Chaos Matrix

[jackchaos]

Edit: My ISP is terrible so I've created a Flickr account instead. You can see the set there:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19562549@N00/

I've made a lot of progress on my project.

Chaos Matrix is a knobby programmer for my Matrix 1000.

I have most of the electronic components built and I'm waiting on the last order from SMASHTV to finish the rest like the 5point Tracking/Reshaper, Ramps & Portamento Controls, Matrix Mod, and  Patch Selection section below the LCD.

What you see in the photos below is a fully functional programmer for what was until this point... a pain in the ass to program.

The Oberheim Matrix 1000 is one of the the last analog synthesizers Oberheim built before they went away. It has 6 voices, 2 oscillators per voice, 2 LFOs, 3 ENVs, and a VCF per voice.

It also has sophisticated modulation routing functionality making it more like a modular synth.

I've already started designing the front panel and I look forward to getting to that point.

Right now, cardboard boxes make great containers for prototyping because its so easy to cut holes.

I also plan on upgrading the LCD. The 2x16 I have is very restrictive and the new 2x20 I got from Smash looks better... I've not wired it in yet.

One of the extra features I want to do once everything else is finished, is to implement visual feedback in regards to Matrix 1000 patch parameters that are represented by LEDs on my control surface.

I plan on dumping all the necessary patch data from the Oberheim (~64k) to a couple of bankstick chips, and when a patch change is made on the programmer, read the patch values and update the LEDs on the panel.

For example, if the Pulse wave is enabled on DCO2 and oscillator sync is enabled on DCO1, I want the LEDs to update when I change patches... The Matrix 1000 has 800 preset voices.

Here is a shot of the Matrix 1000 Analog synth.

The left side is where the DCO controls are at. At the top is where I select the DCO to edit.

in the middle are the shared DCO1/DCO2 controls.

On the bottom, is the DCO Sync enable button, Detune, and DCO1<->DCO2 Mix pot.

On the right is the lowpass filter.

From top left to bottom right:

VCF Resonance, unused, VCF Cutoff to ENV1, VCF Cutoff to Aftertouch

Cutoff, Modulate Cutoff to LFO Enable, Cutoff to LFO Amount,Cutoff to: Portamento, Kbd, PBend, Modwh

FM Amount, FM to ENV3, FM To Velocity

On the top are the envelope controls. The 3 buttons at the top select one of the 3 envelopes.

The controls on the right are for the 2 LFOs. Whats great is when I toggle between the ENVs, the LED's on the buttons will light up based on their last edited status.

The button that toggles between the 7 LFO waveforms also blinks at the speed of the LFO rate thats currently set. Obviously this is a close proximation of the actual rate but it gives enought visual feedback as to what's going on with the patch.

The 3 knobs on the top right are the VCA controls.

This is the inside of the panel on the right. I got a lot more efficient by the time I build these components.

The components in the left panel were built last year and are a mess.

All my parts are from smash. I used the boards as templates to organize all the controls.

[cheater]

Wow, that's wonderful! I might actually get my hands on a cheap matrix1000.

So how many cores/etc will this thing use?

Will it work with librarian software? (that'd be great)

Thanks a lot for your work!

D.

[stryd_one]

a cheap matrix1000

Heh, I've been searching for one since I saw this project begin ;)

Nice work jack!

[jackchaos]

I've added more photos of the new additions to the development setup. I've also began WIKI-fying my project here:

http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=jackchaos