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Synth hacking?

Inside a synth / electronic keyboard there must be a point where all of the keys are wired to before the sound is put through the chosen effect or patch. If I was to solder a jack plug to this point and plugged in a guitar, would the signal from the guitar be shaped by the synth or would it end up failing?

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Permalink Reply by Roosterman on March 4, 2012 at 11:24am

I have absolutely no idea, but your thinking makes sense to me. Try it and let us know what happens :o)

Permalink Reply by smojo on March 5, 2012 at 2:00am

Basically - no. On modern synths/keyboards, the sound effects are created in a chip which is controlled digitally by voltages or ground potential being applied to certain pins on it when keys/buttons are pressed. A guitar signal is analogue so would not trigger the chip.

Permalink Reply by robert jones on March 5, 2012 at 3:34am

If your synth has an input you might be able to use an A/D audio interface unit.

You also might want to check out the Korg Monotron. It's a pocket sized analog synth that retails for about $60 US.

The schematics are available from Korg and there is a pretty good bit of info floating around on how to hack it.

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on March 5, 2012 at 8:53pm

Smojo - if i was to put a preamp or a digital pedal in chain before the synth would that sort out the problems you highlighted? I have had a trusty Zoom G2 for a couple of years that has done well, but I really want to make my own thing.

Permalink Reply by Mark on March 7, 2012 at 6:26am

No...for multiple reasons, which I just can't raise the willpower to explain at length.

If you want to build your own effects then there are some good sites with info eg.

www.beavisaudio.com

www.runoffgroove.com

If you want to hack around with synths then there are also resources on the web - in particular read up about circuit bending. But that tends to be a way of making weird and wacky noises rather than a way to build effects units. Try looking at:

www.circuitbenders.co.uk

or www.anti-theory.com/soundart/circuitbend/cb01.html

And remember the golden rule for beginners, which is: Only mess around with battery powered stuff, NEVER mess around with something that has a mains lead going into it.

If you want to feed a guitar through a synth then there are a few out there which are designed to take external inputs alongside the sound from their internal oscillators. I believe the Korg Monotron (as previously suggested) is one such machine with an audio jack input. Quite a few old analogue synths had that kind of arrangement but they fetch silly money now, whereas the Korg is about £30. There's also the Monotron Duo and Monotron Delay which have extra features that give you additional effects potential. You probably won't have the range of weirdness that Brian Eno got when feeding Phil Manzanera's guitar through a VCS3 but it looks like there's potential for fun.

Permalink Reply by steve chunk hales on March 7, 2012 at 9:21am

hello,my mate has just given me a G2 but no manual, any ideas where i might get one? i have no idea what any of it does. tried their website to see if i could get a pdf but couldn't see one.

Permalink Reply by David L. on March 7, 2012 at 10:22am