Here is a list of some resources for electronics related to music/synth diy:
Feel free to add your own into the thread, I thought it would be a handy resource since a few forum members seem to be interested. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but with enough participation it could be a nice repository for reference.
Great idea! I was gonna suggest MFOS but itās in there. Ray Wilson started my DIY synth hobby and Iāll forever be indebted. RIP Ray. Electric Druid is another very good site. Tom is a great guy.
Another site I used to visit more on the audio side was ESP
I was just going to say the same thing. Between the DIY forum on Muffās (which is one of the most friendly forums around (the DIY sub-forum I mean)) and Electro-Musicās DIY forums, thereās not much one canāt find or learn. There are some REALLY advanced, and pioneering people in there that like to help out from time to time too. (people that have worked on some serious gear or at famous companies etc. too in some cases) If I didnāt have those as supplementary resources while learning, Iād probably never have designed any of the circuits that Iāve put out there. Highly recommended.
Also, this YouTube channel is incredible for more general knowledge.
My own personal knowledge is highly skewed toward analog modular circuits, but Iām also happy to help if/when I can if questions come up. (or at least direct to other resources when I canāt help)
Iām thinking of burrowing down this path at the moment and considering a book or two, but specifically Iām thinking of building some FX pedal kits to get started. Googling brings up a lot of stuff, so if anyone has some recommendations on well put together kits that would suit a beginner, that also sound nice, please recommend.
Iām thinking of picking up the Make book on Electronics, not sure if thats a good place to start. Picked up Pedal Crush recently and its really piqued my interestā¦
I guess in the end I want to understand electronics a bit more.
Iāve watched a few video on line where people seem to be desiging PCBās with software, itās really a black art to me. I guess they make stuff there, then order it someplace, and they get shipped the finished/proto circuits?
Would love to know where I can find out more about that manufacturing process
Get stuck in!
I started out a while ago with some educational kits. And a book. Thats it. Built three of those. Then I made a multi meter( ballsed that up)
Last night I finished repairing and modifying my old SH101. So now it has midi and a kick arse sequencer and accent!
Basically electronics isnt that hard. Soldering is just a matter of practice. If you can read instructions and follow them, and pay attention to detail, its all fairly straight forward.
For manufacturing PCBs there are tons of options, PCBway, DirtyPCBs, JLpcb, OSH park, itead, and plenty more, just google pcb manufacturing.
For designing PCBs there are also plenty of options, the most popular used to be eagle, but it has a steeper learning curve, I didnāt like it, there is fritzing, kicad, sprint layout, and a bunch of others, they all work slightly different some are free, some paid. I quite like fritzing (free) and sprint (paid).
Again google pcb design and try a few out, to order PCBs the software will need to have gerber export, most do.
I think some PCB houses even have their own design software that you can use, some will design the PCB for you too, for a price and a schematic.
This is a very noob question, but, home diy is basically the soldering iron, putting things together yourself, but with the software, you are basically laying out virtual circuits and transistors and chips and what not, and then sending elsewhere to be built and sent back to you? Obviously much cleaner and probably built by robots I take it.
How does one learn what all those components would be etc? Does the software kindve lead u through that, or it must be learnt elsewhere
Iād imagine there are things manufacturing can do that home diy canāt?
I think youād normally build a real world prototype of anything you want to draw with the software first.
That establishes that it works and youāre using the right components and then you draw the circuit for the pcb.
edit - having said that there are packages that let you test circuits from just a layout, but I dunnoā¦ my experience of electronics is definitely that you want to build a thing before assuming it will work as you expect.
edit: i notice the shop at this link appears to be totally sold out, not sure if these guys are still active. which is a shame, the Pedal Pi looks great, as do their other projects
Good advice. Unless youāre cloning a circuit that is known to work you should prototype your design first. TBH even then Iād prototype and tweak before committing to CAD. This can be on a breadboard (that would be my first choice) or by using stripboard/matrixboard. Thoroughly test your circuit at this stage and make the tweaks that you need to design/layout wise. You should do all that before you thing about starting to do a layout in software. I use Diptrace, canāt complain with the results Iāve had. I mentioned layout, donāt overlook this, especially if youāre thinking about guitar pedal sized circuits etc. Pick up a few books covering the practical side of PCB design and layout. You donāt need to go mad in depth, just be aware of the obvious pitfalls (crosstalk, ground loops, isolating HF circuits etc) most of its common sense once youāve read and understood it.
DIY electronics is huge fun and it doesnāt have to be expensive. A half decent soldering iron, second hand CRT Oscilloscope, a multimeter and some hand tools and you should be good not only to go but to start to understand why your circuit wonāt go!
