Uncategorized – Technology for Art and Education

Synthy VCS-3 with embedded OSC Matrix

The Institute of Sonology in Den Haag purchased two VCS-3 synths back in the seventees (1975) . Over the years lots of students used the synths for their compositions and that shows. They are used! Both of them are still fully operational and in one of the machines I embedded a OSC matrix.

Parallel to the analog physical matrix on the outside (where the small pins make connections between the onboard modules), the OSC matrix is mounted. Great thing is that it has exactly 16 inputs and 16 outputs – the exact fit of the OSC-matrix.

TestRun VCS-3 patch

Active filters

Some of the recent questions I heard from the students were about filters. The world of filters, whether active or passive, is a complex one. There’s a lot of documentation about this subject and if you have to design a particular filter for a particular frequency, you will encounter quiet complex math. I added some examples of second order LP, HP and Bandpass filters and included some on-line calculators.

Bandpass:

RC-Studio Max patch updates

Friday 9th of February, I introduced students to the world of the Remote Controlled studio during a 2 hour session at Sonology studio Bea-6. It was an introduction lesson in how to use the RC-studio and how communication can be setup with OpenSoundControl messages (OSC).

Since the big Max/Msp patch that I made for driving the whole setup is quiet a mess (:) when you go out of presentation-mode, I added the core-processes as separate Max/msp patches. In this way it is easier building a patch yourself by adding the core-parts together. You will find patches that can work stand-alone and that generate the right OSC-messages like /v1, /cf, ma, /st and more. Take a look at the download section and find 7 new Max/Msp patches to be experimented with. For more information about the RC-studio, check this.

Example of the ADSR module drive:

Have fun!