Designing a simple ADSR(-ish) envelope generator from scratch
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- Опубліковано 23 лип 2024
- Support the channel: / moritzklein
Working simulation on falstad: tinyurl.com/yz5z97jg
In this video, I'll walk you through the process of designing a super simple ADSR(-ish) envelope generator from scratch. After VCO and VCF, this is one of the fundamental building blocks for any modular synthesizer.
If you are a complete beginner and need help understanding some of the basic concepts, here's a list of links:
Using a breadboard: • Complete beginner's gu...
Op amp fundamentals: • DIY SYNTH VCF Part 2: ...
Comparator close-up: • Adding voltage control...
Analog filtering basics: • DIY SYNTH VCF Part 1: ...
And if you want to build along, here are the parts you'll need:
1x TL074
3x 100k resistor
1x 47k resistor
1x 10k resistor
1x 1k resistor
1x 100k linear mono potentiometer
2x 1M log mono potentiometer (linear works too, i'm using them in the video, log is better though cause it allows for finer control)
2x 1uF foil/film capacitor
5x 1N4148 diode
Optional:
1x LED
1x 2k resistor
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:44 Passive A/R Envelope
10:45 Active A/R Envelope
18:19 Faking an ADSR Envelope
26:50 Final Sound Demo & Outro - Наука та технологія
hey people, let me know which features you'd like to see me cover in future episodes!
Please make some circuit design basics videos. Tips and tricks♥️♥️♥️🙏
1) how analog supersaw oscilator will work.
2) more advanced "ADSR" like in PSP Audioware NitroADSR from VoltageModular Delay-Attac-Hold-Decay-Sustain-Relase Generator
3) FX distortion unit like used offten to enchance sound of Roland TB-303.
4) FX saturation (pseudo magnetic tape like in 542 Tape Emulator by Rupert Neve, alloy transformer, tube saturators and more)
5) Simple step sequencer.
6) LFO
Mayby it will help You.
Cheers.
more advanced ADSR circuit!
I would be really interested in how to implement an 'end of cycle' trigger output :). Also CV control for the rise and fall parameters?
LFO with sync input!
This series is gold.
Please don't stop making these
Do you need gold to make the circuts
I can‘t explain HOW much I like this series/videos. Don‘t stop making these videos! Subscribed. Liked.
Good thing you mentioned the 100 k resistor between the diode and the Buffer. I have designed a very similar circuit years ago and left out the pull down resistor. Took me some time to realise why my Circuit did not work. More confusing is (if you are new to electronics) if you put a Probe on that area for testing, the cirucit will work ( because you close the circuit)
haha yeah, that's a tricky one indeed
Yay ... finally we got an evelope ... man, I need more time to build all the stuff
I love it how you explain and demonstrate quite complex matter. I already know quite a bit about it, but still it is great to watch this!
Quickly becoming my favorite channel. Thanks so much for doing this!
untill now i've never quite understood how those circuits work. Thank you as allways!
i was seeking for a simple EG video and then you upload, thank you so much again, good job!
samesies. right on queue too...
thank you for making these. studied circuits for years and getting back into it, hope i can get further making music this time!
Excellent work as always, Moritz!
Thank you Moritz! Even though i learned about basic elektrotechnics a long time ago, your explanations really help me understand what is going in the circuits and why! if you're ever in vienna let's go for a beer (or several :D)
i'll take you up on that!
@@MoritzKlein0 i hope so :)
Your 3 euro breadboard circuit sounds better than a 2000+ euros modern flagship roland synth 😂congrats
Really excellent Moritz, brilliant explanations as always. This simple ADSR sounds great already. Looking forward to its evolution to the advanced version. I think it's a great idea to start simple and grow the features as we learn the basics. Thank you!
This is exactly why I got into electronics. I love seeing the relationship between analog instruments and their digital counterparts. This series is an amazing resource for both enthusiasts of music and electronics
Really love the artstyle on these.
You sir deserve the world and more! Thank you
Brilliant! Another fantastic lesson.
Keep it up bro. Just got this vid suggested, very interested in seeing your other material
As always interesting and very well an clearly explained.
Many thanks for making these excellent videos and sharing Your knowledge.
Best regards
A very nice video, looking forward for that ADSR version 😀
Kollege, du hast es echt drauf !
Vieles habe ich erst nach deinen Videos erst so richtig verstanden .
Echt genial erklärt, glaub besser geht es garnicht .Echt Respekt so wie du das erklärst und die Schaltungen sind auch super klasse !
Thank you so much all the time, you are so good at teaching
Ive been playing with small signal audio since the onset of covid(guitar pedals). Ive had fun but always knew i wasn't getting the most out of it as i didnt fully understand how to manipulate a waveform, until now. Thanks, cool channel!
Great synth diy channel! Just subscribed.
Congrats! Great explanations! Thanks!
Hi there, thats looks so fantastic, what you show is really very helpful for people who are just learning modular like me, I hope that in the future maybe you can show freeze control and play a little there, your explanation is really very smart and easy to understand
Thanks for the content! So interesting
Each of these videos is like finding a brain teaser which produces a part of a jigsaw puzzle. I'm really looking forward to the improved ADSR circuit.
You explained it Very good
The 3 people who have disliked this video are not sane. Thanks for the nice info and the also the edge cases - very helpful!
Automatic subtitles for the filter sweep at 6:54: wow wow wow
First video I found of you, watched 5 minutes and have the feeling I'll be hanging around for a bit since I started with modular and want to make some modules myself... Subbed
SO NICE !!! Thanks !
You really are doing the lord's work here. I wish my teachers in school could have been like you
Aw sweet... I just managed to get this working on a breadboard. Many thanks. I'm getting some sliiiightly odd behaviour with the sustain level pot but I'll keep faffing about with caps until I get the simple A(SD)R of my dreams. If all else fails it's easily good enough to solder up as it is:D
Thanks dude.
Ahhh that's what it was... The 1uf cap at the input was holding charge long enough to prevent a snappy 'off' when releasing the button. I tried a 470nf cap I had hanging about and that sorted it. Perfect, I'll draw up a stripboard layout tomorrow and get it melted together. I'm very happy. Nice one.
Very cool tutorial :)
That is wondeful. Thank you. I have one or two questions left. But i think i will first view the other videos, may i could figure it out.
You are amazing!
I designed one out of 3 opamps, a transistor and a few diodes that works as expected in the falstad sim, single supply powered, but still have to test it in RL. Also a VCA that needs no power at all.
This is like Ben Eater of analog electronics.
there are dozens of us! (who have Ben Eater and Moritz Klein in our Venn diagrams)
It's so cool
Makes no sense to me as to how this man knows electronics, has very strong electronics know-how, and explains extremely well and detailed when this is channel is primarily about DIY synthesiser!
This one video explains questions that had haunted me for as long as I started simulating 'three operational amplifier' instrumentation amplifier. I do not have an oscilloscope so I need to simulate before spending loads of money on exorbitant components. Even the basic and cheapest NE5532 can add up to a lot money. Unfortunately simulators are never true-to-life, models are never accurate and certainly do not reflect the ever changing variables and the inherent unmatched/mismatched characteristics of each components even if they are from the exact same mould made at the exact same time and processes.
Okay. I digress, deliberately. 😂
The circuit shown in this video is perhaps exactly what I need. It is actually a peak detector! It can be made so-called 'automatic gain control'! I will try this (I mean 'simulate' 😝) and see if it bloody works! The double diode in such way plus double potentiometre is peculiar (The explanation of how it works makes logical sense to me, however).
I have been messing with op-amp for a long time but only now I know what the heck a 'comparator' is and how it works. I read much about it but the explanation sucks big time, or zero example. The 'coincidence' (lots of 100k and 47k resistors) in this video is an apt example about 'threshold'!
Due to those reasons I genuine think that that man, Moritz, genuinely wants and likes us to success. Most UA-camrs are as though making videos for their own record or documentary. They are as if preaching the choir rather than n00bz like yours truly. Probably chasing likes and subscribers, nothing about quality content. Some are obviously delaying to reach 10 minutes video by lots of cough, lots of clearing throat, lots of errrr, lots of uhmmm, lots of aaaaah, lots of pauses, very slow pace, by the time you know it all you learn is "A diode allows only one WAY current movement". Like, WHAT THE FUCK!
this video helped me with a similar thing! Thanks for teaching me how a compressor works with your synth A/R video
@@tenison7990 And the beauty is Moritz is not even an engineer! There is a time when I believed that all electrical engineers graduated only to do sound stuff and not other things, because most of them are actual engineers but their 'tutorials' are only on audio.
Perhaps audio electronics circuits are the simplest build for all people to learn, understand, DIY, and troubleshoot. The first thing people learn or want to learn will be amplifier or power supply.
The simplest amplifier is 1 BJT, 2 resistors, and 2 to 3 capacitors.
The simplest power supply is 1 op-amp, and maybe a few other components (1 BJT, 1 Zener diode, 2 to 4 resistors, 1 to 3 capacitors) for stabilisation.
I later learnt that actual engineers are a lot on insane mathematics than show-and-tell; can be extremely academic than using real-world examples and applications. Not all engineers are like that, of course, but very few could I find have actual components to show how a particular component and circuit works instead of numbers and more numbers to no end.
nobody:
subtitles at 6:53: WOOOOOOW
Now I could finally understand the the schematic from Music From Outer Space
Amazing stuff man. I appreciate you! How are you putting the pots in your breadboard without destroying the breadboard? lol every time I do this, it gapes open the channels and forever after they will no longer accept wire leads.
Been looking at some of your videos on synth diy now and i really enjoy them :) So, thanks! Coming from a more digital/programming direction in to electronics it is najs to learn about the analog stuff.
Anyways.. in order to handle the voltage swing between -/+12v of the opamp couldn't you just not use a dual supply for this setup (and connect the op-amps V- to gnd)? Since the baseline is supposed to be 0V anyway i mean.
Hi Moritz- this is really great. I'm trying to learn electronics theory for this exact application and this is exactly the type of explanation i need. Question - with the comparator at the beginning of the circuit, why would it toggle between +12 and -12 volts and not the 3.8 volts that the voltage divider creates? Thanks for your help with these videos!
Just found this channel via Erika @Modular Day Barcelona. Awesome! I´ve built many modules from kits, but never understood what the circuits are doing - and this channel is a perfect entry to get there. Not an EE, I can grab most of the concepts, but need to review opamps for example, amongst other things. What would be super helpful in general (and might be a good episode in itself): Measuring! What to measure (V/A) where, which tools. Preferrably in many places at the same time, so we can see how things relate. I understand that a dozen of multimeters / oscis are probably overkill, so I wonder: Is there any affordable simulation software that would allow to recreate the circuit and then see all the voltages and currents in action?
yes, there is - you can find links to simulated versions of my circuits in every video description. (the tool is called "circuitJS", it's free and it runs in the browser!)
Thanks so much for taking this to the next step with the diy kits with Erica Synths!
I have a question about the "Option" to make a change at the 1uf spot, to change the performance to be more drone oriented. I see from the falstad diagram that increasing the value to 2uf or even 4uf increases the envelope length, at the cost of making small values less snappy. Should I just solder in an extra capacitor on the "optional" spot? Or just substitute a larger value for the single one I use?
Hope you are still monitoring this!
you can either put in a single bigger one, or do two in parallel (their values add up) using the „optional“ spot!
how would I use this circuit in building a hardware synth? where an individual envelope is dedicated to vca? how would gate work?
I'm slightly confused by the diode pointing backwards for the decay. As far as I can tell it never actually drops below ground. Is a decreasing DC voltage considered negative in this case?
Merci!
Wow! Explainigs at the schemas.. Hope there are or to be come also simple 555 oscillator schema explaning.
have been avoiding the 555 for some time now, not sure if i‘ll ever really pick it up!
I guess the simplest LP is essentially an RC Integrator circuit? I was taught current flows negative to positive, but your explanation still makes sense regardless. You can either treat it as voltage drops positive to negative or current flow negative to positive. The result is the same.
apparently i'm control freak... because i did get excited of this! :P
Awesome! I have to build one. Thanks, Moritz. Also, what reverb were you using at the end (at around 29:18)?
it‘s a spring reverb i build myself!
@@MoritzKlein0 you are 1 legend
Yeah, we're going to need a video on that reverb 😉
@@MoritzKlein0 omg can you make a reverb vid some time? :O
hi really cool video, where is the best place to buy those components?
I know this may seem like a stupid question, have you tried creating multiple timers?
By controlling the charging or discharging of capacitors by current control, the characteristic 5 tau "curve" becomes a "ramp or straight line". Using voltage comparators in these ramps and using edge detectors you could activate the different sequences, the trigger activates the Attack timer, when it ends, it activates the timer for Decay or Hold. And for Release it is the same, when detecting a falling edge in the Gate, the release timer is activated.
Another question is whether to use the voltage of these ramps for the output voltage. Whether the time is controlled by current or by comparison voltage threshold.
There is also the possibility of using a capacitance multiplier, in a very small capacitor, so that it charges immediately with a very very short pulse, as in a peak detector.
Another issue is that the "velocity" of the note controls the amplitude of the attack and sustain. If the gate or trigger always has the same voltage, there is nothing more to do, but if the midi sequencer has "velocity" or "accent"... But I think the video is about the ADSR of the Filter Cutoff and not the for Amp Envelope.
I'm learning a lot from your videos, thank you.
how to design the typical keyboard, which goes directly to the input of the oscillator and other components
ao an attack/release (ar) envelope and an Attack Sustain release (asr) envelope.. nice thank you!
How essential is the capacitor being a film capacitor? Would a tantalum work in it’s place?
Could this envelope generator run on 9V DC?
Hi there just a question, I can connect my sound input to the circuit directly or this is a Gate stage ?( Button to this circuit to Oscillator)
I really like your series! Sounds like you are from germany, where do you get your parts from?
i buy from a local shop here in berlin called „segor“ - they also ship within germany!
Hi, I'm designing some kind of noise box with a "semi-nodular" electronic part. In particular, instead of the Vco I used a piezo (amplified with the Mikrophonie module scheme). I would like to add a VCF and an ADSR, then a series of other modules (delay, sampler). I ran the simulation that theoretically should work. Maybe I should change the ratio between the 100k and 47k resistor to lower the working threshold of the signal between the first two opamps, since the signal on some voltage combinations of the potentiometers loses body. What do you think, if I start not from a square wave, but from a "random" piezo wave, can the module make sense? Thanks for everything
hello friend, one question, can I place this envelope in a simple audio generator with ne555? Thank you
I love your videos. I've done a lot of digital electronics but never too much analogue so they've been a great introduction. One question: is there any reason why you use the diode+resistor to make sure your op-amp output doesn't go below 0V? If I were designing the circuit, I think I'd have set V- to 0V so that it saturates and you can ignore the diode/resistor. Is there some sort of issue doing that?
My guess; the TL074 op amp doesn't give you rail to rail at the output so if you set V- to ground you likely won't get 0V as the minimum value of your envelope signal. This lack of rail to rail performance also means 10V (not 12V) is the max voltage you will get from a TL074 with +12V connected to the V+ pin. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong on this.
Amazing Stuff!! Your Videos make me wanna do DIY Synthesis too!! Where do you get your components from? Greets from Dresden :)
i buy at a store here in berlin called segor - they also ship stuff!
@@MoritzKlein0 Thanks dude, that is really helpfull, their Website is also great.
Happy Jamming
Im planning to make a eurorack module out of this, how should i go about connecting it to my case's power supply? I could use a battery, but the idea seems wasteful to me. Im very new to circuitry, but i want to make a proper module
thankfully the eurorack power connection is standardized - so you can simply buy a 10-pin shrouded header, which is widely available, and put it on your pcb/stripboard.
What reverb do you use in your sequence examples? Real spring reverb tank?
yes!
Ohh nice you load up a video! I build my own synth and use many circuits from you! Can you make a video with an vca ?
yeah that's next up!
@@MoritzKlein0 poggers
Hello what did you plug on the + 1 and +2 and - or the breadboard ? (The red blue and black pliers )
check out page 5 of this PDF: www.ericasynths.lv/media/EG_MANUAL_v3.pdf
@@MoritzKlein0thanks a lot 🫶🫶
At 7:58, I'm wondering if the electrical current direction is correct. Doesn't current (and therefore signal) run against the arrow of the diode? My understanding is that the Attack phase would go through the bottom path, and the Decay phase goes through the top path. Or I have that backwards because current is coming from the ground? Thanks for this video! SO helpful.
when analyzing a circuit, you need to decide if you want to use conventional (flowing from positive to negative) or electron (flowing from negative to positive) current and stick to that. both concepts will give you the same end result, but i prefer conventional simply because circuit symbols are based on/tailored towards it (diodes, transistors etc).
@@MoritzKlein0 I so appreciate that insight. It's always been a question in my mind about that flow and signal path. I appreciate you clarifying! Excellent videos - please keep them coming.
@@MoritzKlein0 Blame Ben Franklin for conventional flow!
Kann man auch problemlos zwei LM358 verwenden? Sorry, ich bin neu auf dem Gebiet und sehe immer wieder TL07* und dann wieder LM358.
Caro Moritz, excelente explicação, mas acho que perdi a parte do RELEASE. Não caberia um POT para essa função? Obrigado pelas postagens, tem me ajudado muito no entendido e desenvolvimento dos meu projetos. Vlw 😃😃👌👌👌😃😃
Eyy no sé si me entiendes pero creo que no habla portugués el, es alemán
@@andewprod Eu também não falo alemão, mas basta um "translator" para resolver isso. Obrigado
is there a reason why you didn't just provide your comparator op amp with a lower reference of 0 volts? is it just so you can re-use the same chip that already takes +12 and -12?
Was just browsing the comments to see if anyone had asked this. TL074 are not "rail to rail" so I think one reason is that the ones used as buffers will need to be able to reach 0 volts on the output, for which they'll need a negative voltage supply.
Hey moritz! I got a design for a simple ADSR, but didnt get the time to implement it physically (it works in simulation though)
I would love to see you try it in a video!
I can get in contact through the discourse lmnc blog!
sure, send it over!
Sent!
I like the new format. The diagrams before were ... pandering to the electronically illiterate. I know that sounds some what elitist but these are complex topics that require some electronic expertise. Maybe you should add a beginner stream. I really appreciate your current treatment of these topics. Please, keep up the good work.
When comes the next video with the vca?
i‘m aiming for early next month!
I thought tl074's had shorting protection built into the IC? When building buffered multiples I ran into the issue that the 1k resistors were making my CV voltages flat and while trying to research a fix was told by an engineer that it's simply a vistigal design/practice from when the opamps didn't have built in shorting protection.
Note: I totally get teaching the installation though since not all IC's have that.
yeah, you‘re absolutely right. the datasheet says explicitly that you can short the TLXX‘s output(s) indefinitely without killing them. i just put the 1ks there out of habit, tbh.
Will upload the live for easyEDA?
the live stream replays are patreon-only, sorry!
Whenever using the opamps as comparators, instead of draining the negative side to ground through a diode couldn't you just connect the opamps negative power terminal to ground, so you get 0-12V out of the opamp already? (In case you don't need to share the other op-amps on the chip with something that would require a -12v on the negative end)
problem is that regular op amps have this „dead zone“ around the supply voltage levels. so if you give an op amp 0 V and 12 V, its output cannot drop down to 0 V - the minimum is several hundred mV (if not more) above that.
@@MoritzKlein0 thank you for the explanation. Your videos are super helpful, I love them!
can you upload your live on transistors?
it's up on my patreon!
When the decay and release times can't be adjusted separately, I guess I'd call this an ADS envelope
You said it is a basic adsr, but I think it's more acidic...
hmm.i'm not a scholarly trained electronician,but this is not how i would of understood how a filter worx; i would of related cap's pulse to ground's speed to harmonic content's passing freq. Would i have been wrong???
Minimum component - absurd sound.
Moritz, man: where do you get those capacitors??????⚡🤖🎛️💕
Is VCA the same as an ADSR with use after oscillation module?
no, you would normally control a VCA with an ADSR envelope.
@@MoritzKlein0 Oh! OK. THanks so much. Still learning.