Field Supplies for Sound Exploration
POTAR
After building out the Fuzz Calculators I decided I wanted a helper to calculate the capacitor and resistor combos for simple hex-schmitt oscillators. These calculations are especially helpful when building polyphonic synths, and stuff that isn’t just a random noise source.
When building fuzz and overdrive pedals, proper transistor biasing is key to getting the tone, sustain, and response just right. The bias calculators help you set the correct DC operating point for each transistor stage so that your circuit behaves consistently and sounds its best. Using the Bias Calculators for Fuzz and Overdrive Circuits Select … Read more
06/18/2025 – Recently updated with better explanation. Here is a stripboard layout that I did for cassette player speed mods. It is based on a drawing from the old Casper Electronics website. It only requires a small piece of stripboard (4×6 ) and 5 components. I am sure that there are other ways to affect … Read more
I created a backup site of the excellent Microphonium Schematic Archive. The sdiy.com domain that it resides at is up for sale and the rest of the site returns 404 errors or domain for sale pages. I tried to make it a little easier to read (less color), and little more search engine friendly. The … Read more
Sound Urchin Composer series instruments are always a little different They all feature resonant bowls, tiered threaded rods, and the Sound Urchin pre-amplifier circuit but vary based on what is available. #005 features a 5″ Urchin giving ample access to a resonant bowl that was harvested from an industrial fire alarm, it also features our … Read more
NEW from POTAR Design! The latest in Sound Urchin technology, the COLONY. Three urchins perched at different heights, affecting both pitch and tone. More Details The Sound Urchin is a vibratory sound generator, kinda like a kalimba but weirder. The COLONY has 3 urchins at different heights, varying the sound they produce when plucked. 1/4″ … Read more
I have been wanting to experiment with ambisonic recording for some time now. The barrier to entry has always been the high cost of good sounding mics. That was until I saw the First-Order Ambisonic Instructable by Jules Ryckebusch. Pretty amazing that using simple P48 wiring, 4 decent mic capsules, and few other parts you can … Read more
I found some pretty cool vintage military carbon mic elements with date codes that place them in the early 1950s. I have dubbed the build the HARMO based on their resemblance to some smaller harmonica mics. From beat boxing, to harmonica, to screamo; the HARMO is a sound freaks toy. The HARMO What does it … Read more
