Anyone else signed up for the SOS DIY Focusrite Forte Magazine?

[Wonks]

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/build ... rite-forte

[Hugh Robjohns]

[Chet Leeway]

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/build ... rite-forte

I'd love to do the Focusrite Forte project, but it looks a bit to involved for me. Time comes at a premium, especially now that I've started growing my own spaghetti.

[MOF]

Having seen the photographs accompanying this new magazine promotion I’m a little bit concerned that it’s necessary to have a young child available to complete the project.
I presume that this is for the same reasons child labour was used in the factories and mines during the industrial revolution i.e. their tiny hands to deal with the wiring looms and small bodies to get into small spaces in and under the console and separate equipment racks.

[Wonks]

I'd love to do the Focusrite Forte project, but it looks a bit to involved for me. Time comes at a premium, especially now that I've started growing my own spaghetti.

All the best in your endeavours. I've planted some ravioli seeds with some tomato sauce plants on a rack above them, hoping that they ripen at the same time and the sauce juice falls onto the ravioli.

[muzines]

With that typeface..?

I've seen some mag designs in my time, but there's no excuse for that monstrosity..!

[The Elf]

The last time I tried this build I couldn't find the right fader caps. Otherwise I'd be signing up for this one. Once bitten...

[Tomás Mulcahy]

I'd love to do the Focusrite Forte project, but it looks a bit to involved for me. Time comes at a premium, especially now that I've started growing my own spaghetti.

All the best in your endeavours. I've planted some ravioli seeds with some tomato sauce plants on a rack above them, hoping that they ripen at the same time and the sauce juice falls onto the ravioli.

A each!

[OneWorld]

I wouldn't have 'fort' it a realistic project, but that said back in the day I was fool enough to take on building the Maplin ETI 4600, and even more of a fool to sell it when synths went out of fashion

[OneWorld]

"Why you doing that Dad? (or responsible adult) when I see someone making something, people always say 'don't screw it up' ???"

[Eddy Deegan]

I found the article linked at the bottom of the news item very impressive indeed

[RichardT]

I already have one in the loft - otherwise I’d go for this.

Is it a coincidence that the man and boy in the second picture have ginger hair?

[muzines]

I thought this one was fun:

Yes, you too can have a virtual kettle lead in your DAW!

[shufflebeat]

https://wyww.soundonsound.com/news/buil ... rite-forte

Uli Behringer gets his sketchpad out...

[BillB]

Well, it would be a no-brainer, apart from the fact that there are no PCBs or Metalwork being supplied. I mean, come on, even back in the days of ETI, Maplin, E&MM, HSR, these things were very often supplied. Really disappointing. However, fader caps can always be improvised with dried chewing gum.

I think there may have been a mistake on the subscription link, it seemed to connect to a Rick Astley video, which I enjoyed tremendously, especially the part where that black barman / gymnast decided that Rick was groovy, and consequently lent much needed street cred to the production.

[MOF]

Uli Behringer gets his sketchpad out...

[Wonks]

I'm now eagerly awaiting the announcement of its sister SOS publication "Code your own DAW in Basic in 99 weekly parts".

[James Perrett]

I'm now eagerly awaiting the announcement of its sister SOS publication "Code your own DAW in Basic in 99 weekly parts".

Our lad is working on it... (although in Scratch rather than Basic because Basic is so 1980's)

This was his inspiration - although Ralph claims that his MIDI engine is better than the one in the video.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=918135572025307

[IAA]

Yes, you too can have a virtual kettle lead in your DAW!

That was so funny! Spluttered coffee out after just avoiding doing that reading the Workshop article.

[BillB]

Actually, there was an unnecessarily cruel twist to that item.

I had “Never gonna give you up” on constant replay in my head whenever I wasn’t listening to other music..

Worse than tinnitus

[nathanscribe]

With that typeface..?

I've seen some mag designs in my time, but there's no excuse for that monstrosity..!

I t's n ot t he f ont, i t's t he k erning

[Forum Admin]

With that typeface..?

I've seen some mag designs in my time, but there's no excuse for that monstrosity..!

I t's n ot t he f ont, i t's t he k erning

It echoes the typographical abilities publishers had back in the early '80s E&MM days.

When I joined E&MM the graphic designer/layout chap was using Letraset to create headline fonts. No Undo on that one! Well, there was... it required scraping it off with a scalpel carefully without damaging the art board. Them were the days...

[Hugh Robjohns]

I remember (with horror) making newsletters for the university radio station back in 1980, using Letraset, and a machine that printed out text in various typefaces that we then had to cut out and stick on the page... It took hours or even days to do something that would take just minutes today.

[muzines]

I remember (with horror) making newsletters for the university radio station back in 1980, using Letraset, and a machine that printed out text in various typefaces that we then had to cut out and stick on the page... It took hours or even days to do something that would take just minutes today.

Thankfully I started with the DeskTop Publishing revolution... but then had to revert to limited-to-none layout control with the early web.

I guess the cut-and-stick approach to print publishing was analogous to having to use tables to layout early web pages, and no transparency or typographic control. Fun times...

But yes, as I've mentioned to Ian (and other mag editors) before... I have no idea how people managed to publish *anything* back then..!

[Forum Admin]

... a machine that printed out text in various typefaces that we then had to cut out and stick on the page... It took hours or even days to do something that would take just minutes today.

Yes, that's how all magazines were created and laid out back then.

1985-88 SOS mags were still done that way, but the computerisation had occurred in being able to generate text files full of typesetting macro commands and saving as MS-DOS compatible text files on 5.25" floppies that could be inserted directly into Linotronic typesetters. This removed the need to print out paper article copy and have editors mark it up with typographic symbols, styles and stuff.

Nobody knew where the future lay back then, but anyone in publishing is eternally grateful for how typesetting morphed into desktop publishing and when Quark Xpress came out... boy! did we wet our pants with excitement.

Suddenly we could grow the pagination of our mags as typesetting and paper-and-wax layouts took way too much time, as did the film repro side of things. And when we eventually could output PDF as CMYK to film, and supply to the printer, the cost-saving was astronomical and allowed business growth. Transformed the industry.