Bruh. Amazing. You've basically made a $7,000 synth for $700. And you explained everything so well in just 20 minutes. This is UA-cam at it's finest. Well done. Very, very, very well done.
@@johnd7564 I assure you, if you are making a Moog clone for $700 you are definitely saving money and that's likely the main point. Of course the experience is cool too, but most people don't have $7,000 to spend on one synth. Let's be real.
@@oldowl4290 Fair enough! But I don't think he did it to save money, I think he did it to do something awesome. And to that I say, mission accomplished!
Speaking as an electronics engineer who used to design and build analogue synths and other music tech back in the 80s, I congratulate you on a first-class recreation of one of the all-time classic synths - it really DOES sound just like a real Minimoog, with that distinctive deep multi-oscillator bass (the so-called "Moog sound"). Kudos sir - you've earned my subscription to your channel and I look forward to seeing what else you come up with in the future.
Yes , young Man done fantastic project ! As a electronic Master turned to music , can You , maybe , tell me , will this synth will sound poor with 2 OS ?
For the temperature drift problem what other companies used to do was to use a matched pair of standard transistors in the long tailed circuit and have their flat sides back to back with thermal paste between them and a brass formed ring tightly pressed around the bodies to encapsulate their environment. I've also had another setup which was that a third transistor was put inbetween the matched pair in the long tail circuit and would be designed to run at a higher optimum temperature (a temperature oven) than the surrounding environment, thermal paste then used in the same way to give a good contact to all three transistors and once again a brass formed sleeve added.
This is by no means a small feat in the realm of the building process: patience and seeing it through. I own a 1972 Minimoog and feel your synthesizer is definitely in the same range. Great job and thank you for video.
There is a certain satisfaction with doing it yourself. We can buy new and we can buy used, but when you craft something with your own hands and use your sheer determination - you'll have something you can be proud of and it may inspire you in different ways! Well done Ryan!
Well done, Ryan! Your methods for matching resistors and transistors, designing the board layout in the case, and building a MIDI interface for your Minimoog clone are all brilliant. The end result looks and sounds amazing! I hope we see more content from you on UA-cam in the near future.
I mean, he copied the designs and the BOM and bought the PCBs ready made. Not so R&D when you're bragging about your masters degree in the intro. Nice video though.
@@graffie as a 26 yo electronic engineer who is working now in an audio company I have to tell you that copying an existing schematic and making it work like that is far from easy and not attractive for any musical instrument developing brand. And yes, he really has a bright future ahead of him if he wants. You can have the best grades, but if you don't have this kind of patience and passion they don't mean a thing. This is impressive, and nothing can be taken away from the work he has done. Also, copying is the most important thing to do when you start: you learn so many things and then, after years, you can think of doing your own thing. Imagine this guy in 20 years. There is no limit on what he can achieve
You literally have done what I always dreamed of doing. I’m an EE major hoping to learn more about electronics and make instruments from there. This video gives me hope that it is very possible given a lot of work and persistence! You have greatly inspired me brother! Absolutely brilliant!
Congratulations Ryan ! As a former electronic hobbyist I could imagine the hard work you had making it works. Your video took me back .. 42 years before today, when I built a small synthesizer in my student room. What a souvenir ! So I could really appreciate your hard work !
14:46 is like a 2001: Space Odyssey moment. Can't imagine your goosebumps when you hear these tones coming from something you built with your bare hands
when I was a teenager I stumbled upon a "synth" at a yard sale. It was an Ionic. It was beat up keys didn't effect the output and it was turned into a patch connect to make sounds. Three oscillators each having a triangle square and saw output then + - shape, freq. amp. I could trigger one in to another in to another and on and on. I came up with some sounds that nature would jump from. That was in the 70s when Moog was hitting the stores . This was already done in by some electric junky . I ended selling it at a swap meet . One thing I did to it was use a calculator key pad to feed the oscillators to trigger crossovers. This freed up the patch cord connects. Have fun with it keep the sound lower save your ears . I didn't think it mattered then but now I should have known better.
as a brand new synth addict and trainee electronic engineer, I wanted to build my own synth as a long term passion project, so I came to UA-cam to find a couple of pointers. This video is exceptional and turned a cool idea into a need. Can't wait to get started thank you so much! Instant subscription.
Awesome! Glad my video could be a source of inspiration. Trust me, it's very much worth it if synths are something you are passionate about. I spent months putting this project together before I even knew it was going to work, so it was crazy satisfying to hear those first sounds.
Excellent! I had a Moog Prodigy years ago and those sweeps and tones are like nothing else, but yours is even way better than that. Well impressed with your approach.
super impressive. As someone in their senior year of electrical engineering tech, i can recognize the hard work that goes into this. Just imagine how hard it was to come up with the first synths!
That build was a journey. 'Well done' is an understatement. You gathered all the right resources and brought the right tools to bear to build a first-rate synth. Best of luck with it!
Having built the Elektor Formant modular analog myself in the seventies, I can relate to the dual transistor bottleneck for exponential frequency control in the VCO. Kudos for finding a more avaiable replacement! Key component, period. Very thorough project planning and well documented and explained, no corners cut! Now pop a can and enjoy the fruits of your labour ;-)
Back in 1979 my first proper job was in a facility doing guitar repairs and builds. In the main workshop they carried out warranty repairs on Moogs and other keyboards and organs. One quiet Friday afternoon, the boys in the keyboard shop set up a Minimoog or Micromoog from the owners manual (if I remember correctly) to replicate a fighter jet passing over. Apparently it had been done by a guy at a demonstration during a music show. They hooked the keyboard up to a massive 250W bass amp they had for test and wound it fully up. When they set that thing off it was deafening in the guitar build room. I had no idea it was the keyboard shop mucking about, and was peering wide-eyed through the workshop windows to see what had to have been a Phantom jet at 60ft and flat out. It was utterly stunning.
OMG I'mma rebuild this in SMT and other modern parts holy crap unless we really want those tiny henrys that are in the axial leads for something or other lol Yes, I know - literally what Behrenger does...but I'm building mine in Oregon USA. Not China. Thank you YT and this guy for finding something very worthwhile to build and then rebuild. okay, I'll let the algorithm have this one because I had no idea why it would have suggested this particular synth build out of all the millions of synth build videos it could have chosen against the hundreds of other instrument build videos I've already consumed - but once I priced a minimoog (I'm not synth primary, actually a french horn player in my original training, so when you said $600 USD just for PCB components I had to check the actual price of the thing because that's a lot of components and probably a few special ones) I'm like "okay, this is even better than yet another clone of an out of print or stupid holy grail stomp box for a build". I was in technology development for over 25 years in industry (engineering technician) and am working on my second life (got crippled, lost everything, coming out the other side now) so as I learn about this industry domain's applications I am constantly both amused and horrified at the state of technical integration with modern processes and tools; how much most of it lags any other sector of industry I can imagine. The music and associated industries are so far off the curve, they literally named a product using trademarked names and Samsung and ARM both appeared to not even care that someone named a product "quad cortex" lol Thanks for making and publishing this....if you're going to spend 600 on components consider buying up to a low end Metcal or see if you can find a good price on JBC Tools unit used if you want the current best on the bench. You'll be able to build and rework stuff you never imagined. Also, if you are going to continue to do from scratch builds, you'll want to get a couple rolls of finer wire for PCB mods - I do not prefer kynar/mag wire as the only insulation is enamel coating, which is not designed to be durable - I prefer teflon or other high temp insulation types because once you touch an iron to the wire the insulation will run and vaporize off. Also get a bottle of super glue (cyanoacrilate) and also the accelerant and release for it as well, cheap and useful - make it go faster or remove it without damaging other stuff. If you inadvertently scratch the wrong bit of soldermask off or you need to cross something that's potentially an open circuit you need to have a roll of kapton/polyamide/mylar (depending on how old the person you're talking to is) tape handy to create insulation/isolation between what you're doing and the rest of the circuit. I've had to stub out large mods on a board and built them in SMT right on a piece of kapton tape. :-) Nice build...that's a hell of a lot of work man, you probably put in 20k worth of your level effort to get a 10k synth but that's the going conversion rate of Elbow Grease to USD. Sweat equity is *real* :-)
What an impressive accomplishment!! I've never heard a homemade synth sound better. And perfectly presented. Have you considered publishing the corrected circuit diagrams?
If youre referring to the corrected gerber files, then I put a link to the diagram of all of my corrections in the description. It shows which traces I cut and where I had to make bridges. I havent yet bothered to find out how to edit a gerber file directly to make the changes there, but if I do I will certainly link to them.
@@RyanBoggs Oh, that's awesome that you posted the info! Sorry I missed that before asking. I think you're going to inspire a lot of people to give it a shot. 🙏👍
@@Rompler_Rocco it would certainly be more ideal for people to have people fabricate PCBs based on correct gerbers rather than trying to correct the PCBs post-fab. If I can find a way to fix the gerbers then I will post an update to the description :)
Whenever start to think of myself as intelligent, I get on youtube and watch someone build their own synth. In about 10 minutes my humility is restored.
If it was a clone made for selling, yes, a comparison would be interesting. In this case though, I think this synth speaks for itself. It sounds amazing, and the video is testament to the hard work and craftsmanship that went into the project. I'm not sure two vintage minimoogs would even sound identical. They were hand-built too. They have lived different lives, exposed to different temperatures, humidity and use. Maybe they had repairs made to them, just like any vintage instrument. That is the charm of analog cirquits. I am a boat builder and furniture builder by trade. I can attest that a one-off build will always be unique, even if you follow the plans and drawings as closely as you can. This is why hand-made things are so beautiful, charming and yeah, expensive.
@@JH-lo9ut I have owned a 1970's vintage and a 2013 Voyager in my career, and they sound different from one another. The other 70's versions I compared to were similar but each with their own characteristics. This one has its own sound, as well. The one I am building from his links and video will also sound unique. I am looking forward to the results. Incidentally, I have an old Voyager case that will be the home of this project.
Excellent work Ryan, thanks for sharing your experience. I see lots of comments from people who are inspired but also maybe a bit daunted by the size of this endeavour. I just wanted to mention for those interested. There are kits available for Eurorack and other modular synth formats. I recommend starting with a complete kit, that comes with everything you need (board(s), electronic parts, hardware components, switches, jacks and faceplate). I think once you've been able to tackle the more complex kits and ran into issues and did your troubleshooting to get everything working (kits also tend to have great support communities). Then you could start looking at having your own custom boards made using the Gerber file, and source all the parts from every manufacturer and doing the full custom project Ryan was experienced enough to tackle.
Thanks for the comment! And yes, absolutely Eurorack would be a lot easier to start with. For this who want to get a good start with this kind of thing, includong learning the theory of it, I would recommend checking out Moritz Klein's channel.
@@RyanBoggs Totally agree. Moritz Klein's videos which introduce you to the electronics theory as you build your first oscillator circuits are excellent! As you can see from the comments on your vid, you did a great job too! Looking forward to your next videos, cheers!
This could be used as a training video for small project management. I am impressed with the planning, execution and troubleshooting that went into this build. As an aside, have you considered building effects into the synth? Reverb, modulation and echo can make a huge difference to the overall sound (although you can achieve the same with FX pedals).
That’s amazing! One of the best projects I’ve seen on UA-cam. I’m an old minimoog guy from the 70s and I just sold my minimoog two years ago, it’s nice to see the synth stay alive like this.
A truly admirable caliber of work devoted to this project, but yes, intensive it is! Many years (decades) ago, I designed and built "smaller" analog function modules, sort of like a homebrew eurorack type of setup, and patched them together, creating soundscapes to mystify the neighbors with. I remember all too well the vast amounts of time devoted to these. Now in my crusty old age, would rather devote vast amounts of time using existing hardware and DAWs, but I am intrigued by the amazing amount of effort you put into this. The original Reticon bucket delays, LM566 VCOs, even some Burr Brown analog function modules, and other such oddities were lurking about in those early primordial circuits.
Absolute genius! Must be immensely satisfying and fun to have completed such a project. I don't have the knowledge, skills or patience to do something like this, but I get so much enjoyment seeing other people such as yourself keeping the DIY thing alive. Great sounds. All the best from Rob in OZ.
Owning a vintage 1975 Minimoog myself and having had a look inside (to replace a few failing components due to age), I know how much work you have put into your clone! Excellent job! Thanks for sharing!
I love how thoroughly, thoughtfully, and clearly you documented and presented this, and your Minimoog looks and sounds amazing! This gave me a much deeper appreciation of analog synthesizers, and I already loved them in a major way.
Looks like a lot of work. I decided to just buy a reissue as soon as it came out, and I've never looked back. Good to know the repair resources are around. Thanks.
Really excellent work, dude. You are basically Studio Electronics circa 1987 or so! So far, it sounds spot on. You should find someone local with a Minimoog and shoot a comparison, or send that one to me and I'll do it!
You are a highly intelligent human bro. I watched it all the way through and I’m mind blown. I have a subsequent 37 and I can only begin to imagine the science beneath my fingers. Thank you
EXCELLENT BUILD! Beautiful sounds! That Shimmer Reverb is to die for. Thank you SO much for sharing. You've accomplished something I dreamed about 30 years ago but didn't have the resources you have available. Your presentation is concise, informative, insightful and YES, very inspiring. I look forward to hearing more from this lovely beast you've created.
Truly an impressive build. I'll give you a tip, as I did with see on my TB303 video, I made a front panel by having JLPC make me a PCB. That way you can easily do a screen printing and in your specific case also a wiring optimization, since you can make tracks. It would be a front panel that on one side has all the writings screen printed and on the other side of the tracks that can facilitate the wiring flush.
Thats a fantastic idea and something I could probably still have made and install! I will definitely look into doing that. Sounds easier than working with a local screen printing company help me print directly on the front panel.
Has to be the best home synth build video I've seen on UA-cam. I haven't the skills/knowledge/ability to even attempt this. I am fascinated by synths and the sounds they can make though. I would love to see you design and build your own creation in the future, a total original. I bet you have ideas on your own original synth or how a synth could be vastly improved. By the sounds off it, you can't help it, it's in your DNA. So, get to planning and let a polysynth be born. Great video. Good luck to you in all that you do. 👍👍👍
What an amazing analog synth build. Great work. It sounds absolutely amazing and it's so professional quality because of its oscillator stability. I could understand why you could play it all day! There is no sound quite like an analog synth sound. You've got a real gem! The best 20 minutes I've spent on UA-cam in a long time. 👏👍
I am wondering how the oscillators in the grandmother were implemented. It's likely they are very similar to the old moog circuits, but using modern components
The old moogs used more discrete transistor designs for the oscillator like this one. As integrated circuit tech improved, Moog started using ICs for their oscillators. This was one of the differences between the old oscillator design and the new one. The Grandmother more than likely uses ICs as well, but how it approaches temperature stabilization I am curious about myself. I am wondering if Moog has a large stock of uA726s or a similar chip on hand just for this purpose.
@@RyanBoggs Well, the CEM3340 chips have internal temperature compensation and so do most other oscillator chips. But I'm not sure what was used in the grandmother.
Smiled with genuine joy when you fixed the bugs! sounds awesome well done mate
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Nothing gives more pleasure than combining two interests into one! When soldering and putting things together, to what degree did you have a mental understanding of how the individual components would affect the final sound?
Mate, subscription WELL earned. You should be proud of what you have achieved. I've wanted to build a synth for 40+ years and never had the knowledge or resources to do so, love what you have done.
@@davidlovering6033 I'm not the OP, I was just amazed to bump into you in the comments for this build about four hours after I bumped into my original cassette copy of _Doolittle_ in a storage box I was moving around. Agreed that the OP's achievement here was absolutely incredible, and fascinating to concidentally learn that you've been an EE the whole time I've been a fan.
This was truly amazing Such dedication is a true inspiration for all of us. I'd love to hear you play this instrument a bit more! Kind regards from Denmark.
Very cool! Nice job producing the video also, you have a lot of details boiled down to a 20 minute overview. When I was in high school (73) I made a flanger with FET transistors in shop class and my instructor warned me about handling the FET's. I completed the project but it never worked as the FETs were bad. Seeing how you handled your components as you tested and paired them reminded me of my first failed attempt at a build. Lol, thank you. I enjoyed this.
I’m currently building the EMS Synthi Hi-Fli. Im matching jfets right now, after that I’ll be ready for standoffs and header pins. Can’t wait to get it done!
This stuff is so easy to do with digital circuits, or just code on a computer. It's hard to understand why you'd want to build an analog one, until you do it. There's something magical about creating sound from analog parts.
Is that basically how Look Mum No Computer builds most/all of his wall of modular; with digital controllers (Arduino and the like?) I mean, his stuff sounds wonderful, especially with his musical chops, and it’s hard to tell the difference with bread and butter sounds, but you can really appreciate the quality the authentic analog imparts when he pushes it with extreme modulation. That sonic chaos and uncertainty is hard to fully replicate with 1s and 0s; plus the analog filters just seem warmer and more rounded.
I can't get this out of my head. The meticulous and careful planning throughout the process is inspiring and I'm so happy it paid off for you! This is a seriously massive project and I'm SOOO impressed (and maybe a touch jealous)! I don't think I have it in me to take this particular project on, but I learned a bunch about tracking info from you that I will definitely take into my next projects. Thank you again!
Thank you for sharing this project with us and being so transparent about the process. I'm a 3rd year EE major hoping to carve out my own path in audio/music hardware and software. This project is what I now plan on doing in my free time during my next co-op semester in the spring. I also play a lot of shows in my University's local scene so I can't wait to be able to pull up to gigs with a humble looking but deadly sounding homemade synth!
17:55 Me too! I can play with this all day. You should post your findings and corrections on electronic forums for future generations. You are now an important asset in this industry.
Hey Ryan, amazing video! As a designer that’s both into UX and synthesis, my dream is to build a synth that’s both as good sounding as the Moog as being user-friendly to people not familiar with the principles of sound design and (in this case) subtractive synthesis. You showed me that synthesiser design is a craft of its own that’s undoable without advanced knowledge on electrical engineering (if going analogue). It would be amazing to pull this off as a DIY project, but knowing you feel confident on doing this after a Master’s degree says enough about how complex this project really is. Thanks for showing your general process. A lot of people do not realise the sheer amount of work that goes into researching and prototyping machines like these. They expect it’s easy to pull of synths like this with 5 more voices in polyphony as if it’s peanuts, but there’s a lot of brain power going into these designs to make this work in a stable and sustainable way!
Awesome to see you here! There were times where I had to listen to a lot of analog synth performances to inspire and motivate myself to keep going with this project. A few of your performances were part of that list :)
Ryan, you’ve done and amazing job! This is an outstanding video as well!very inspiring! On my channel, I build step sequencers. Thanks to you mention of Circuit Specialists, I have a new place to shop for enclosures, which has been a real headache.
Transistors, capasiters and diodes are the key elements to controlling the frequency and wave modulation that creates the sound. Everything a electrician does can be dirrectly translated into sound synthesis.
This is the first time in my 63 years that I feel dumb! You tech guys blow my mind. My shop tech for 2 years was 16 then he left for college. He was like you!
yes i think i will have to give this a go. i wouldnt mind having a v2 of the oscillator board with your fixes in it for everyone to enjoy in the future.
I need to watch this later. But it's everything I ever wanted to know. I played so many Minimoogs. Saw Bob Moog at a seminar in Toronto. I'm smart with music. Dang I wish I had your electronics smarts!!
Nice- the “whatever this is” tones and some of the glitchy ones really show some depth that seems “thicker” sounding than a lot of diy synths I hear. Really awesome job!
Super awesome. I’m starting the same adventure but with no experience or academia. I do have 18 years of dj’ing and producing under my belt. I can turn sound design inside out on any synth. Going to share this video where ever I can
Sir, I congratulate you not just for achieving the build of a minimoog, but also for being able to speak into a camera without repeatedly cutting in different shots that makes you look like a glitching Vanelope
Your video motivated me to actually built one myself! With a prefab euro-rack PCB-board though. Wiring the pots and switches seems to quite a pain. Really great work and inspiring video! Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Ryan. Very nice synth build and sounds lovely and fat well done sir! Also very nice video with good sound. Thanks for sharing your work. Incase you are interested there is a CA3046 copy of the UA726 on mod wiggler on a small circuit board - foil design for etching provided. The copy uses a transistor to heat the 3046 trans pair for stability same as 726.
I saw that uA726 "clone"! It is certainly an interesting work around, and I had considered trying to implement my own version of that. However, I've determined that, for my purposes, I am not needing the extra tuning stability so much. If I were to do some sort of live show with it, then I would probably add that feature. For studio recording and just jamming around with it, it isnt so bad.
Bruh. Amazing. You've basically made a $7,000 synth for $700. And you explained everything so well in just 20 minutes. This is UA-cam at it's finest. Well done. Very, very, very well done.
For $700 Behringer made the Poly D with paraphonic voicing.
Today, $7,000 gets you a Moog One. ;)
You don't make your own synth to save money, you do it to learn and to revel in making something yourself.
@@johnd7564 I assure you, if you are making a Moog clone for $700 you are definitely saving money and that's likely the main point. Of course the experience is cool too, but most people don't have $7,000 to spend on one synth. Let's be real.
@@oldowl4290 Fair enough! But I don't think he did it to save money, I think he did it to do something awesome. And to that I say, mission accomplished!
😃
but we shall not forget that the $700 are only for the HW/expedition cost, the labor time (weeks) hasn't been counted here... 😉
Speaking as an electronics engineer who used to design and build analogue synths and other music tech back in the 80s, I congratulate you on a first-class recreation of one of the all-time classic synths - it really DOES sound just like a real Minimoog, with that distinctive deep multi-oscillator bass (the so-called "Moog sound"). Kudos sir - you've earned my subscription to your channel and I look forward to seeing what else you come up with in the future.
What did you work on?
Yes , young Man done fantastic project ! As a electronic Master turned to music , can You , maybe , tell me , will this synth will sound poor with 2 OS ?
Yo dude this is sick! The analogue sounds are awesome. I admire your intelligence and perseverance to take on a project like this. Well done!
Thank you so much!
Hear hear
For the temperature drift problem what other companies used to do was to use a matched pair of standard transistors in the long tailed circuit and have their flat sides back to back with thermal paste between them and a brass formed ring tightly pressed around the bodies to encapsulate their environment. I've also had another setup which was that a third transistor was put inbetween the matched pair in the long tail circuit and would be designed to run at a higher optimum temperature (a temperature oven) than the surrounding environment, thermal paste then used in the same way to give a good contact to all three transistors and once again a brass formed sleeve added.
This is a really cool video. Thanks for sharing.
Yooo
Red means recording, if you forgot
T E R R I F I C
When people ask why I pay so much for gear I will refer them to this video. The work you did is amazing!!!
facts. Quality is worth paying for. it really is that simple. i know we're thankful that people like Mr. Boggs here still believes in it as well
This is by no means a small feat in the realm of the building process: patience and seeing it through. I own a 1972 Minimoog and feel your synthesizer is definitely in the same range. Great job and thank you for video.
There is a certain satisfaction with doing it yourself. We can buy new and we can buy used, but when you craft something with your own hands and use your sheer determination - you'll have something you can be proud of and it may inspire you in different ways! Well done Ryan!
Well done, Ryan! Your methods for matching resistors and transistors, designing the board layout in the case, and building a MIDI interface for your Minimoog clone are all brilliant. The end result looks and sounds amazing! I hope we see more content from you on UA-cam in the near future.
You have an incredible future designing synthesizers, if you choose… Immense respect for you
I mean, he copied the designs and the BOM and bought the PCBs ready made. Not so R&D when you're bragging about your masters degree in the intro.
Nice video though.
@@graffie as a 26 yo electronic engineer who is working now in an audio company I have to tell you that copying an existing schematic and making it work like that is far from easy and not attractive for any musical instrument developing brand. And yes, he really has a bright future ahead of him if he wants. You can have the best grades, but if you don't have this kind of patience and passion they don't mean a thing. This is impressive, and nothing can be taken away from the work he has done. Also, copying is the most important thing to do when you start: you learn so many things and then, after years, you can think of doing your own thing. Imagine this guy in 20 years. There is no limit on what he can achieve
When the love for electronics and music collide, magic happens. Congrats! Very inspiring.
I love a ‘because I wanted to’ project. So much fun just making noises and what noises they are!
You literally have done what I always dreamed of doing. I’m an EE major hoping to learn more about electronics and make instruments from there. This video gives me hope that it is very possible given a lot of work and persistence! You have greatly inspired me brother! Absolutely brilliant!
Congratulations Ryan ! As a former electronic hobbyist I could imagine the hard work you had making it works. Your video took me back .. 42 years before today, when I built a small synthesizer in my student room. What a souvenir ! So I could really appreciate your hard work !
Wow you are the man! Bob Moog and Keith Emerson would have been totally proud of you for carrying out such an endeavor. Best Wishes
I saw Emerson, Lake and Palmer live at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. Totally awesome performance.
I reckon Rick Wakeman would be impressed too!
14:46 is like a 2001: Space Odyssey moment. Can't imagine your goosebumps when you hear these tones coming from something you built with your bare hands
Sounded more like Teenage Wasteland to me, just waiting for Entwistle's bass to kick in.
Wow. Each chapter could have been an entire impressive video. I am just blown away at the scope of the project. Good work! Your work is terrific.
when I was a teenager I stumbled upon a "synth" at a yard sale.
It was an Ionic.
It was beat up keys didn't effect the output and it was turned into a patch connect to make sounds.
Three oscillators each having a triangle square and saw output then + - shape, freq. amp.
I could trigger one in to another in to another and on and on.
I came up with some sounds that nature would jump from.
That was in the 70s when Moog was hitting the stores .
This was already done in by some electric junky .
I ended selling it at a swap meet .
One thing I did to it was use a calculator key pad to feed the oscillators to trigger crossovers.
This freed up the patch cord connects.
Have fun with it keep the sound lower save your ears .
I didn't think it mattered then but now I should have known better.
12:45 The satisfaction you must have felt hearing the machine making the sounds a synth should, Great work.
as a brand new synth addict and trainee electronic engineer, I wanted to build my own synth as a long term passion project, so I came to UA-cam to find a couple of pointers. This video is exceptional and turned a cool idea into a need. Can't wait to get started thank you so much! Instant subscription.
Awesome! Glad my video could be a source of inspiration. Trust me, it's very much worth it if synths are something you are passionate about. I spent months putting this project together before I even knew it was going to work, so it was crazy satisfying to hear those first sounds.
And good luck on building a synth of your own. If you ever have any questions about a project, feel free to reach out to me. 😀
You turned your theoretical into practical. Bravo. Not as typical as one would think.
Excellent! I had a Moog Prodigy years ago and those sweeps and tones are like nothing else, but yours is even way better than that. Well impressed with your approach.
Ryan, congratulation. Your instrument sounds incredible. Thank you for taking the time out to share your journey in creating art.
Great work! I've done a few diy kits, and modded some mics, but this is awesome! May it bring you endless joy.
super impressive. As someone in their senior year of electrical engineering tech, i can recognize the hard work that goes into this. Just imagine how hard it was to come up with the first synths!
That build was a journey. 'Well done' is an understatement. You gathered all the right resources and brought the right tools to bear to build a first-rate synth. Best of luck with it!
Having built the Elektor Formant modular analog myself in the seventies, I can relate to the dual transistor bottleneck for exponential frequency control in the VCO.
Kudos for finding a more avaiable replacement! Key component, period.
Very thorough project planning and well documented and explained, no corners cut!
Now pop a can and enjoy the fruits of your labour ;-)
Hé Roberto! Was just thinking about to share this with you...! Henkus
Back in 1979 my first proper job was in a facility doing guitar repairs and builds. In the main workshop they carried out warranty repairs on Moogs and other keyboards and organs. One quiet Friday afternoon, the boys in the keyboard shop set up a Minimoog or Micromoog from the owners manual (if I remember correctly) to replicate a fighter jet passing over. Apparently it had been done by a guy at a demonstration during a music show. They hooked the keyboard up to a massive 250W bass amp they had for test and wound it fully up.
When they set that thing off it was deafening in the guitar build room. I had no idea it was the keyboard shop mucking about, and was peering wide-eyed through the workshop windows to see what had to have been a Phantom jet at 60ft and flat out. It was utterly stunning.
This brings me back from when I worked for Moog in Highschool as an intern. Wiring one of the sequencers took the better part of a week to do.
OMG I'mma rebuild this in SMT and other modern parts holy crap unless we really want those tiny henrys that are in the axial leads for something or other lol
Yes, I know - literally what Behrenger does...but I'm building mine in Oregon USA. Not China.
Thank you YT and this guy for finding something very worthwhile to build and then rebuild.
okay, I'll let the algorithm have this one because I had no idea why it would have suggested this particular synth build out of all the millions of synth build videos it could have chosen against the hundreds of other instrument build videos I've already consumed - but once I priced a minimoog (I'm not synth primary, actually a french horn player in my original training, so when you said $600 USD just for PCB components I had to check the actual price of the thing because that's a lot of components and probably a few special ones) I'm like "okay, this is even better than yet another clone of an out of print or stupid holy grail stomp box for a build".
I was in technology development for over 25 years in industry (engineering technician) and am working on my second life (got crippled, lost everything, coming out the other side now) so as I learn about this industry domain's applications I am constantly both amused and horrified at the state of technical integration with modern processes and tools; how much most of it lags any other sector of industry I can imagine.
The music and associated industries are so far off the curve, they literally named a product using trademarked names and Samsung and ARM both appeared to not even care that someone named a product "quad cortex" lol
Thanks for making and publishing this....if you're going to spend 600 on components consider buying up to a low end Metcal or see if you can find a good price on JBC Tools unit used if you want the current best on the bench. You'll be able to build and rework stuff you never imagined.
Also, if you are going to continue to do from scratch builds, you'll want to get a couple rolls of finer wire for PCB mods - I do not prefer kynar/mag wire as the only insulation is enamel coating, which is not designed to be durable - I prefer teflon or other high temp insulation types because once you touch an iron to the wire the insulation will run and vaporize off. Also get a bottle of super glue (cyanoacrilate) and also the accelerant and release for it as well, cheap and useful - make it go faster or remove it without damaging other stuff. If you inadvertently scratch the wrong bit of soldermask off or you need to cross something that's potentially an open circuit you need to have a roll of kapton/polyamide/mylar (depending on how old the person you're talking to is) tape handy to create insulation/isolation between what you're doing and the rest of the circuit. I've had to stub out large mods on a board and built them in SMT right on a piece of kapton tape. :-)
Nice build...that's a hell of a lot of work man, you probably put in 20k worth of your level effort to get a 10k synth but that's the going conversion rate of Elbow Grease to USD.
Sweat equity is *real* :-)
What an impressive accomplishment!! I've never heard a homemade synth sound better. And perfectly presented. Have you considered publishing the corrected circuit diagrams?
If youre referring to the corrected gerber files, then I put a link to the diagram of all of my corrections in the description. It shows which traces I cut and where I had to make bridges. I havent yet bothered to find out how to edit a gerber file directly to make the changes there, but if I do I will certainly link to them.
@@RyanBoggs Oh, that's awesome that you posted the info! Sorry I missed that before asking. I think you're going to inspire a lot of people to give it a shot. 🙏👍
@@Rompler_Rocco it would certainly be more ideal for people to have people fabricate PCBs based on correct gerbers rather than trying to correct the PCBs post-fab. If I can find a way to fix the gerbers then I will post an update to the description :)
@@RyanBoggs Just find someone who knows how to edit the gerbers. Great video and work.
@@RyanBoggs have you managed to update them yet?
Whenever start to think of myself as intelligent, I get on youtube and watch someone build their own synth. In about 10 minutes my humility is restored.
This is nuts. A side-by-side to an actual Minimoog would be amazing.
That detuned 5th patch sounds right on the money to me!
If it was a clone made for selling, yes, a comparison would be interesting.
In this case though, I think this synth speaks for itself. It sounds amazing, and the video is testament to the hard work and craftsmanship that went into the project.
I'm not sure two vintage minimoogs would even sound identical. They were hand-built too. They have lived different lives, exposed to different temperatures, humidity and use. Maybe they had repairs made to them, just like any vintage instrument.
That is the charm of analog cirquits.
I am a boat builder and furniture builder by trade. I can attest that a one-off build will always be unique, even if you follow the plans and drawings as closely as you can. This is why hand-made things are so beautiful, charming and yeah, expensive.
@@JH-lo9ut I have owned a 1970's vintage and a 2013 Voyager in my career, and they sound different from one another. The other 70's versions I compared to were similar but each with their own characteristics. This one has its own sound, as well. The one I am building from his links and video will also sound unique. I am looking forward to the results. Incidentally, I have an old Voyager case that will be the home of this project.
Excellent work Ryan, thanks for sharing your experience. I see lots of comments from people who are inspired but also maybe a bit daunted by the size of this endeavour. I just wanted to mention for those interested. There are kits available for Eurorack and other modular synth formats. I recommend starting with a complete kit, that comes with everything you need (board(s), electronic parts, hardware components, switches, jacks and faceplate). I think once you've been able to tackle the more complex kits and ran into issues and did your troubleshooting to get everything working (kits also tend to have great support communities). Then you could start looking at having your own custom boards made using the Gerber file, and source all the parts from every manufacturer and doing the full custom project Ryan was experienced enough to tackle.
Thanks for the comment! And yes, absolutely Eurorack would be a lot easier to start with. For this who want to get a good start with this kind of thing, includong learning the theory of it, I would recommend checking out Moritz Klein's channel.
@@RyanBoggs Totally agree. Moritz Klein's videos which introduce you to the electronics theory as you build your first oscillator circuits are excellent! As you can see from the comments on your vid, you did a great job too! Looking forward to your next videos, cheers!
This could be used as a training video for small project management. I am impressed with the planning, execution and troubleshooting that went into this build. As an aside, have you considered building effects into the synth? Reverb, modulation and echo can make a huge difference to the overall sound (although you can achieve the same with FX pedals).
I think I would personally go modular with custom built effects rather than build it in.
That’s amazing! One of the best projects I’ve seen on UA-cam. I’m an old minimoog guy from the 70s and I just sold my minimoog two years ago, it’s nice to see the synth stay alive like this.
You must be feeling pretty dang awesome right now, that sounded amazing, thanks for sharing this.
A truly admirable caliber of work devoted to this project, but yes, intensive it is! Many years (decades) ago, I designed and built "smaller" analog function modules, sort of like a homebrew eurorack type of setup, and patched them together, creating soundscapes to mystify the neighbors with. I remember all too well the vast amounts of time devoted to these. Now in my crusty old age, would rather devote vast amounts of time using existing hardware and DAWs, but I am intrigued by the amazing amount of effort you put into this.
The original Reticon bucket delays, LM566 VCOs, even some Burr Brown analog function modules, and other such oddities were lurking about in those early primordial circuits.
Absolute genius!
Must be immensely satisfying and fun to have completed such a project.
I don't have the knowledge, skills or patience to do something like this, but I get so much enjoyment seeing other people such as yourself keeping the DIY thing alive.
Great sounds.
All the best from Rob in OZ.
Owning a vintage 1975 Minimoog myself and having had a look inside (to replace a few failing components due to age), I know how much work you have put into your clone! Excellent job! Thanks for sharing!
I love how thoroughly, thoughtfully, and clearly you documented and presented this, and your Minimoog looks and sounds amazing! This gave me a much deeper appreciation of analog synthesizers, and I already loved them in a major way.
I’ve been waiting for someone to make this video… thank you!
I do dabble in small electronic projects but this was a Mountain to climb and you did it Well Done Ryan Well Done 👌
I Admire your level of thinking and that you share your projects in this platform, cheers from Chile 🇨🇱
18:34 so what you’re saying is you’re gonna try tackling an ARP Odyssey DIY build next, right?
Looks like a lot of work. I decided to just buy a reissue as soon as it came out, and I've never looked back. Good to know the repair resources are around. Thanks.
Really excellent work, dude. You are basically Studio Electronics circa 1987 or so! So far, it sounds spot on. You should find someone local with a Minimoog and shoot a comparison, or send that one to me and I'll do it!
Noooooooooooo madman you send your's 😁 ..... Well done Ryan really happy you got from Zero to Hero 👍😎
You are a highly intelligent human bro. I watched it all the way through and I’m mind blown. I have a subsequent 37 and I can only begin to imagine the science beneath my fingers. Thank you
This is so cool! Definitely a challenging project but you nailed it. Can’t wait to see it
EXCELLENT BUILD! Beautiful sounds! That Shimmer Reverb is to die for. Thank you SO much for sharing. You've accomplished something I dreamed about 30 years ago but didn't have the resources you have available. Your presentation is concise, informative, insightful and YES, very inspiring. I look forward to hearing more from this lovely beast you've created.
Truly an impressive build. I'll give you a tip, as I did with see on my TB303 video, I made a front panel by having JLPC make me a PCB.
That way you can easily do a screen printing and in your specific case also a wiring optimization, since you can make tracks. It would be a front panel that on one side has all the writings screen printed and on the other side of the tracks that can facilitate the wiring flush.
Thats a fantastic idea and something I could probably still have made and install! I will definitely look into doing that. Sounds easier than working with a local screen printing company help me print directly on the front panel.
I had no idea what the components details were about but I'm damn sure your dedication to music is off the roof!
Has to be the best home synth build video I've seen on UA-cam. I haven't the skills/knowledge/ability to even attempt this. I am fascinated by synths and the sounds they can make though. I would love to see you design and build your own creation in the future, a total original.
I bet you have ideas on your own original synth or how a synth could be vastly improved. By the sounds off it, you can't help it, it's in your DNA. So, get to planning and let a polysynth be born.
Great video. Good luck to you in all that you do. 👍👍👍
What an amazing analog synth build. Great work. It sounds absolutely amazing and it's so professional quality because of its oscillator stability. I could understand why you could play it all day! There is no sound quite like an analog synth sound. You've got a real gem! The best 20 minutes I've spent on UA-cam in a long time. 👏👍
I am wondering how the oscillators in the grandmother were implemented. It's likely they are very similar to the old moog circuits, but using modern components
The old moogs used more discrete transistor designs for the oscillator like this one. As integrated circuit tech improved, Moog started using ICs for their oscillators. This was one of the differences between the old oscillator design and the new one. The Grandmother more than likely uses ICs as well, but how it approaches temperature stabilization I am curious about myself. I am wondering if Moog has a large stock of uA726s or a similar chip on hand just for this purpose.
@@RyanBoggs Well, the CEM3340 chips have internal temperature compensation and so do most other oscillator chips. But I'm not sure what was used in the grandmother.
Smiled with genuine joy when you fixed the bugs! sounds awesome well done mate
Nothing gives more pleasure than combining two interests into one!
When soldering and putting things together, to what degree did you have a mental understanding of how the individual components would affect the final sound?
Mate, subscription WELL earned. You should be proud of what you have achieved. I've wanted to build a synth for 40+ years and never had the knowledge or resources to do so, love what you have done.
Wow, what an incredible accomplishment! You seem like someone who can do anything they put their mind to!
Wow. Last time I searched I only found one or two moog builds. You're a pioneer
Fantastic job. As an EE and a synthesist I’m envious. Sounds great.
Hi. *The* David Lovering?
Yes. Got more synths than drums. Job well done again.
@@davidlovering6033 I'm not the OP, I was just amazed to bump into you in the comments for this build about four hours after I bumped into my original cassette copy of _Doolittle_ in a storage box I was moving around. Agreed that the OP's achievement here was absolutely incredible, and fascinating to concidentally learn that you've been an EE the whole time I've been a fan.
I love the sound with reverb at the end. Yes a big project. You did well to have a small number of faults.
This was truly amazing Such dedication is a true inspiration for all of us. I'd love to hear you play this instrument a bit more! Kind regards from Denmark.
Very cool! Nice job producing the video also, you have a lot of details boiled down to a 20 minute overview. When I was in high school (73) I made a flanger with FET transistors in shop class and my instructor warned me about handling the FET's. I completed the project but it never worked as the FETs were bad. Seeing how you handled your components as you tested and paired them reminded me of my first failed attempt at a build. Lol, thank you. I enjoyed this.
That Nerd Kit you got when younger is really paying off now...lol...Great job man!!
Nerd kit!?! LOL
I’m currently building the EMS Synthi Hi-Fli.
Im matching jfets right now, after that I’ll be ready for standoffs and header pins. Can’t wait to get it done!
This stuff is so easy to do with digital circuits, or just code on a computer. It's hard to understand why you'd want to build an analog one, until you do it. There's something magical about creating sound from analog parts.
"just code"
@@Nuke_Skywalker ?
@@Nuke_Skywalker if you mean that coding isn't easy.. that's true. I guess I was just speaking comparatively.
Is that basically how Look Mum No Computer builds most/all of his wall of modular; with digital controllers (Arduino and the like?) I mean, his stuff sounds wonderful, especially with his musical chops, and it’s hard to tell the difference with bread and butter sounds, but you can really appreciate the quality the authentic analog imparts when he pushes it with extreme modulation. That sonic chaos and uncertainty is hard to fully replicate with 1s and 0s; plus the analog filters just seem warmer and more rounded.
I can't get this out of my head. The meticulous and careful planning throughout the process is inspiring and I'm so happy it paid off for you! This is a seriously massive project and I'm SOOO impressed (and maybe a touch jealous)! I don't think I have it in me to take this particular project on, but I learned a bunch about tracking info from you that I will definitely take into my next projects. Thank you again!
This is so cool! Sounds absolutely incredible and I enjoyed watching the process! Can’t wait to see more of your videos.
Thank you for sharing this project with us and being so transparent about the process. I'm a 3rd year EE major hoping to carve out my own path in audio/music hardware and software. This project is what I now plan on doing in my free time during my next co-op semester in the spring. I also play a lot of shows in my University's local scene so I can't wait to be able to pull up to gigs with a humble looking but deadly sounding homemade synth!
Holy cow. That looks and sounds absolutely perfect! (Well, apart from the initial avant garde piece it decided to play 🤣)
17:55 Me too! I can play with this all day. You should post your findings and corrections on electronic forums for future generations. You are now an important asset in this industry.
Great stuff! I'd love to do something just like this, I'm always after another project.
Hey Ryan, amazing video! As a designer that’s both into UX and synthesis, my dream is to build a synth that’s both as good sounding as the Moog as being user-friendly to people not familiar with the principles of sound design and (in this case) subtractive synthesis. You showed me that synthesiser design is a craft of its own that’s undoable without advanced knowledge on electrical engineering (if going analogue). It would be amazing to pull this off as a DIY project, but knowing you feel confident on doing this after a Master’s degree says enough about how complex this project really is. Thanks for showing your general process. A lot of people do not realise the sheer amount of work that goes into researching and prototyping machines like these. They expect it’s easy to pull of synths like this with 5 more voices in polyphony as if it’s peanuts, but there’s a lot of brain power going into these designs to make this work in a stable and sustainable way!
Really cool! Nice job!
Awesome to see you here! There were times where I had to listen to a lot of analog synth performances to inspire and motivate myself to keep going with this project. A few of your performances were part of that list :)
this is amizing. This is one of the coolest thing I see on internet in a while.
Ryan, you’ve done and amazing job! This is an outstanding video as well!very inspiring! On my channel, I build step sequencers. Thanks to you mention of Circuit Specialists, I have a new place to shop for enclosures, which has been a real headache.
You definitely deserve a million views bro
This was bad ass. Now time for a Fender Reverb tank clone!
this is amazing! I'm sure you will enjoy this project for decades to come :)
Transistors, capasiters and diodes are the key elements to controlling the frequency and wave modulation that creates the sound. Everything a electrician does can be dirrectly translated into sound synthesis.
Ive no idea what you were doing, but i carefully listened and watched. Well done
Respect for finishing this project so well and thank you for the ELE tips. I never thought to highlight the wiring diagram
This is the first time in my 63 years that I feel dumb! You tech guys blow my mind. My shop tech for 2 years was 16 then he left for college. He was like you!
yes i think i will have to give this a go. i wouldnt mind having a v2 of the oscillator board with your fixes in it for everyone to enjoy in the future.
I need to watch this later. But it's everything I ever wanted to know. I played so many Minimoogs. Saw Bob Moog at a seminar in Toronto. I'm smart with music. Dang I wish I had your electronics smarts!!
your pragmatic and orderly approach is poetry and satisfying to my OCD - bravo on your project
Pretty meaty sounding, nice DIY build. And thanks for the shout out.
I wish I had half the talent and skills you put in the making of your Miniboggs. Congrats from Barcelona!
The sound is unbelievable.
Nice- the “whatever this is” tones and some of the glitchy ones really show some depth that seems “thicker” sounding than a lot of diy synths I hear. Really awesome job!
Super awesome. I’m starting the same adventure but with no experience or academia. I do have 18 years of dj’ing and producing under my belt. I can turn sound design inside out on any synth. Going to share this video where ever I can
And that, people, is why good synthesizers are expensive! Really, really awesome synth, building process, and video!
I have no clue about synthesizers, I am musically challenged and I still enjoyed your video! Great job, big fun to watch! Keep up the good work!
Sir, I congratulate you not just for achieving the build of a minimoog, but also for being able to speak into a camera without repeatedly cutting in different shots that makes you look like a glitching Vanelope
Pity we can't just buy this in kit form. Great job Ryan.
you're the lord of perseverance and sound synthesis
Your video motivated me to actually built one myself! With a prefab euro-rack PCB-board though. Wiring the pots and switches seems to quite a pain. Really great work and inspiring video! Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Ryan. Very nice synth build and sounds lovely and fat well done sir! Also very nice video with good sound. Thanks for sharing your work. Incase you are interested there is a CA3046 copy of the UA726 on mod wiggler on a small circuit board - foil design for etching provided. The copy uses a transistor to heat the 3046 trans pair for stability same as 726.
I saw that uA726 "clone"! It is certainly an interesting work around, and I had considered trying to implement my own version of that. However, I've determined that, for my purposes, I am not needing the extra tuning stability so much. If I were to do some sort of live show with it, then I would probably add that feature. For studio recording and just jamming around with it, it isnt so bad.