Here, have some Weirdness.
Weirdness is a Kosmo format synth module based on the MFOS Weird Sound Generator.
For this module I incorporated the WSG’s two voices (each two audio oscillators (Weird and Wacky) and a low frequency oscillator (Zany)) but omitted the filter (Oddness). I figured we all have filters already in our synths, use them! Instead the two voices go to (separate) mixing and buffering stages and output jacks. There are also gate outputs, with indicator LEDs, derived from the Zany oscillators. Other than that the circuit is taken directly from Wilson’s design, except that it is powered with +12 V instead of a 9 V battery.
I tested the voltage control modification but didn’t like it. It has the side effect of changing the oscillators’ square wave outputs to narrow pulse waves, giving the sound a much different timbre. So I didn’t add voltage control.
There are eight potentiometers controlling this module, and they need to be easily manipulated given that there is no voltage control, so I decided to make them sliders. They’re by far the most expensive part of this build! Wilson specifies linear taper pots and I don’t know why — I think audio would be better. But I was asleep at the switch when I ordered and got linear ones. The rest is two chips, four transistors, and some passives, on a fabbed PCB behind a fabbed 10 cm FR4 panel.
(Yes, I did tell JLCPCB to put the order number on the back of the front panel, and, no, they didn’t. First time that’s happened to me.)
Repository: Richard Holmes / WSG module · GitLab