![]() ![]() In common with most Digisounds, patching is carried out using minijack connectors. And unlike my original synth, it's black. I guess it's closer in appearance to the separate free‑standing modules from the original articles in Electronics Today International (and Electronics & Music Maker). The latest addition to my studio, however, is quite different, containing more heavily customised modules and home‑made circuit boards. My original instrument incorporates Digisound's own printed circuit boards into a 44‑inch‑long wooden box, with each cream‑coloured metal front plate individually cut and hand‑labelled. This culminated in the recent purchase of a large Digisound system, complete with eight‑note polyphonic keyboard, four oscillators, eight VCAs, three VCFs, six envelope generators, four LFOs and more. With my enthusiasm rekindled, and a passing regret for all the synths I discarded cheaply in the '80s, I started to explore all things analogue once more. Ironically, perhaps, I started to extend those duties after an encounter with a modern virtual analogue: Clavia's Nord Modular. The powerful VCO is based on a Curtis chip, and offers the rarely‑found 'soft sync'.įor many years I have been the custodian of a modest twin‑oscillator Digisound, which I used to use mainly to make 'spacey' noises. Instead, I simply hope to show that this synth deserves its place up there with the VCS3 and the Wasp as one of the most important British electronic instruments ever conceived. ![]() With this in mind, I won't be trying to write the definitive work on all things Digisound. Of course, once people get a soldering iron in their hands, anything can happen, and the Digisound 80 Modular appeared in many guises, from the typical 'white‑faced' kit (as supplied by Blakey) to many variations which used the published schematics merely as a starting point. This instrument he called the Digisound 80 Modular Synthesizer. In his opening article, he stated that any hardwired synthesizer inevitably suffered from "compromises in terms of the capabilities of the instrument." He set out, therefore, to provide an affordable, flexible synthesizer in modular form, the parts of which could be constructed as stand‑alone units or as 9 x 3‑inch panels in a larger case. ![]() In February 1980, Charles Blakey launched "the synthesizer you've been waiting for" in Electronics Today International magazine. Beneath the ARP sequencer is the polyphonic keyboard controller.īritish company Digisound's affordable modular synth may not have the cachet of a Moog or an ARP, but - as Paul Nagle explains - they were innovative, well designed, and sounded great. The top row contains the system built by Dave Robinson (see 'Construction Time Again' box), using home‑made panels, while the two lower rows are custom black‑faced modules. The kit format meant that Digisound modules appear in a variety of guises. ![]()
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