Audio synthesis via vacuum tubes/Tube VCO (view source)
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[[File:Rca-2D21-5727-Pl21-Cv4018-Pl2D21-Thyratron-Vacuum.jpeg|thumb|250px|right|A RCA 2D21/5727 thyratron.]]
The '''tube VCO''' is the heart of the all-tube synthesizer.
== Background ==
The VCO presented here is a direct derivative of the original oscillator invented by Friedrich Trautwein in 1932. And it perfectly demonstrates why I'm so cynical about the music world: the Mixtur-Trautonium oscillator was a true VCO, invented at a time when even the Theremin was a new and radical concept. All this shows the academic and popular musical scene at its worst, for if Trautwein had received some encouragement, he and his collaborator Oskar Sala might have persisted with development. And they might have invented the voltage-controlled synthesizer, at a time when Bob Moog and Don Buchla were still sucking on their pacifiers!<ref name="btatv">[https://web.archive.org/web/20111001171109fw_/http://cgs.synth.net/tube/vco.html Building the all tube VCO]
History might have been very different, if only the average musician were not so stuck in relentlessly rigid thinking. The term "synthesizer" might have appeared, 30 years before it actually did. (Instead, a few instruments were built by Telefunken; Sala did some movie soundtracks; a few composers wrote a few pieces for the Mixtur-Trautonium; and it was basically ignored outside Germany.) Are things so very different today? Even though vacuum tubes are enjoying a considerable surge of popularity in the recording studio, with the electric guitar, and in the home of the audiophile........the electronic keyboardist continues to march grimly forward, hopelessly wedded to whatever the latest digital technology is. This closed mindset seems amazingly like 1932 to me, only distorted in a funhouse mirror. [[digital signal processing|DSP]] chips have replaced flutes and trumpets.<ref name="btatv"/>
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== Warning ==
This circuitry is intended for the more advanced builder. Because high voltages are used, a shock hazard exists. We do not recommend that the novice DIY musician try to construct this
All these projects and designs should be considered dangerous if not lethal if not used safely. When working on projects based on these designs, use extreme care to ensure that you do not come into contact with mains AC voltages or high voltage DC. If you are not confident about working with mains voltages, or high voltages, or you are not legally allowed to work with mains voltages, or high voltages, you are advised not to attempt work on them.
== CC-BY-NC ==
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== External links ==
* [http://metasonix.com/ Metasonix]
* [https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13 Metasonix] subforum at Mod Wiggler Forum
[[Category:Vacuum tube synthesizers]]
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