u/TwoLuckyFish

OK I learned something, and I guess it's kind of obvious. If you're creating a source of voltage, for instance using a voltage regulator, it is absolutely imperative that you have some resistance between it and the jack where you're going to patch it. Because while plugging a patch cable connected to that voltage source, it's actually VERY likely that the tip will make contact with the grounded ring of the jack. Just for one brief moment, perhaps. This is almost always bad.

I've been posting my progress over in r/synthDIY, but today I reached the point where I actually eliminated maths from my little portable setup. I had been using it to invert a voltage (the top op amp circuit on this board), generate a gate from very small CV (the lower op amp circuit), and provide static 5 or 6 volts to utilize as a gate, switched elsewhere (the voltage regulator at the bottom coming out the lone jack on the upper right). I had also been using Maths to accomplish an AND logic operation, but I purchased a little 2HP logic module to handle that duty.

Green wires carry ground, purple carry +12v, and orange carries +6v. The rest is handled by vertical traces underneath, many of which are noted with Sharpie.

It ain't pretty! But it's my first time building circuits from scratch with op-amps. Moreover, it works!

Top half is voltage inverter I posted the other day: r/synthdiy/s/WQzFPl0ZwQ

Bottom half is CV to Gate. Anything above +.5v generates a circa +5v gate.

Used LM741CN op-amps for both utility circuits, because I have so many of them. And for these crude gate-handling operations, precision and efficiency just don't matter.

With these two circuits, combined with a used 2HP Logic module I got last weekend, I've eliminated Maths from my little portable rig.

OK I'm a little bit giddy, because I just built a thing from scratch, and it works. Moog Mavis has an odd sample-and-hold circuit: It outputs the inverted voltage that was sampled. I need it inverted back to match the original. I have a whole lot of LM741CN op-amps, so I looked up how to use one to invert a CV. It's an old chip, and nobody really uses them in Eurorack anymore, but it'll do what I want just fine.

Green wires are ground, purple carries +12v, traces on the bottom carry everything else. Had to scrape some traces to break unwanted shorts.

Next project, nearly identical architecture: Take a very low CV voltage and amplify it so logic modules will recognize it as "high". Maybe 20-times the voltage. Not sure: Will the op-amp top out below 12v no matter how high my CV input? Ideally no more than 10v and everything should be fine. Need to do more research.

Film is The Atomic Submarine, 1959.

I can't make drinks fast enough! So the garnish is just getting larger. This is A Bitter Mai Tai, made according to the Strong Water Anaheim recipe.

Start with some rosemary. Umm... about this much. 😜 Would doubling it be "better"? It might! I'll try it next time.

So this is really very simple, and it's an excellent project for someone who hasn't made their own flavored syrups before. I'm going to walk through it step by step, because when I first started making syrups, I appreciated this amount on detail.

Peel off all the needles and discard the stem. Needles into pan, add 1/2 cup water. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour through a strainer back into your Pyrex measuring cup. Add additional water to bring it back up to 1/2 cup. Rinse your pan to get the last of the rosemary bits out.

Now... Into your pan put 1 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional, to discourage crystallization), and your 1/2 cup hot rosemary infused water. Heat it gently, stirring frequently to accelerate dissolution. Don't boil it; you're just trying to dissolve the sugar, and you want the sugar to water ratio to be consistent for repeatability when you're assessing crystallization or mold later.

Let it cool a bit for safe handling, and decant into a STERILE glass container. This will grow cloudy mold after a couple weeks at room temperature, or it won't, and as far as I can tell it's probably associated with how clean the container was. My current batch is still good, and it's been about a month.

Final step: Tell us what you make with it!

I've been exploring several tiki-leaning Negroni variants the past year or so. Tonight, I wanted a small cocktail, low ABV, just to amuse myself.

1/2 ounce each: lime juice, Appleton Signature, Cocchi vermouth, Campari. Plus 1/4 ounce homemade rosemary syrup. It might not win any awards, but I keep returning to these Negroni+juice+sweet concoctions for SOME reason!

Moog is usually considered too "clean" to do proper acid, but I was pretty pleased with this. I'm stacking the wave folder with the overdrive on the drum machine, and modulating the filter with a sequence, the envelope, and the LFO which is running at audio rate.