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[[File:Ray Wilson pro pic.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]'''Ray Wilson''' (1956–2016) was influential in the synth DIY community. Many people got a start in the world of synth DIY due to him sharing his designs on his [[Music From Outer Space]] website.<ref name="rip">[http://www.matrixsynth.com/2016/07/rip-ray-wilson.html RIP Ray Wilson], Matrixsynth, 23 July 2016</ref>
== Biography ==
=== Education and how MFOS got started ===
Ray became interested in analog synthesizers in 1968 when he first heard ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach Switched-On Bach]'' by Wendy Carlos.<ref name="book">[http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920028093.do Make: Analog Synthesizers] by Ray Wilson, Maker Media Inc, 2013, {{ISBN|1-4493-4522-0}}</ref>
First employed at a steel mill he bought sold and traded analog synthesizers, mainly Korgs, Mini-Moogs, and a variety of the patchable semi-modular Rolands. There he also went through an electronic repairman apprenticeship program. Supplementing the classroom training with [[breadboard]] experimentation, a Heathkit [[microprocessor]] trainer kit, and a great deal of reading and maths. Learning enough to spend the next fifteen years in the medical electronics industry.<ref name="book" />
Together with a friend in the 1970s through into the early 1980s he sold [[electronics kits]] under the name Waveform Processing, advertised in [[Radio Electronics magazine]]. While keeping on researching, breadboarding and developing [[monophonic]] and [[polyphonic]] synths. Coming across the versatile [[OnChip Systems|Curtis Electromusic Specialties]] ICs designed by [[Doug Curtis]].<ref name="book" />
[[File:MFOS Sound Lab.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Ray Wilson Sound Lab.]]Then doing electronic design at Intec Systems and Siemens Pacesetter, his focus shifted to designing electronic test equipment and writing software. Until in 1994, he moved from California to Aurora, Colorado where his work became solely software development. The desire to work with electronics brought him back to synth-DIY, starting a website called Ray-Land to publish the circuits and PCB layouts that he was coming up with.<ref name="book" />
Developing and publishing a simple, battery-powered mini-synthesizer, called the [[Sound Lab Mini-Synth]] for which he started selling PCBs, led in 2008<ref>[https://www.linkedin.com/company/music-from-outer-space-llc Music From Outer Space LLC], LinkedIn</ref> to the birth of his brand Music From Outer Space LLC aka MFOS. The information available on the MFOS website is respected by synth-DIYers the world over.<ref name="book" />
On the 21st July 2016 Ray died of cancer.<ref name="rip" />
== Not open source ==
Ray was happy to share his circuit designs and knowledge with hobbyists but did not give permission to mass or hand produce what he considered his intellectual property.<ref name="mfos">{{Cite web |url=http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth_new/ELECTRONICS/MakingMoneyWithMFOS.php |title=Making $Money$ With MFOS |accessdate=2016-07-24 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219234252/http://musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth_new/ELECTRONICS/MakingMoneyWithMFOS.php |archivedate=2017-12-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.synthbeat.com/synth-diy/ Ray Wilson of “Music From Outer Space” On Do It Yourself Synthesizers], Synthbeat.com</ref> MFOS designs are now owned by [https://synthcube.com/cart/music-from-outer-space synthCube].
== Writings on electronic music ==
* ''Make: Analog Synthesizers'', Maker Media, 2013, {{ISBN|1449345220}}
* ''[https://archive.org/stream/NutsAndVolts/Nuts%20and%20Volts%202006-03 The Sound Lab Mini-Synth Sound Synthesizer]'', Nuts & Volts, March 2006, p. 44, + [http://www.nutsvolts.com/uploads/magazine_downloads/40/Mini-Synth%20Sound%20Synthesizer.zip Parts and PCB art], Nuts & Volts Magazine
* [http://musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth_new/THE_CAVE/WP20/WP20_PG1.html WP-20 Mini-Synth kit construction and operation], 1980
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://musicfromouterspace.com/ Music From Outer Space - Your Synth-DIY Headquarters], MFOS website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040115060014/http://www.musicfromouterspace.com// Music From Outer Space], 2003 website (archived 2004)
* [https://www.youtube.com/user/theraywilsonshow Ray Wilson] channel on YouTube
* [https://open.spotify.com/album/2u16NCzYcbKxmSYiTUaATc Electroluminescence] by Ray Wilson, Spotify, 2015
* [https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-wilson-3160387 Raymond Wilson] on LinkedIn
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7skoAPCVXcc O'Reilly Webcast: Using TL07X Op Amps in Analog] talk by Ray Wilson
* [https://www.facebook.com/crowdfundraywilson.today/ Ray Wilson Memorial Fund], Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ray}}
[[Category:Designers]]
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