Unlocking the Yamaha E70

[Guest]

Another neat site & utility - good stuff!

The only thing that might be worth pointing out is that the devices themselves should be similar to the L7815 series with a TO-3 style package and appropriate heatsink. These 'modern' regulators are great, they have short circuit and overtemperature protection, much nicer than the old LM723 style with the power transistor etc. Much more convenient than the old discrete based designs...

Can I offer this up for review... <a href="http://imageshack.us/a/img13/6892/proposedpowersupplyv10.png" target="proposedpowersupply10"><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img20/6892/proposedpowersupplyv10.png" align=right style="width:500px;margin-left:20px;"></A>

After snooping around, heres a composite of all the things I thought seemed ideal. One of the things that made me wonder is why sometimes the diagrams on the net have different value capacitors on top and bottom ? It seems they should be symmentrical on the top and bottom but maybe they're something else goin on?

This was made on the free online circuit designer http://www.circuitlab.com/

[mseven]

<img src="http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8206/buttonsdt.png" align=right style="margin-left:40px;width:200px;"> Yes! - TO-3 with heat sinks, good thinking. I'm still searching for a 40V xformer with center tap without spending a fortune.

20 of these switches -----> (total $25) are on their way from HK (found on eBay).. hope they switch softly. The appearance is the closest I could find :)

And for the 3 LFOs, another $50 worth of parts, including 1% metal film resistors, are coming from Newark Canada.

Trying to hold back on thinking of preset memory by Arduino at this point. And a solo keyboard. And the importance of adding noise, and and and


<a href="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8779/faceplatewithbuttons.jpg" target="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8779/faceplatewithbuttons.jpg"><img src="http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8779/faceplatewithbuttons.jpg" style="border:1px solid black;width:600px;"></A>

[Guest]

Noise is definitely a very cheap, affordable option -you have your choice of analog (reverse biased diode junction) or digital (pseudo-random generator with clock to set 'freq', similar to old Defender 'whoosh' sound). Our friend Marc wanted to add this, but he's after bigger concepts for the moment... : )

Either way, you're going to have the most sophisticated layout yet, at this rate, there should be a whole gallery of modded E series organs!

[mseven]

There _should be more of these... what happened to all the big talkers like Flametop Fred and Dr. Funk and those several other guys? Its a bit disappointing they bascially collapsed. Looks like a pretty small group of us who actually are unleashing the amazing potential of our Yamaha instruments.

Last night I was looking through a photocopied E-70 / EX-II manual from Yamaha Canada and it occured to me that, yes, this E-50 will be much superior to that stock EX-II. What a crazy and satisfying thought! Also been practicing up a couple songs when the next inevitable "put a video up" moment comes. So much better if a tune can be played.

The Druid LFOs do have a noise function; not sure how its generated though. THe Druids can also modify all their waveforms; and the convenience of all of this is why I decided to continue with them instead of shifting to Arduino for modulators.

Also not sure yet how I would add a noise signal in other than to modulate using it, which might be fine. Still haven't figured out whether to add a mixer.

The box of parts from Newark arrived today and it's amazing what $50 will buy these days. And it was a quick delivery.

IAC I so far can't get over the beauty of the sound of this instrument - high fidelity reproduction is so important, compared to the original speaker setup. And all of this unleashing has barely started. Too bad the quitters are totally missing out on this rewarding journey.

[mseven]

<a href="http://imageshack.us/a/img853/4676/electricdruidvclfocompl.png" target="http://imageshack.us/a/img853/4676/electricdruidvclfocompl.png"><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img22/1555/electricdruidvclfocmplt.png" style="margin-left:30px;" align=right></A>Here's the Electric Druid schematic that combines all the features, making LFO Frequency and Wave Distort (and phase shift) available to be assigned to outside controllers... like say the knee bar, or the upper manual touch control..

[Guest]

I'm sure the original posters are more than interested in what you're doing - they're just onto related ambitious projects.

It takes a serious amount of work to go beyond the basic resistor/potentiometer mod, not to mention keeping it ergonomic - you're building off of the earlier examples so you have that advantage and technical/knowledge inspiration to go further. There was some additional circuit added by Robert Skerjanc, he's certainly dedicated to the whole topic - he added modulation directly to the filters etc. In case anyone hasn't had the pleasure or would like to see more...

http://www.skerjanc.de/
http://www.skerjanc.de/E-75.htm

The other variation of noise is random voltage, either steps or smooth to give added complexity to a standard tone. Driving filters off a Sample & Hold fed by white noise and clocked by the rhythm generator would be an excellent effect - that Electric Druid has some great features to enable that and a lot more.... cool!

[Guest]

Check out any local recyclers or even thrift shops for related equipment/gear - they can be a great resource for the hobbyist! Old adapters/ wall-warts etc are easy to find... switchers may require a bit more filtering/loading but should work - just be careful that there's no link back to ground in case you get short circuits or ground loops....

These guys have good deals on ebay for protoboards in various patterns including the same as those breadboard plastic blocks - cheaper than what they have on their webpage - they also sell entire kits of metal film resistors etc. (Vancouver, BC)

http://www.veroboard.com/

Yes! - TO-3 with heat sinks, good thinking. I'm still searching for a 40V xformer with center tap without spending a fortune.

20 of these switches -----> (total $25) are on their way from HK (found on eBay).. hope they switch softly. The appearance is the closest I could find :)

And for the 3 LFOs, another $50 worth of parts, including 1% metal film resistors, are coming from Newark Canada.

Trying to hold back on thinking of preset memory by Arduino at this point. And a solo keyboard. And the importance of adding noise, and and and


</A>

[mseven]

Keyman, yes there's certainly great info here on how to get this all hooked up. Everyone has put a lot into this and it sure does make my job easier.

I've been working with DipTrace to build a circuit board for the LFO; it's another great free (for small projects) PCB designing software. This part is a heck of a task though... but I think for three units, its best to use a PCB instead of just a protoboard. Will post the board when its ready.

The CNC setup for the panel is being worked on! Going to use Cherry wood. Can't wait till it's ready.

[Guest]

Sounds great, you've been on this for a fair bit so it's good to hear the wheels of industry are finally engaged... ; )

Protoboards are a poor man's option, I've laid out many circuit boards and would much rather use that if it were practical, though it seems there are PCB houses that cater to small prototyping jobs. One machine that I've used is a CNC PCB mill, expensive, and a dirty process in it's own right, but very handy

I've taken a poke around the Electric Druid site, very interesting stuff! The D-VCO implementation, and the rest, is a great way to go if you're looking to implement traditional features without having to reinvent the wheel or do things the old-fashioned way using dozens of passive components and analog - certainly got my attention with related ideas...

Keep us posted!

Keyman, yes there's certainly great info here on how to get this all hooked up. Everyone has put a lot into this and it sure does make my job easier.

I've been working with DipTrace to build a circuit board for the LFO; it's another great free (for small projects) PCB designing software. This part is a heck of a task though... but I think for three units, its best to use a PCB instead of just a protoboard. Will post the board when its ready.

The CNC setup for the panel is being worked on! Going to use Cherry wood. Can't wait till it's ready.

[M3me]

I've been using ExpressPCB for at least five years now. They have a proprietary pcb creator program (free download) that's pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. I would guess that I've bought 300+ pcbs from them at this point. 3 day delivery is their normal deal. Order Monday, receive boards Thursday. A 1.125" x 5" pcb runs about $135 for twelve peices. A 1"x2" board runs about $140 for 30 pcs. Just sayin.

If you come up with some whiz-bang design that may be a marketable thing that other Yamaha organ DIYers might be interested in, perhaps ExpressPCB could be of some assistance for you.

Then again, perhaps not. Just thought I'd throw that out there. All of the champions of this thread may have split, but I still lurk like a ghost even though I'll most likely never own a Yamaha organ. :)

I'm patiently waiting for the day when someone develops the GX-1 in a VST (most likely not happening, but it doesn't hurt to dream). Or better yet, a GX-1 sound module in a Virtual Analogue "1U rack module" with 128 voice polyphony, sorta like what EMU used to offer.

Ok, shutting up .... back to your conversation fellas.



YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[Guest]

Thanks for the great info, I've yet to engage them, but I've seen them over the years and played with their program - certainly good to let anyone interested know the possibilities available that way. It's the kind of thing that would be great if anyone came up with a related design/implementation and wanted to make it easily available to others by securing a lot - much as you say you've done for your own purposes.... Though it's harder to solder and re-work, surface mount layouts would give the most bang-for-the-buck as far as size goes.

Havent' used it myself, but programs like Synthedit allow you to create your own custom VST - at least you would be able to (possibly) emulate the visual aspect if not the sounds. : )

I've been using ExpressPCB for at least five years now. They have a proprietary pcb creator program (free download) that's pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. I would guess that I've bought 300+ pcbs from them at this point. 3 day delivery is their normal deal. Order Monday, receive boards Thursday. A 1.125" x 5" pcb runs about $135 for twelve peices. A 1"x2" board runs about $140 for 30 pcs. Just sayin.

If you come up with some whiz-bang design that may be a marketable thing that other Yamaha organ DIYers might be interested in, perhaps ExpressPCB could be of some assistance for you.

Then again, perhaps not. Just thought I'd throw that out there. All of the champions of this thread may have split, but I still lurk like a ghost even though I'll most likely never own a Yamaha organ. :)

I'm patiently waiting for the day when someone develops the GX-1 in a VST (most likely not happening, but it doesn't hurt to dream). Or better yet, a GX-1 sound module in a Virtual Analogue "1U rack module" with 128 voice polyphony, sorta like what EMU used to offer.

Ok, shutting up .... back to your conversation fellas.


YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[dr funk]

If you come up with some whiz-bang design that may be a marketable thing that other Yamaha organ DIYers might be interested in, perhaps ExpressPCB could be of some assistance for you.

That's a good point!

All of the champions of this thread may have split, but I still lurk like a ghost even though I'll most likely never own a Yamaha organ. :)

I'm still here too, also lurking like a ghost! Lots of things going on for me these days, so the E70 sits in a corner of the studio for the time being. But I do check in here quite often, and I enjoy reading the latest ideas!

I'm patiently waiting for the day when someone develops the GX-1 in a VST (most likely not happening, but it doesn't hurt to dream). Or better yet, a GX-1 sound module in a Virtual Analogue "1U rack module" with 128 voice polyphony, sorta like what EMU used to offer.

How about an SY-1 or SY-2? They're still pretty cheap and are basically a single GX-1 voice. Same potted modules as the GX-1.

Frank

[Guest]

One other option is the Yamaha CSY-1 organ/synth, similar to the SY-1 or 2, you would need the synth guts from at least two of these to make up one GX-1 "voice"?

Just to avoid confusion, the CSY-2 organ/synth only kept the VCO in the original epoxy module...

(oops, on the redundant comment regarding making PCB cards for others)

That's a good point!


I'm still here too, also lurking like a ghost! Lots of things going on for me these days, so the E70 sits in a corner of the studio for the time being. But I do check in here quite often, and I enjoy reading the latest ideas!

How about an SY-1 or SY-2? They're still pretty cheap and are basically a single GX-1 voice. Same potted modules as the GX-1.

Frank

[dr funk]

One other option is the Yamaha CSY-1 organ/synth, though similar to the SY-1 or 2, you would need the synth guts from at least two synth guts to make up one GX-1 "voice"?

Oops, I believe you're correct! I should have said 'half a GX-1 voice'!

Frank

[mseven]

Looks like I just bought myself a half a GX voice.. Thanks for the tip!

Good to see your post Dr Funk