THE FIRST SYNTHESIZER - PUBLISHED BY RAY WILSON - 20 Years Before His Well Known Synths!

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

hey mate, amazing video as usual!!! I'm really happy to see my little creature in your hands... it never sounded as good in mine :DDDDD cheers mate!

[@andrewcakebread3317]

Really nice construction inside.

[@padders1068]

Big Shout Out to you Sir, for a tidy job and for generously donating it to the museum!

[@Vanilla_Sun]

Wonderful job!

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

Thanks! Iguess you like spaghetti as much as I do! ;P cheers

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

Thank you

[@Hainbach]

I forgot the catchphrase it in my last video - thanks for filling in the hole it left!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Hahaha glad to be of service 😂

[@hughman8597]

Sehr gut! Grüße aus KS😉

[@blackmoofou6385]

It's good to have you back... 😊

[@SpamSundays]

and making some actual music with stuff people can listen to 😉

[@PhillipRaymondGoodman]

I noticed that, I felt mildly disconcerted by it but wasn't sure whether I should say anything

[@aaronj7987]

MFOS was a valuable resource for DIY synth community. Your gratitude for Ray and his creations really shows. I appreciate that you help keep MFOS and Ray's spirit alive. I'm sure many of us found MFOS before this channel existed. For me it's why I continued my interest in electonics and music. Which ultimately lead me here. Much respect to you sir! Please don't stop what you do. We all need more honorable and intelligent people like you to keep us intrigued and entertained!

[@darkmatterscientist4791]

Nice! This was the very first PCB I DIY etched, only to realize after drilling all holes that I accidentally had it mirrored 😅

[@alebrenna441]

Classic

[@pithlyx]

how beautiful, not only does your love for Ray really show but to use a memory man as a nod to the history and story of the synth is just a great touch.

[@Soundbrigade]

Great you cover Ray Wilson’s Legacy! He if anyone, impersonate all kinds of aspects of “synthing”. He is the ultimate DIYer, experimenter, sound designer and when looking at his designs and listening to him in his vids it’s so obvious he did all his work trying to get the most out of the designs whilst HAVING FUN. Seeing many of his modules commercially available sort of proves he always was on the right path.

[@OrivelOliver]

I made my own Mini SYnth Plus like 12 , 13 years ago and i still have it. I conected it with MiniBrute 2 Arturia, and now i have a very special 4 osc, 2 lfo, Sample and Hold, 2 ADSR analog modular patch synth. Couldn't be more proud and soon I will make couple of video episodes of me playing and experimenting with it. Please like this comment if this is something you think people would like to see and hear... Thank you guy and as always, LMNC keeps on making awesome content for us Synth freaks and scientists :D Cheers fellow doctors :D

[@hughman8597]

WORD❤

[@OrivelOliver]

Oh god, I don't think anyone of you is going to believe me when I say, but these 12 likes, and one special like from Sir LookMum is the drop that will brake the camils back and I will finally start making my youtube series dedicated to my little home setup and music studio, my love for modulars and couple of synths I have and the way I use them. I've been post-poning it for a very very long time, and when I wrote like if you maybe would like to see the setup I've got, I thought I will never get the support not 12, but not 2 persons. But to see this is like to see 12 hundred likes plus million :D Thank you, you wil never know how much I apriciate all of your support, and hope that one day you'll see my content and remeber this crazy long maybe even a bit weird post :D thanks y'all and keep tweeking the knobs my dear Sir, all the love and joy to ya !

[@Colin_Ames]

A nice piece of history. Very decent of Lorenzo to donate it to the museum. Bologna is a beautiful city. The company I worked for was headquartered there, and I used to go for training.

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

ah! you lnow about Bologna… well a very nice place indeed! Its an honour for me to know it now lives in sam’s museum!

[@djantix1200]

Rest in Peace Ray! I built the Noise Toaster from MFOS and I was a bit worried whether it would work because I had no idea what I was doing LOL...but low and behold it works! I mounted it in an old cigar box. I have had a really fun time recording with it through some fx pedals.

[@redplanet2010]

Excellent stuff...13:27....reminded me of the intro for "Faith Healer" by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band...

[@tastesofchicken]

RIP Ray Wilson...you will be missed for a long time. Sam- since you've already modded this synth, you could always drop an exponential converter circuit into the CV input section and have it track 'musically'. Love your channel, wish I didn't live on another continent because your museum looks awesome. Thanks for all you do!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Thanks a lot! I don't think I will modify it beyond its capability as it's an honest depiction of the circuit. I don't think the power change has added or removed. Plenty of synths for people to try with such capabilities. This one a window in time :)

[@sakarijantti]

I found that the WP20 will track musically enough over almost two octaves with the "Controls" at the sweet spot, depending on modulation etc. No mods needed. (It was my second build, after the WSG). @@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER

[@kissmyass705]

Yeah I'd like to visit too, but I'm an ocean away.

[@Lantertronics]

It's very interesting that he's using 3900s -- those aren't regular op amp, they are "Norton" amps with current inputs. They show up a lot in Serge designs.

[@3D6Space]

It's always great to watch your programs, and I'm always surprised at what comes next! Thank you for all you do.

[@josephcote6120]

What a cool machine. Glad you're keeping stuff like this alive.

[@ClifBratcher]

Sam casually using the Memory Man he found discarded in a rehearsal room years ago..

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

ah ah ah! nice one :D

[@attichatchsound-bobkowal5328]

Excellent! Saw what Sam did there using the Deluxe Memory Man pedal, given the Synth has a Deluxe Memory Man pedal container as the case!

[@JeepinBoon]

What a wonderful synth! Reminds me of when I started building modules based off pictures. I used a milling machine and "Etch-a-sketch" cut them out. I still have two modules I built years ago because they weren't good enough to put into the cabinet. The copper traces are green and the panels are ashy now because I never tinned them.

[@TheTerracide]

Rip Ray Wilson … everybody should have his book.

[@tinfoilcat]

It is very close to the MFOS Noise toaster (but that used a bit more modern circuit design). Lovely bit of kit, I had a go at breadboarding the filter a few years back.

[@unsoundmethodology]

Wonderful little box, and great info on the power. When I built my version of the MfOS Echo Rockit, I decided I didn't want to keep buying 9V batteries for it - but instead of putting in a power jack, I just put in a panel-mount battery case for 6 AA batteries, for an equivalent voltage. Now, 6 AAs are probably a little more expensive than 1 9V, unless you find a sale, but the capacity is much larger for the AAs: about 2800 mAh vs about 550 mAh in alkaline. I have only had to change batteries a couple of times in the several years I've had it.

[@blackmoofou6385]

Oooffff it does some lovely sweeps! Awesome vid as usual.

[@jodd5534]

this is amazing, thanks so much Lorenzo!!!

[@SciamanoII]

What Memories! The noise toaster was the project that introduced me to synth DIY ❤

[@buffplums]

I love this channel it shows that sadly today apart from yourself there is very little inspiration to experiment with electronics at component level. There is very little training. I’m an ex RAF electronics tech who used to dabble as a young boy which is why, back in the day you could carry on your interests into the RAF as they used to do a brilliant training scheme and we used to work to component level on everything from old fashioned teleprinters to low and fixed high power radio transmitters to radar systems. I was trained in valves and semiconductors and also on the old PDP11 computers via VT100 terminals writing in assembler. The tech moved on to solid state and some very good VLSI kit. But going back to grass roots, I loved making crystal sets with coils wound on bog rolls, magnets and electro magnetics used to fascinate me and I used to buy ETI, Hobby Electronics, PW and all those great monthly mags and build stuff. I’m current,y building an outside workshop to replace my old shed and incorporating my PCB etching tanks and CNC machine that I built from scratch but one of my first projects will be to reverse engineer the ETI Powertran vocoder that Julian Illyet did. I may have the original ETI mags and I have a stock of the rare CMOS a chips used in the project. Anything I can’t source I will use a PIC ago replicate the function. Keep doing all the great stuff mate this is the best.

[@padders1068]

Sam! Always a pleasure to watch your videos, keep up the great work and stay barking mad!

[@TheDistur]

Very cool that all these get to go live at the museum

[@raymitchell9736]

Great video... I like seeing old tech come back and live again. You're doing a great job of that!

[@Simple_But_Expensive]

Your enthusiasm is what makes these videos fun.

[@blackmoofou6385]

Oh and hats off to Lorenzo he did a fantastic job! 🎉

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

oh, you are too kind! thank you :)

[@blackmoofou6385]

@@lorenzobiagi5200 No worries it looks really well put together. Love the use of the Electro Harmonix box.

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

That box felt just right at the time of the build and still does to me

[@jt_via]

You make me laugh so much, especially when you were reading the design synopsis!

[@Dmyra]

wow!! its Fab Filter One!!! this must be the inspiration for it?? the color and the layout... one of my favorite vsti's ever

[@ericplatt6884]

Love this. Synth tech electronics and retro and music and you make it all fun and know-how packed. Keep on rockin’ man!

[@crysstoll1191]

Synth Tech was a great modular manufacturer for years :>)

[@BillHustonPodcast]

Reminds me of the weird sound machines i used to make with a dual 555 timer chip. (Hacking on original schematics by Radio Shack author Forrest W. Mims III). I used to bring them to school. (I got into a lot of trouble!) This was probably ~1975.

[@andrewcakebread3317]

Very interesting speaker. Looked like a repurposed tea tray. I'd like to see more of that if they're willing to show.

[@crysstoll1191]

I bought many bare PCBs from Ray but never used them exactly as they were designed. Awesome stuff.

[@TheOpticalFreak]

Raymond Wilson is a legend!! 🙏☺️ I made his WSG! 😎🤘

[@duncan-rmi]

first electronic music instrument I encountered in real-life was an ondes-martenot; might even have been that very one. back in the 70s, this was- the player was toruing it with an acoustic guitarist. I got to play with the keyboard for a short while afterwards & it (along with hawkwind's "silver machine") changed my life.

[@duncan-rmi]

what s/n is your cirklon, btw? mine is #003!

[@AnalogLabSwiss]

Great Video as usual. It's very hard to make noise out of a BJT under 10V. This is why analog synths or drum machines working with 9V power supplies used a "digital" noise instead (like the one in the TR-909).

[@swestcott]

I have 4 of his single board systems and maybe 40 of the modules I have not finished building these because getting some of the parts has become extremely difficult mainly due to the massive number of counterfeit parts. Very cool to see one of these only read about this never seen one in action.

[@buffplums]

Nice little white noise generator using the avalanche effect of the reverse biased transmitter base emitter junction. The transistor clearly has a high PIV unlike a lot of silicon transistors which just go short circuit if you reverse bias them. Nice revue mate.

[@guitfidle]

Ooooo fun! I have a nearly complete Noise Toaster from Ray that is very similar. I really need to get my ass in gear and finish it up.

[@dcallan812]

Nice box. Fantastic find, the guy was way ahead of time with his synth builds. 👍👍

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

not sure you were referring to me… well, if you were then thank you very much… if you wete referring to Ray, thank you very much anyways!

[@oneperson7013]

I would offer to suggest the *first synthesizer* was the Stylophone, invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis, it entered production in 1968, manufactured by Dubreq.

[@CVinyl]

"Bruse Haack" built some of the most amazing & crazy Synthesizers ever made in my "opinion" he was greater then Bob Moog and many other Synthesizers makers.But When I see you and HainBach videos it's reminded me so much of what Bruse Haack & Raymond Scott was doing ahead of there time inventors! I love you guys, would love to book you in L.A california soon! BIG LOVE #ANALOGBROTHERS

[@crysstoll1191]

Analog brothers and sisters... Haack and Scott were amazing as was Bode, Buchla, Moog, Ketoff, and so many more . All great, no contest. That old saying "standing on the shoulders of giants." (Theremin, Cahill, etc.) Scott has always interested me because of his big band background.

[@Super8Rescue]

Always good to see you fam sam sam fam.

[@LEKProductions]

I may be wrong but I thought the WSG was his first project. One the first videos I made on YT demonstrates it. I was in regular contact with Ray back in the day. Shame he's no longer with us. RIP Ray Wilson. :(

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Wsg was a decade or so after this one. They have some similarities though,

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Cool tho! Canny beat a wsg :D

[@SynthfulDuck]

My first synth I NEVER built!!! Because parts where impossible to obtain where I lived when I was a kid.

[@michaelmarchei8539]

So happy you busted out a memory man 🙏🙏. Doing it proper justice

[@robotussin_synths]

Excellent stuff.

[@confuseatronica]

hey LMNC just wanted to say that you have good links in your video descriptions- I've got several sites I check daily that I got from one of your vids.

[@martinpanev6651]

ooOOOOOooo! This looks like something i would like to make myself Love your vids mate!

[@mick3950]

It would be great if this or the Digi sound 80 could be brought again as DIY kits ,great video .

[@mickeythompson9537]

I'm pretty sure the noise can work at 9v, but you'd have to go through a bunch of 3904 transistors and select one that will work that low. Back in the day you'd have to select from a few and pick the loudest anyway.

[@NoMan-zw5wb]

Have you ever considered putting a home brew transceiver in a synthesizer module so you can grab rf noise and random signals for an added layer or loop or sampler or even use it as its own instrument as source for base tone.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

yeahhh theres a really old vid on my cha nnel on it

[@NoMan-zw5wb]

@ I’ll find it eventually. I’m consuming at least 3 of Your vids a day. And very much want a starting point. Of the kits yall have is there an order I can go in to build a full setup? I guess we start with a synth voice and build on it? I have family in London area but that’s not going to help me here in Texas. Looking for pin one is a bitch sometimes when you are this painfully new.

[@NoMan-zw5wb]

@ searching

[@WilliamLDeRieuxIV]

I guess you could also go the route of using a rail-splitter IC -- use a 20v laptop charger and it will split it into +- 10V (assuming you wanted the split rails for the op-amps).

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yes but it would require a lot more modification and lose The spirit of the synth

[@crysstoll1191]

I'd just build a dual rail linear PS at 12v. I used to scavenge power transformers from all kinds of ewaste.

[@connectionlost1063]

You can get voltage adjustable wall supplys that have a 9v style terminal output, just connect 2 in the same series config that the batteries would’ve been and you’ll be sorted, just means having to have 2 wires poking out somewhere

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yes but 9v is below transistor breakdown voltage. Museum is mainly 12v so sticking to it. It simplifies it greatly. And sounds the same

[@markhammer643]

I built one of those too. Makes a fine companion/competitor to the PAiA Gnome. Both of these are great introductions to synthesis for young people.

[@Kae6502]

I built a PAiA Gnome when I was in High School back in the late 70's. Lots of great memories.

[@markhammer643]

@@Kae6502 I sold mine at some point. Well over 35 years ago. I'd build myself another one, but the strip would be the tricky part.

[@nihonam]

A few years ago I've breadboarded some Ray's simple sound toys, one of them had noise generator for sure. Not this one, but pretty similar. Sounded funny. But I still didn't attempt to build some on a permanent basis.

[@JavertNihil]

muy bueno!!!

[@stellamcwick8455]

Sam, some of us have stumbled upon your channel knowing nothing about music or specifically, electronic music. Although your subject matter is fascinating, I get lost with all the acronyms and different functions (VCO’s, VCA’s, filters, oscillators, etc) that make up synthesizers. I find it hard to figure out how routing the output of one thing into the input of another affects the sounds generated, Would it be possible to do a few episodes on the basics of synthesizers for us un-initiated?

[@digitaldobbie]

I recon that would sound nice running through a bit-crush filter

[@tomvesely4008]

Academic Sam made my night

[@zetaconvex1987]

Beautiful little machine he made.

[@Bruceanddenise]

Sounds like a good time to me!

[@davidyates748]

"can also create sounds that do not occur in real life" - exclusively do not occur in real life more like! What a spacey sounding little box 😁

[@KeritechElectronics]

Lovely board there - I don't particularly like the long cables, and I'd use standoffs to attach the board to the panel, but it's a lovely little synth nevertheless.

[@jeremymtc]

Best youtube outro ever

[@newtronix]

Love the Brian Sewell bit!!

[@confuseatronica]

SUDDEN IDEA - all analogue or A/D synths that have a lot of physical controls should have contact mikes on the back of the control panel with its own separate out so you can patch it somewhere and use it to trigger stuff when you click the clicky switches. The feel of the controls on old synths is so much a part of the experience, this way other people can HEAR what your fingers are feeling. TLDR switch goes click, audio goes betwaang-gwang-gwang du du du du wubba

[@PeteJohnson1471]

A nice donation to the museum.

[@lorenzobiagi5200]

a nice display of kindness from the museum in accepting it!

[@donerskine7935]

The 'Controls' knob controls the controls. I hope this helps.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

That font on the original panel just screams Rollerball

[@AnalogDude_]

Try understanding the AT28C256/512 eprom, 2 x 74HC245 (Transceivers) on the eproms output (to regulate traffic in/out), a CD4520 counter to control 4 address lines of the eprom to acces the first 16 data location, 8 noise generators on the data I/0 of the eprom, some minor logic for OE, CS pins using IC's/transistor/capacitors, some jacks and eurorack cables. pretty sure idea's start rattling in, random voltages, gates, random patterns, etc. There is documentation how to program eproms manually on the net.

[@crysstoll1191]

Chances are you could use an old Eprom that is already programmed.

[@AnalogDude_]

@@crysstoll1191 But than you would need 15/16 noise generators to generate random addresses to have some random output.

[@Nukle0n]

You could just replace both batteries with two 9v supplies in series, you get your 9v from the middle of the two supplies and the 18v from the "top", ground is the negative on the "bottom" supply. I remember asking about this once but if someone has any doubts about this please let them be known.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Problem is it's not standard, just wiring it into 1 common 12v is preferable. Plus it has no real effect except oscillator slightly lower frequency. Which is also preferable

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

You wouldn't be able to earth one of the supply's in that orientation but it would be fine

[@Nukle0n]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER Oh sure, if it works just fine with a 12v supply that's probably preferable, just that that's a way of having multiple voltages, or negative voltages if they're necessary for some reason.

[@pasde2]

Aaaactually ... the S in Ondes Martenot is silent. (And the E is pretty much silent too. The E is only there so we pronounce the D otherwise *that* would be silent too.)

[@BITE_MECHANISM]

Send him a memory man as a thank you ❤️❤️

[@dalrok]

Hi, I like Your enthusiasm and the idea of Your museum, a good friend of mine maintains one too with all the historic synths. He's a keyboard player and works as a designer/developer in the synth industry. What I don't really get is, what's so special about a really super simple basic VCO tone-generator with filters, LFO, VCA and NG other than for historical or educational reasons and because it's a nice little unit. The sounds coming out of this unit are nothing special or extraordinary, it's just very basic synth tech. You can get them out of every basic synth. I grew up with monster synths like the modular moog or the ones that Stockhausen used at 'WDR Studio für Elektronische Musik' etc. In the mid 60s I built tube-driven sound generators like the above with the same features (VCO/VCA/VCF/LFO). Later in the end in '78-'80 I built a 'Formant' modular DIY Synth by Cyril Chapman published to the open domain in the german magazine 'Elektor'. It could even be used on stage (if the oscillators didn't float too bad because of temperature changes). You also know that machine, I've seen Your video about it. It was far ahead of anything in the DIY sphere at the time and for a long time after. They all had everything this unit has and much more (e.g. ADSR, S/H, Ring Modulators). It was later replaced by an ARP AXXE, that I still own to this day. Even at that time I didn't find the WP-20 interesting. On stage it was completely useless and it's sound capabilities very limited.

[@LewisCampbellTech]

Please tell me someone back in the day made a whole ambient album with this!

[@amandahugankiss4110]

You are a nightly fine reader. Lost art. If you add story time you could put your talent into your museum as well!

[@SimonJackson13]

Isn't the noise using the transistor as a breakdown BE zener avalanche noise source?

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yes. Hence 12v being fine.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Because 2n3904 breakdown voltage above 9v

[@morbidmanmusic]

Wow,myou found all the sweet spots.

[@connectionlost1063]

14:45 is gonna be the soundtrack to Stockton Rush’s Hell loop

[@jirioto6089]

Analog synthesis is the best and only synthesis.

[@Ippatron]

Hearing him say "Lorenzo" made me laugh every time hahahah (I'm Italian) however you said Bologna perfectly hah! Jokes aside I have a serious question: will the 1222 performance vco be back on stock?? I was thinking to buy one and start my first synthesizer adventure (yes I know how to solder and everything btw hahahah)

[@damianvila]

How about a voltage doubler circuit to go to 18v from a 9v source? They’re usually a bit noisy, but I guess in this case, it doesn’t matter much. 😄

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

You could do! But 12v is simple

[@freeculture]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER the generic Chinese PSUs for laptops have 18, 19, 20, 21, 22... but seems happy with 12v 😄

[@T_ufy]

Really is music from outer space!

[@hawaiianryan1890]

You can always connect two 9V DC power supplies together in series to make 18V just like you do when you connect two batteries in series.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

you can but thats just unnecessarily clunky and something i wanted to avoid.

[@hawaiianryan1890]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER Agreed. I trust you can revise the circuit while keeping it equivalent to the original. You *do* know what you're doing, Sam!

[@mirabilis]

Built an WSG (Weird Sound Generator) back in the day.

[@MatthiasLindemann-hp2zr]

🤔How long do the batteries last?

[@swampflux]

Fun simple box

[@ibanezleftyclub]

Oh man, that would make a fun phone app emulator.

[@DrMarv]

LOL. That EHX box was probably worth more than the synth! Sounds pretty cool though.

[@colinwaldron7399]

It sounds like something from 'The Clangers' (late 60's BBC children's programme)

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Woopwiiop

[@EwenBates]

SAHB Faith Healer @ 13:29!

[@geoffenator]

I was going to say the same thing. 1973 vintage.

[@tomahzo]

Well, that was a random impersonation to kick off the video ;D. That came out of nowhere :D

[@antivanti]

So... What is the ultimate design?

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

Tips hat for the Kevin McCloud gag

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Haha

[@Rhythmicons]

RIP Ray Wilson.

[@hughman8597]

The first "real" Synth was the WSG from Ray. I realized pretty quickly that he wasn't as musically manageable as I thought. After that I found a funky guy with overalls, a bomber jacket and a safety pin in his ear. He was pretty crazy, but likeable and I got stuck with him. I've also met a lot of great people on the forum. Shoutout to Soundbender, heckseven, analog output and the forgotten ones.😂❤

[@crysstoll1191]

Huh "first real synth?"

[@amandahugankiss4110]

Holy eyebrows, Cap'm!!