.2537]

@@evelyn-it7pe same here! any news on this?

[@evelyn-it7pe]

max s unfortuently no :(

[@alixturcq2282]

I did not understand the role of the LED ...

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Alix Turcq the only way to understand is to breadboard the circuit and see what happens when you take the LED out of the circuit

[@gigngamer]

i think it's something as the led force the electricity to go in the right way so the charge only go when the transistor is in avalanche mode.

[@alebrenna441]

Funny, mine just works when tooking OFF the led and replacing it by a wire

[@MrSaggat]

i built this and it works, but it does not sound the same way-- kind of a little more buzzy. Btw, i did not use the schematic, i based it on the last video of the redbull can (this one never worked). Anyone knows how to make it sound better? I tried different capacitors and resistences, maybe there is a catch somewhere. Also, i didnt use any led, cause that way it dosnt work either.

[@cablevamp3163]

Says sawtooth, shows triangle lol.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Cable Vamp ha I tried to make a sawtooth shape

[@DJRY360]

Just so you are aware, when you were playing with the new build KZbin's AI that handles closed captioning did call it officially music.

[@monomakes]

This is magic. I'd be interested in building something similar to your test rig for drone purposes. But how did you hook them all up? I can't find the schematic for that on your site. Cheers!

[@avit719]

WHO'S HERE AFTER THE MEGADRONE?

[@marcussVRLinux]

Hi! I intend to build these oscillators too and have compiled a shopping cart with all components. I was wondering if you could tell me the exact Ohm or kOhm for the potentiometer and LEDs? I can't seem to find that info...all my components are on 0.25W and the kOhms specified for the rest. Thanks man, I am learning a lot from you right now.

[@massimookissed1023]

1k ohm resistor and 10k ohm pot.

[@feraldrollerypdx]

Noob question: could you chain this onto a chip oscillator and get some kind of crazy polyphonic sounds?

[@AmirAkhlaghi]

This project has been really fun but i screwed up my first build. I got one oscillator working. Had it hooked up to a guitar Jack with an amplifier circuit boosting the signal. I think I burned out the LEDs by overvolting it though when I tried to add a second oscillator. If I have two oscillators that need 9 volts each can I power them both with the same 9 volt power supply? Is there something I should know as a noob about grounding them and powering them I should know? I could never get both of them working at the same time. Also can I just connect the two sound out lines to the same audio jack ?

[@EdEditz]

It's that same drone you get when a flight of bombers flies over (not speaking from experience here :p )

so, what if i use, instead of a 9v battery, the 220v power coming from the wall? would i need to protect the components from burning or would that work?

[@kuskus5842]

It would basically go boom.

[@MasonONeill]

When I built this following the circuit schematic, the LED would light very dimly then fade out and the speaker was silent. When I built it based on your stripboard layout, the light blinked brightly at varying frequencies when I turned the POT with no sound coming from the speaker, and when I stopped and left it sitting there (about 20 seconds) to go grab something, my capacitor blew up. What the hell is going on? Could it have something to do with my two 9v (both measured at 8.9 separately) in series giving me a 22V out put? EDIT: Never mind, turns out I had a bad transistor...

[@sixthview]

Can anyone help? I have tried to have 4 of these hooked up through a single pot out to control volume. But when I lower the volume, it changes the tone (just slightly) of the oscillators. Some a bit more than others. Any thoughts???

[@Post_war_designs]

Hey! So I built the thing and for some reason there’s no power going to it? I believe I have the correct power supply and it feels like I wire everything up just like you said. Side question the blue audio wire? Is that like a normal hot/ground wire it’s just color coded or is it something specific?

[@ingussilins6330]

Each channel need sepparate speaker. Make "binaural" qadrophonic, mutiphonic beats, effects in room :D

[@LazarusGordon]

wait wait... ignorant questions: the 12v positive from the breadboard goes to the positive of the battery.... what about the ground? what about the negative of the battery? ground goes to negative of battery??? second: if i want to connect to a power supply to plug on the wall what is the polarity? is it safe to just switch and try?

[@Post_war_designs]

Hey what’s that blue wire!? The one that isn’t the ground/live and also what should I connect the output jack and power jack to? Just the piece of board that looks like it binds everything?

[@keetworks]

Thanks for the inspiration! I just made a 3 oscillator pocket version. Used soviet analog of 2N3904 transistor. So atmospheric sound.

[@Theineluctable_SOME_CANT]

Awesome!

[@mirasderbissalin6040]

9:53 that sentence aged well

[@thomasjones145]

*slaps roof of box* This thing can fit so many oscillators in it!