How long is a piece of string? I've only ever mixed my own work and some collabs with other musicians. As such the mix and actual composition tend to merge somewhat. The shortest time was a few hours - we wanted to get a fun song out quickly for a website maintainer who had just recovered the site f...

Another way to look at it. If someone stole your last song they didn't get your best one. They didn't get the one you're working on now, which will, of course, be a better one

With a double insulated PSU the exposed metal work on sockets etc will naturally rise to around half mains voltage -- 115Vac -- so it's not surprising you feel a very mild 'tingle'. A grounded PSU will cure that. H Hmmm. Are we talking linear or switch-mode? I was (possibly wrongly) assuming switch...

If you're getting a tingle from it, that rather suggests that the unit is faulty. A unit of such low power shouldn't have anywhere near enough leakage for you to feel anything. Get rid of it.

Although it seems counter-intuitive, a lower powered is more likely to damage the board. This is because it takes longer to heat the part you want to work on, so more heat spreads through the components and trackwork. Generally, if at all possible (with the exception of surface mount) I recommend ca...

I listened to about 5 minutes of it - it was all I could stand. From the tiny amount I know, I wasn't impressed. I had an idea Andy would have more to say on the matter

Odd that. None of those bullet points register with me at all. Indeed, I think some of them would tend to inhibit me. Creativity for me is usually just an idea that comes quite unexpectedly, and if I'm in the 'zone' everything just falls together. Music is purely for fun and relaxation so I have no ...

I'm relatively happy about the Q40 voltages. These seem 'correct' assuming the circuit is trying to pull back the voltage, but is prevented from doing so due to some issue with Q41. I'm puzzled by its collector voltage. If the transistor is in cutoff (as the base voltage suggests) the collector shou...

My own compromise solution for three warty devices was to make a small PSU with three isolated outputs. The whole thing being in a neat little metal box, properly earthed but with a lightweight mains cable.

Yes, I know that sort of D.I.Y. thing isn't for everyone.

Sometimes you get a feeling that something isn't quite right and even though the amp seems to be behaving perfectly I've had that nagging doubt for a while. In an earlier writeup I mentioned that a severe overload, well into clipping, would make the amplifier output become asymmetric, giving an effe...

I must say it is a very badly drawn schematic. It took me quite some time to work out what was what. From my basic understanding of transistors, Q41s emitter should not be more negative than its base, it should be more positive. Now that's rather interesting. Q41 emitter should be at 0V and it's bas...

Actually, it's a weird circuit anyway! Other likely candidates are R131, RV14B, RV20B and to a much lesser extent R129. If any of these have gone high resistance there will be a more positive voltage on the base of Q40, which will conduct more and thus cause Q41 to also conduct more, driving Q42, th...

That's very interesting. All the supplies except the 3kV one are about twice what they should be, and that one is far too high. That suggests to me that the voltage control circuit isn't working correctly. My first suspicion would be C72 going leaky.

Re: Theometrica

Technically quite interesting - distance measuring laser I'd guess - but musically not my bottle of beer (cups of tea are so 'yesterday')

Really enjoyed that. Lots of variation, especially in the percussion. Agree that the lower mid seems a bit overfilled, but don't know what you can do to improve it.

Oh boyohboyohboy. Pet peeve time! While I can agree that red and black can get confused in very poor light environments, should you really be doing electrical work in those conditions? Red is universally recognised as a the colour of danger, and as Hugh said, Red,Yellow,Blue makes perfect sense for ...

Elephone wrote:Considering population growth since 1700s, classical music is probably as or more popular now than ever. Is it valid to think relatively?

Whether or not it's more popular, it is certainly more accessible. That alone must be putting many more bums on seats.

It's quite an interesting device and makes some nice sounds, but whatever you might want to call it, it is not a Theramin.

Comment bien parlez-vous français ?

Whenever tackling a new/difficult piece, always finish off with a bit of fun nonsense - so yes, chopsticks will do the trick. That way you go away with a pleasant subconscious memory. It's like giving a dog a reward after a trick (but you don't have to do the tail wagging bit).