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Build a Square Wave Oscillator - Part 1 of DIY Modular Synths

by dnhushak on October 27, 2010

Table of Contents

License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Intro: Build a Square Wave Oscillator - Part 1 of DIY Modular Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: Gather Your Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 2: Plan Your Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 3: Drill Project Enclosure Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 4: Lay Out and Solder Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

step 5: Put Everything Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

step 6: Decorate As Desired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

step 7: Make Weird Noises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)

Intro: Build a Square Wave Oscillator - Part 1 of DIY Modular Synths

Synthesizers have become an incredibly prominent instrument in modern music; it's difficult to hear a track without one anymore! Unfortunately, many synthesizers are
incredibly expensive and hard to acquire, making it rather difficult for the hobbyist or budget musician to get any of those sounds. This instructable won't teach you how to
build one of those feature-rich, user friendly synths, but it will start you off with a very simple device that can be used with other units to create interesting and unique
sounds.

The following is the simplest and most fundamental piece of a synthesizer - an oscillator. This particular oscillator is a "Square Wave" oscillator, and has limited functions,
but can still be used every now and then for fun sounds.

Let's get started!

step 1: Gather Your Parts

The square wave oscillator is a rather simple device, so not much is needed to construct it. Most of these parts have some sort of alternative that can be found at
radioshack, but I prefer this website for all of my electronics projects:
http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/

If you can't find all of these on that website, I would also suggest digikey.

Here's a list of everything you'll need:

-Project Enclosure
-2x 500k? Potentiometers
-Radioshack Perfboard
-Resistors:
-1x 4.7k?
-5x 1k?
-2x 1M?
Capacitors
-1x 100µF
-1x .001µF
-LED, any color
-741 Op Amp
-1/4" Audio Jack
-9v Power Adapter Jack

You will also need a few tools:

-Drill Press
-Drill Bits of Varying Sizes
-Drill Bit Index
-Sharpie
-Breadboard
-Safety Goggles
-Soldering Iron
-Solder

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Square-Wave-Oscillator-Part-1-of-DIY-Mod/
 Image Notes
1. Drill Bits
2. Drill Bit Index
3. Safety Goggles

Image Notes
1. 2x 500kOhm Potentiometers
2. Simple Radioshack Perfboard
3. Project Enclosure
4. 741 Op Amp, can be purchased on digikey.com
5. 100 microF Capacitor
6. .001 microF Capacitor
7. LED, I used a blue one for mine, but it can be any color.
8. 2x 1MOhm Resistors
9. 4.7kOhm Resistor
10. 5x 1kOhm Resistors
11. I wrote breadboard, but it's actually a "perf" board.

Image Notes
1. 1/4" Jack
Image Notes
1. 9V Jack
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Square-Wave-Oscillator-Part-1-of-DIY-Mod/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Breadboard 1. Soldering Iron
2. Solder

step 2: Plan Your Layout

Now that you've got all the parts, you'll need to do a bit of planning to properly arrange all of the pieces inside the enclosure. Because the output 1/4" and 9v power jack
take up space within the enclosure, it is a good idea to both visualize and physically place the pieces within the box such that nothing is overlapping with anything else,
and that it will all fit nicely inside the closed project enclosure.

For this model of the oscillator, I placed the two jacks at the top, and the two potentiometers opposite from the jacks, as shown in the photo below.

With a sharpie, mark with either a dot or small "x" where you want the potentiometers and jacks to sit in the final product. These will be your guide when drilling holes in
the enclosure.

If you decide to arrange the jacks in a different manner than what I have here, be sure to take time with this step, otherwise you may end up having to drill more holes
than you want in your final product.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. 500 kOhm Potentiometers 1. Mark the points you want to drill
2. Perf Board
3. 1/4" Input Jack
4. 9v Power Jack

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Square-Wave-Oscillator-Part-1-of-DIY-Mod/
step 3: Drill Project Enclosure Holes
Next, we take the now marked enclosure to a shop that has a drill press. Before actually making any permanent punches, you need to determine what size these holes
need to be. In order to do this, we'll use the drill bit index.

To ascertain the correct sizing, take the piece that you're drilling the hole for, and strip it of all nuts and washers, so the thread is on the outside. Take the piece and find
the hole on the drill bit index that it fits into snugly. Make sure it's a snug (but not forced) fit. Once you figure out what size of drill bit to use, write down the size and its
corresponding component. Repeat this process for all of the components that will be mounted in the enclosure, which includes the 1/4" audio and 9v jacks, the LED, and
the two potentiometers.

Find all of the different size drill bits you'll need and head over to the drill press. Order of drilling doesn't really matter, so start with whichever hole you'd like.

Begin by securely clamping down the enclosure in the drill press's vice, as shown below. Next, place the desired size of drill bit in the "chuck" (the drill bit holder), and
tighten it down with the chuck wrench as shown. While powered off, lower the drill bit and adjust the location of the enclosure so the bit will drill through your marks. After
this, put your safety glasses on, turn the drill press on, lower, and drill! Repeat for all marks until you have a hole for the two potentiometers, both jacks, and the LED.

After you have an enclosure with all holes drilled, like shown below, test all of the sizes by placing all of the pieces in their respective spots.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. 1/4" jack in 3/8" drill hole. 1. The Chuck; place drill bit in here and then tighten (by rotating clockwise)
with the chuck wrench

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Secure enclosure in vice. 1. Final drilled enclosure
2. Move enclosure until drill bit is right over mark

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 Image Notes
1. Fitting all of the pieces; note that none of them are permanently placed, this is
just a test to make sure all of the holes were drilled to the correct sizes

step 4: Lay Out and Solder Circuit

This next step requires the most skill out of the others, namely the ability to read a schematic and the ability to solder. Both have an incredible amount of resources both
on and offline, so even if you aren't the most technically minded, you should be able to learn both incredibly quick.

Below is the schematic used for the square wave oscillator. If you're unfamiliar with schematics, it may look daunting, but take some time reading up on schematics and
you'll be able to put together this circuit rather easily.

If you've never soldered before, I would suggest testing out your skills on a couple of extra wires and components before you try your hand on your actual circuit.

Also, I would suggest getting a "Breadboard," which is a tool that allows you to lay out a circuit and test it before making anything permanent.

After you've assembled your circuit, you need to transfer it to the "Perf" Board to be permanently soldered on. Take your time with this step and make sure that all of the
connections are correct and that no excess wires are touching.

When you're ready, solder all of the points, and then cut all of the excess wire off. Shown below is the Perf Board, both soldered and unsoldered.

Image Notes
1. LED (The longer wire of theLED goes to the positive terminal of the 9V jack)
2. 4.7 kOhm Resistor
3. 2x 10KOhm Resistors
4. This symbol represents "Ground;" any time you see this symbol, just simply
connect the wire to the same point as all of the other wires that connect to ground.
5. 741 Op Amp. The numbers represent the pin numbers
6. 2x 10kOhm Resistors
7. .001 microF Capacitor
8. 500 kOhm Potentiometer. The arrow represents the center terminal. This is your
"Frequency" knob
9. 10 kOhm resistor
10. 1 MOhm Resistor
11. 500 kOhm potentiometer
12. 100 microF Capacitor
13. 1 MOhm Resistor
14. Audio Jack
15. 9V Jack

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 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Perf Board with all components on, unsoldered 1. Soldered Perf Board

step 5: Put Everything Together

Almost there! You have your circuit and your enclosure ready to go, now it's time to put it all together. After soldering the excess components (the jacks, LED, and
potentiometers), place all of them in their respective drilled holes and secure them with their washers and nuts. Gently place the perfboard in the enclosure and press to
make sure that it will all fit.

To prevent short circuiting, you will need to tape up the lid with some sort of non-conducting material. I chose duct tape.

After everything's secured, place the lid on the back of the open enclosure and secure it with the provided screws. Shown below is what it should look like after this. I had
a few extra knobs laying around, so I put those on the potentiometer posts.

Congratulations, you now have a square wave oscillator!

Image Notes Image Notes

1. All components secured to the enclosure 1. Duct tape to prevent short circuits

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Square-Wave-Oscillator-Part-1-of-DIY-Mod/
step 6: Decorate As Desired
Have fun with this step! Get some paint, sharpies, anything you can get your hands on and make your oscillator look fun and exciting!

For mine, I just drew a simple little design with black sharpie.

Image Notes
1. Super fun design.

step 7: Make Weird Noises

This oscillator works with any standard 9Volt wall adapter, commonly used for guitar pedals, shown in the pictures below. Simply plug it in to the 9V jack, take a standard
1/4" cable, plug it in to some speakers, and you're ready to make weird noises!

You've now opened a can of worms as far as electronic projects go, as there are countless other synthesizer modules that can be built: filters, envelopes, more complex
oscillator structures; the list goes on and on.

For some idea of what kind of sounds you can get out of this box, here's a video showing the unit in action:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Square-Wave-Oscillator-Part-1-of-DIY-Mod/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Final product, powered on and ready to go 1. Standard 9V wall adapter

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