{"id":95,"date":"2011-01-22T11:59:42","date_gmt":"2011-01-22T15:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sineqube.com\/blog\/?p=95"},"modified":"2011-01-24T12:19:33","modified_gmt":"2011-01-24T17:19:33","slug":"stupid-box-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-when-things-go-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/stupid-box-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-when-things-go-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Stupid Box: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love When Things Go Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Stupid stupid box.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/a>Audio demo of the Stupid Box<\/a><\/h1>\n

So, this last build was the most frustrating so far. \u00c2\u00a0On the breadboard, I debated whether or not to even transfer it to perfboard and find an enclosure. \u00c2\u00a0But, as it is the first synth I built from the ground up for use with my sequencer<\/a>, I figured I should go ahead and complete it.<\/p>\n

The synth itself is comprised of two chips, the 4046<\/a> and the 74C14<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0The former serves as a basic square wave oscillator triggered from the CV out of the step sequencer, and the latter adds a couple more squares to modulate the first oscillator. \u00c2\u00a0On the breadboard, it made some mildly interesting sounds, was pretty noisy, and I felt “meh” about it, overall. \u00c2\u00a0I wanted to get it done fast so I could move onto the next thing. \u00c2\u00a0I don’t like lingering on one project for too long.<\/p>\n

I’m usually very meticulous and methodical about moving from the prototype to finalizing the build, triple checking every connection before soldering the components. \u00c2\u00a0I even take multiple photographs from different angles of the breadboard, in case I get into trouble later. \u00c2\u00a0This time, I also shot a little video, panning around the breadboard to make sure I could recheck working connections if something went wrong after soldering.<\/p>\n

And tons of stuff went wrong.<\/p>\n

I’m really not into 2nd drafts. \u00c2\u00a0I want to do things right the first time, so I work slowly and try to make the end result as good as possible because I get extremely bored going over old material. \u00c2\u00a0I’m the same way with music, writing, visual arts, nearly every creative endeavor — if I can’t do it quickly, I move onto something else as I have more ideas than time to complete them all. \u00c2\u00a0This project, which I affectionately dubbed, “Stupid Box,” would test my patience in this regard.<\/p>\n

Everything worked fine during prototyping, but that limbo between breadboard and final build where the project isn’t functional is incredibly stressful for me. \u00c2\u00a0There exists that time where it doesn’t work, and you hope it can work again, assuming you build correctly. \u00c2\u00a0I worked slowly, checked everything a bajillion times, and flipped on the power …<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n

Strike that. \u00c2\u00a0The battery started getting hot. \u00c2\u00a0Not good. \u00c2\u00a0Not good. \u00c2\u00a0Polarity must be reversed on the clip. \u00c2\u00a0Tried rewiring. \u00c2\u00a0No joy. \u00c2\u00a0Still getting hot. \u00c2\u00a0Checked the direction of the electrolytics (even though I quadruple-checked as I built). \u00c2\u00a0Everything looks good. \u00c2\u00a0Checked the diode direction. \u00c2\u00a0Looked fine.<\/p>\n

I’m stumped. \u00c2\u00a0And very frustrated. \u00c2\u00a0I didn’t like this thing much to begin with, and now I started hating it. \u00c2\u00a0I had a choice — keep trying to troubleshoot for a project my heart wasn’t in, or try and salvage the parts I could and move onto something else. \u00c2\u00a0I had spent about a week off and on working on this though, and I hate failing. \u00c2\u00a0I had to beat this Stupid Box, or I knew it would eat at me.<\/p>\n

The hardest part about troubleshooting things like this is that it is usually some very small thing that’s simple to change, but it’s hidden. \u00c2\u00a0From about a decade of working with Max\/MSP,<\/a> I was very familiar with this scenario. \u00c2\u00a0I still hate it, but I’m familiar with it. \u00c2\u00a0These problems tend to plague me for days on end and I have trouble focusing on anything else until it’s solved.<\/p>\n

I scanned the perfboard for anything obvious. \u00c2\u00a0I plugged the sequencer into the unit but kept the synth itself unpowered. \u00c2\u00a0I could hear the clicking as the few volts the sequencer sent out coursed through the board and into the little battery-powered amp. \u00c2\u00a0I poked and prodded every connection to check continuity, and see if I could inadvertently trigger something good to happen. \u00c2\u00a0I was as much hoping for magic as science as my frustration grew.<\/p>\n

Click click click click. \u00c2\u00a0The four pulses from the sequencer didn’t change, and every time I plugged the battery in, it still got warm. \u00c2\u00a0It was hard to check the issue when I couldn’t even get voltage into the system.<\/p>\n

There!<\/p>\n

Was that a little fleck of solder between the power and ground lines? \u00c2\u00a0It was so small, that even with a magnifying glass, I had trouble telling if there was a connection. \u00c2\u00a0I called my wife to come be another set of eyes. \u00c2\u00a0Still too small to tell. \u00c2\u00a0I fired up the iron and melted the solder enough to take a small knife and insure the separation of points.<\/p>\n

Battery in. \u00c2\u00a0LED on. \u00c2\u00a0Success!<\/p>\n

The project I was only mildly interested in was functional. \u00c2\u00a0Yay. \u00c2\u00a0: \/<\/p>\n

Other stuff went wrong too. \u00c2\u00a0Things were shorting against the enclosure so I could only screw the circuit halfway. \u00c2\u00a0The modulation section stopped working completely and after replacing two capacitors, a diode, and rewiring a solder joint that came loose, it ended up being one of the screws securing the board in place was shorting out a wire that was too close. \u00c2\u00a0The mod section itself sounded way too faint in contrast to the output of the main oscillator. \u00c2\u00a0When the photoresistor was engaged the filter pot acted in reverse. \u00c2\u00a0And on and on and on.<\/p>\n

So, this project has become an exercise in letting go. \u00c2\u00a0It is yet another instance where I have to teach myself not to obsess over controlling every system I create. \u00c2\u00a0As much as I have a deep love for generative work and aleatoric processes, I still default to wanting to be the puppet master. \u00c2\u00a0Perhaps it’s because<\/em> of this personality trait that I find generative systems so very Zen in my life. \u00c2\u00a0It’s easy to be a Taoist when things are running smooth. \u00c2\u00a0I need to carry it with me into the chaos.<\/p>\n

I’m glad I built my Stupid Box. \u00c2\u00a0It makes some decent sounds, especially after replacing the diode (see below). \u00c2\u00a0I was even able to coax some vaguely formant synthesis sounding material out of it. \u00c2\u00a0Time will tell how useful it is in the long run, but for now, I am pleased. \u00c2\u00a0Here’s the mp3 demo again in case you missed it at the top:<\/p>\n

Audio demo of the Stupid Box<\/a><\/h3>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

I’m including the hand-drawn schematic in case anyone wants to play around with this monster. \u00c2\u00a0Yes, I know I need to digitize the layouts, but a crappy hand-drawn one is better than none, perhaps?<\/p>\n

*Oh, I recommend replacing the diode with a 100 ohm resistor instead. \u00c2\u00a0The mod section ended up sounding much more effective as a result.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Parts list - I would replace the 1N914 diode with a 100 ohm resistor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Loooottts of eraser marks. ; ) Build at your own risk. (And replace that diode with a 100 ohm resistor!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Update 1.24.2011<\/p>\n

Using an old version of Omni Graffle, I was able to put together a cleaner looking schematic. \u00c2\u00a0Hope this is a bit more helpful to anyone looking to build one of these.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This schematic omits the diode and replaces it with the 100 ohm resistor. Sounds better to me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Audio demo of the Stupid Box So, this last build was the most frustrating so far. \u00c2\u00a0On the breadboard, I debated whether or not to even transfer it to perfboard and find an enclosure. \u00c2\u00a0But, as it is the first synth I built from the ground up for use with my sequencer, I figured I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UWlD-1x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sineqube.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}