Circuitbenders Forum
Circuitbenders Forum => Circuitbending discussion => Synths & Samplers => Topic started by: andy_wheels on July 21, 2006, 07:34:23 AM
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the Hing Hon EK-001... anyone bent one?
the one i have is one the of the most extreme noise machines i have. i've recently been playing some music sessions with a drummer and bassist and the little hing hon is the centre piece of our sound! screaming feedback distortion via a hack on the mic input and a kinda feedback/resonance which i call 'flez'. you can also hack the envelopes and get staccato beats or squarewave drones/screams/tones.
here's a link from the always useful tablehooters site:
http://users.informatik.haw-hamburg.de/~windle_c/TableHooters/HingHon_EK001.html
as you can see, there's no label on the synth so spotting one is a bit random... well worth picking one up though and you're sure to get it for a cheap price. mine was 50p at a car boot sale. ;)
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This guy seems to have that one, and is doing some stuff with it:
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=20048210&adTopicID=18&categoryID=0&IsSticky=0&groupID=100146210&Mytoken=FBBF2C89-3077-4AE3-885FE5F0199F47951117659375
Ask him about some of his bends
Cheers, Graham
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doesn't look like he's bent it as much as i have. his descriptions say nothing about the wonderful extreme pitch/distortion/feedback festival that comes out of mine everytime i turn it on... ;D
but thanks for the link anyway..
anyone else come accross the magical hing hon?
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Yeah I have one, still didn't do anything with it, Wanna tell what you did to yiours? :)
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I have a couple of these, one that currently has the back off it. I have so far only found the bends mentioned on the tablehooters site, but I have been playing around with LFO's on this one because the pitch is controlled by a resistor. I wonder if the other Hin Hong I have has different circuitry or not. Even using just the LFO's the Hing Hong makes some nice sounds!
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my hin hon is a little upset at the moment. the envelope controls i've added seem to be playing up and it doesn't understand the concept of decay anymore... nice if you want a continuous tone but not all that useful beyond that.
i'm planning on operating on it today but need to get my pss270 off the operating table first (i've been accessing all the lovely chorus controls on it, yummy).
anyway, i'll try and remember to take some notes/photos when i open it up.
there's a bent hin hon on ebay at the moment. bit of a shame that it looks rather under bent to me. i always get a bit upset to see jobs half done...
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I think I paid £1 for mine at a car boot some moths ago now. The first thing I came across was the pitch bends... two of these dramatically slow down the rhythms. With a moistened finger I can make the thing scream. The machine has been in bits for ages... if I get it finished I'll post some pics of the bends... one day!
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Got mine off ebay - for 99p! Still cant quite believe I manged to find one - and its even the original shape with the nice red drum pads :)
I LOVE this machine... even without messing with it - it comes out with the most amazing honks and noises - just by holding down 2 or 3 selection button. kicks butt - I wont mod it til i get another one tho - as the idea of messing it up is far too upsetting without a replacement :)
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i'm now on my forth hin hon... the first is still alive (just) but i needed to find another just incase it dies.
it's taken me three more purchases to locate another one which has the original big chip rather than the black blob. i'm not sure the blob ones bend as much. i'd imagine not as you can't get to the pins on the chip.
ithere are subtle differences in the outside decor of the synths but it's subtle. hard to tell without opening it up.
anyway, now i've got another big chip version i intend to bend it carefully and document the results. i'll post up the results here.
glad to see some more hin hon love bubbling through this forum! ;D
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I seem to remember reading somewhere that this KB was available as a kit (made by the electronics company Elenco) from Radio Shack in the States.
Theres a manual for it floating round the net with instructions on constructing the kit and also some random information on 'how sound synthesis works' :) pretty cool...
i cant find a link to that at present but here's a link to the kit on a US site:
http://store.platinumgalleria.com/ak900.html
^
i always think these are a bit pricey tho ...
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love the way the keyboard says 'stereophonic' on it in big letters. erm,,,. heheheh
(http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-47769117039044_1920_78661701.jpg)
wonder if the kit has the big chip or the blob??
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I read on a few blogs that people have been bending the kit so its prob the chip?
Tho maybe the blob version is bedable too (prob harder tho...)
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HELP... I've spent hours (months) playing about with the circuitry on this machine but then it accidentally dropped it off the table onto the floor... wires came off the battery and speaker contacts. I've soldered them all back again but I have no power, no LED, nothting. It's possible I've soldered one (or both) of the battery leads to the wrong contact... can anyone who has there 'Hing Hon E-001' in bits take a look where these leads should go, cheers, Dave.
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I've got one! Heard a sample of it once... Man that snare drum!!! Found one on a 2nd hand stuff site.
Still didn't bend it... coming up though. Put some old batteries in it to see if it's a candidate for a voltage drop pot...
Yes it is: Dirty warm distortion and it starts acting weird.
Pitch bend will also do to get those drums pitched down.
What else can be done?
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you can wire up push buttons to select more than one instrument at once as this distorts and modulates the sound... just try holding down 2 or 3 different sound select buttons and playing the KB... :) Crazy noises!
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http://www.elenco.ws/manuals/ak-900.pdf
^ finally found the manual link for the kit... enjoy :)
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hmmmm, i'm looking at that schematic now...
thanks for the link. awesome stuff!
;D
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Good link but it doesn't help me with my power connections. I can see two contacts, one marked B+ and B-. I'm assuming that's where the battery wires should go but it doesn't look right and more importantly it doesn't work! Any ideas.
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Hey, I just found out I have both chip 'versions' of the EK-001,
Here is how my 2 differ-but these may be only rough guides, there are probably many production changes!
Newer(?) 'Blob chip' has large T-1 sized power light and tempo light, tempo light on dimly all the time.
Has VERY loud volume, too loud even on lowest setting.
'Microphone volume" label text smaller than 'power' text
'C-C#' text over lower keys is normal proportion/size.
DC in and headphone jacks 'closed' on bottom side.
DC jack in tip/center POSITIVE 6-9 volts
The BIG clue-this unit takes SIX AA batts.
Has 1 big main board inside.
Has bug-after messing with rhytms then starting the demo, sometimes only plays the beat (demo tune does not start)
2nd Older model(?):
It has 1/3 size board over the main one with a surface mount IC (quite large, pins can be soldered)
Volume is reasonable unmodded, has pot inside(pitch setting?), TINY power and tempo lights, squished C-C# letters over the low keys, the speaker under the grille has a silver center,DC in and Headphone in are open to the inside,DC in is center/tip NEGATIVE (honestly.....be careful with AC adaptors!!!!), and takes only 4 AA batts.
The power light does not light? (but power switch is screwed, so...)
This one a very light high pitch 'sing' from speaker when on.....
Both units have horrible switches.....
I also have 2 of a "CX-500 Electronic sound system" keyboard that is ALSO a EK-001 in disguise.
All functions are same/sounds same, keyboard notes DO seem to decay a bit faster, a small capacitor difference?
3 settings only for volume/microphone, volume acts as a tone control (higher=brighter)
"the music designer" under power switch, mic input right by the volume control.
Has dark gray case with light gray under controls, blue square "custom drummer" buttons on right, pink rhythm buttons, separate 1-8 list for rhythms and 'orchestra' (all buttons just numbered) everything is 'angled' toward the front center a bit!
Overall quaility seems quite better than the EK, good swiitches, looks nice, etc....
Has the 'blob' chip inside.
I was REALLY attracted to the "organ" sound on these....nothing else sounds like it, and I have a lot of keyboards pass through my hands!
BTW, a Playskool PS-635 toy KB ALSO has the exact same organ sound, and neat blippy rhythms. BUT it is only ONE note 'poly'-can it be modified for 2?
Is this a useful first post ? :*)
I just love this stuff.....
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thanks for all that info :)
btw, good ol' tablehooters ->
http://users.informatik.haw-hamburg.de/~windle_c/TableHooters/HingHon_EK001.html
has some really useful info on this KB...
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All the schematics i have seen for this one have had those overdrive and warbly filters and distortions, EVEN WITH the blob circuit. No worries, capacitors and resistors are the components that have the bends, and they always make strange noise in any toy that isnt as simple as a blob circuit and a couple buttons. The more buttons and functions it has, the more circuitry it will have, so lots more bends :) in this case its a squarewave keyboard so of course it has loads of circuitry lol :)
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I'm so lucky today: I have been looking around for a HH, fell in love with the thing, the sound is just so cool even without any bending. Not much success though, couldn't find one anywhere. The trick really is to just stop looking: i saw an online auction with some pretty interesting looking old KB so i bought that (cost about 2eu), and my GF is going to give me some old KB that is collecting dust on her closet.
Well, the first one is MeiKe MK-320B, and tablehooters site says it's a Hing Hon :D Shame about those sheet metal keys though, those are quite annoying...
The one from my GF is a Satellite AJ-911, I couldn't find any info whatsoever about this thing, apart from a youtube video of circuit bent one:
Circuit Bent Satellite AJ-911 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE7_27_gzpo#normal)
Just some mildly interesting noise, but I'm pretty sure I can hear Greensleves at the end of the video :D
Oh, and I'm new here, hi! ;)
[edit] I wrote that post yesterday, but had some problems with registration. I've got the AJ-911 and it's a bit weird - I'm pretty sure it's a Hing Hon, but the demo song isn't Greensleves, and the sounds seem higher (I might be wrong though, I'll have to compare with the MeiKe one when i get it).
(http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2016/satellitec.jpg)
Has two speakers, no mic input, and seems quite well made.
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you can wire up push buttons to select more than one instrument at once as this distorts and modulates the sound... just try holding down 2 or 3 different sound select buttons and playing the KB... :) Crazy noises!
Woah, just tried that trick, you can get some really interesting instruments this way :)
Will it work if i simply replace the selection buttons with on/off switches? That would be really cool, letting you pick those combinations on the spot with ease :) Sorry if that's a stupid question, I'm very new to bending :P
[edit]sorry for double posting
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love the way the keyboard says 'stereophonic' on it in big letters. erm,,,. heheheh
(http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-47769117039044_1920_78661701.jpg)
wonder if the kit has the big chip or the blob??
The PDF says its an IC, so not a blob :D
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Ok, here's my Satellite with two nice bends and a makeover:
(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6/dsc01228l.jpg)
My first proper bend :)
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Well that's very handsome.
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Thank you, I'll post a video on youtube, when I improve it a bit more :)
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I've been tinkering with this thing yesterday, and whatever I do it just becomes more and more like a drum machine than a keyboard ;)
So far i have:
- pitch control pot that also makes everything slow down
- a body contact that does the same thing really
- voltage drop pot which is a lot of fun since it makes the rhythm choke at certain points (and sometimes completely new sounds appear), creating new and sometimes great patterns. Even more interesting is the fact that the "choke effects" change when i turn the pitch control pot which means a lot less control, but a lot more possible patterns.
- mega bass - a switch that really makes the rhythms sound very heavy and interesting, and also a pot that controls how heavy it is (doesn't make as much of a difference as I would've liked). Sadly with this turned on the key notes become very very quiet.
I need to try to replace those instrument buttons with on/off switches to get access to those weird sounds, and a few tweaks, and this will be a fine machine :)
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I'd be carefull with that 'mega bass' mod you have there. Do you geta big thump when you turn it on, with a constant low bass drone or hum?
It sounds like you might be shorting out something in the amp or power supply section that might not last that long if used too often.
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Thanks for your concern, but i think it's all good, there is no humming or anything.
I just checked it out and i wasn't right about the volume of the keyboard notes, it's the voltage drop that's making them semi-useless when the rhythm is turned on.
[edit] And I would really like to find that bend, that is used on this one:
pt 1: Circuit Bent Hing Hon EK-001 analogue synth keyboard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsGhXGlDGOw#normal)
The pot he uses at 0:30, so cool :)
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Thanks for your concern, but i think it's all good, there is no humming or anything.
I just checked it out and i wasn't right about the volume of the keyboard notes, it's the voltage drop that's making them semi-useless when the rhythm is turned on.
[edit] And I would really like to find that bend, that is used on this one:
pt 1: Circuit Bent Hing Hon EK-001 analogue synth keyboard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsGhXGlDGOw#normal)
The pot he uses at 0:30, so cool :)
That's mine, actually :] Feel free to send me a PM with a picture of the innards of your Hing Hon, that one I bent was a little different than most I've come in contact with. I'd be happy to share my schematics, though that one was a bit unpredictable. Knowing a few points to check out might help though.
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I'll do that when i get the chance to take a photo :)
Great work btw :)
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Thanks for your concern, but i think it's all good, there is no humming or anything.
I just checked it out and i wasn't right about the volume of the keyboard notes, it's the voltage drop that's making them semi-useless when the rhythm is turned on.
[edit] And I would really like to find that bend, that is used on this one:
pt 1: Circuit Bent Hing Hon EK-001 analogue synth keyboard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsGhXGlDGOw#normal)
The pot he uses at 0:30, so cool :)
I talked to the maker, and i found a bunch of them. There are loads of little points all over a little 2 by 2 inch board on the inside. I connected the mic points and speaker points to other points on the board and got some cool sounds. The bass drone cant be found by finger contacts most likely because you either have too much resistance. or not enough(this makes it go quiet)
i have yet to try a voltage drop, i wonder what they do?
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i have yet to try a voltage drop, i wonder what they do?
Slows everything down and is especially useful with the beats - the keyboard "chokes" in various points completely changing the rhythms.
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i got one on ebay for $15. did i pay too much??? ;-)
it sounds kinda cool on it's own. but, i found this cool site: http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/HingHon_EK001.html (http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/HingHon_EK001.html)
i played around while reading this tread. yeah, there are some cool tones in holding down multiple keys. interesting how different VOICE buttons countact with keys, including drum pads and instrument voices. this said, i wonder if there could be some sort of patch bay built for this, or a way to make the switches STAY on? or, perhaps a BLOW switch, one button to turn them all on at ONCE?!
there are some cool bends for this, according to the above site. i can't wait to try it out!
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i got one on ebay for $15. did i pay too much??? ;-)
Depends how you look at it - the sounds coming out of this thing are definitely worth it, but you can get one much cheaper. I got one for free and another one online for around $5.
this said, i wonder if there could be some sort of patch bay built for this, or a way to make the switches STAY on?
I'm pretty sure it can be done, I was thinking of replacing the buttons with toggle switches. It seems pretty straightforward, but I might be wrong, I'm very new at this.
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if you replace the buttons with toggles, let me know how it went. that sounds like what i want. it is cool how the sound counteract when certain buttons are pressed together.
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Ok, here's my Satellite with two nice bends and a makeover:
(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6/dsc01228l.jpg)
My first proper bend :)
hey, this thing looks COOL! how did you do the inverted keys? spraypaint?!
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Yeah, and did a pretty bad job, the photo doesn't show it, but I used WAY too much paint ;)
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well, i cant tell. looks good to me.
you know, it is too bad somebody out there doesn't manufacture different color keys which retro-fit casios! i am sure it would be a hit, as big as circuit bending is becoming!
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It wouldn't be to hard too cast them in resin.
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the manual i saw via link, i assume was a service manual. interesting how it takes you step by step how to but one together...
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The manual is for a kit that you had to put together yourself.
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The manual is for a kit that you had to put together yourself.
wow, cool! so, was that what these keyboards were, "heath kit" style?!
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okay,
i opened this baby up, finally.
i hate sensor switches with a passion!!! they are almost IMPOSSIBLE to deal with!
that said, not on to the good stuff!
after poking with gator-jumpers, i discovered some cool eastereggs!
basically, the layout now is:
one pitch shift pot
one power crash (at least i think that is what it is called. i can slow it down until it gets glitchy then static death! wow!
one switch, which adds more weird noise.
i'll post photos soon, and stuff.
oh, for some reason, the drums and rhythm section doesn't work. i may dealve into that later...but, i dont even care. i like it just like it is! ;-)
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hmmm.....i'm in white noise heaven! sines, sines, everywhere there's sines!
i think i actually like the resonant noise, and how it can be manipulated by different controls i installed BETTER than playing the keys on this thing!!!
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there needs to be a 12 step program thread...i think i am addicted to this thing! hours of fun!!!
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OMG!!!
i discovered something really cool! if you take five wires loose, and one by one, touch them to another wire (intact), this unlocks a pandora's box ot glitch tones!
so, patchbay here i come! (just trying to plan where to put the patchbay!).
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okay, i now have a 6 point patchbay on this baby! ;D
there is no limit to the noise this will now make!
i LOVE these keyboards! casio has NOTHING on hing hon!
i am enjoying this so much, i am ALREADY looking forward to my next one!
i'd love to build one of these from ground up...to find an original kit. i doubt they make them anymore?
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hard to find those kits...discontinued.
however, i did find this...similar? this model requires 6 AA batteries. my hing hon has 4. that is the only difference i could find.
http://www.kitsusa.net/phpstore/html/AMERIKIT-AK-900-ELECTRONIC-KEYBOARD-KIT-non-solder-version-1075.html (http://www.kitsusa.net/phpstore/html/AMERIKIT-AK-900-ELECTRONIC-KEYBOARD-KIT-non-solder-version-1075.html)
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hi
I bent an ek001 myself but i didn't find the way to make it glitch...
could you explain how did you menage to build the patch bay?
thanks!
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patchbay:
i found 5 different colour wires. one accidentally came loose. i touched this wire on the other ones, it unlocked the door to glitch heaven!
the wires are located close to the controls for the voices....(piano, guitar, etc), and if i am not mistaken, control these. but, because of the short circuit, this sounds much cooler than the intended voices!
so, rca jacks, one per wire. i think i poked around and found some other bends for the remaining jacks.
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i'm also very curious about the power crash
where did you add the pot?
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i think i got my terminology mixed up, sorry. i am not sure what that control is, really. it makes it more glitchy and distorted. if you go too much counter-clockwise, the keyboard just stops.
sounds cool though! ;-)
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Just bought a Hing Hon EK-001 on a fleemarket for cheap.
I found two resistors for pitch- clock......is that correct? or is it just one that is really usable?
I am new to heavy circuitbending....can I just try all connections (including the contact-points of the black IC-blob)
without any danger ? or do I have to be very carefull with the IC? can I kill the keyboard easy?
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one of the resistors works like a LFP-depth for the vibrato! nice!
the other one is for pitch (clock).....but I want to have it going much much lower. I tried a 2 M potmeter, bnut even then it don't ahs the range I want.
high is ok, but for extreme low pitches I need maybe 100 M pots...is that normal?
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On the "hold multiple sound buttons" subject
Quote
I wonder if there could be some sort of patch bay built for this, or a way to make the switches STAY on?
I paralleled each sound select button with a spdp switch as can be seen here:
http://www.electri-fire.com/bartsmit.htm (http://www.electri-fire.com/bartsmit.htm)
My Hing Hon EK-001's all had black blob circuits, I didn't even know there were versions with proper IC's. It makes no difference to their bendability, all connections are available at the Black Blob version as well. For this subject I adhere to the pin numbers from the elenco manual. On the blob versions you can trace the connections to the onboard switches easily. Many useful connections have jumper wires that you can connect to.
http://manuals.elenco.com/manuals/ak-900.pdf (http://manuals.elenco.com/manuals/ak-900.pdf)
Useful pins for a patchbay: Switch matrix pins 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-66-67-68
Making a patchbay for "sound inter-mangle" would connect to pins 4-5-6-7 , patching them among themselves and to pin 1 and 68.
Remote change of rhythms: pins 4-5-6-7 to pin 66 and 67.
Rhythm pattern bends might include stop (pin 3 to 1) and start (pin 3 to 68)
Pin 2 to 4-5-6-7 gets single drum hits.
Also useful for rhythm bends pin 53 (tempo LED out). To connect to single drumhits, CMOS switch control, or to the envelope part of the signal with a depth pot, between R21 and R22 maybe. The tempo LED out is active LOW. May need an invertor for some applications.
In fact any signal could be added to the envelope signal, giving AM ringmod like effects with audio frequencies.
I'm into building CMOS circuits (or Lunetta's) nowadays. Lunetta's may include use of CMOS switches (like CD4016, 4066) or line selectors,aka multiplexors, (like CD 4051, 4052, 4053).
With these switches or multiplexers controlled by sequencers, CMOS logic or LFO's, bends can be sequenced, randomized or (indeed, you guessed it) LFO'ed.
I recommend the Lunetta forum at: http://electro-music.com/forum/index.php?f=160 (http://electro-music.com/forum/index.php?f=160)
(in fact they got me linked to to this forum again, hadn't seen it for quite a while)
I need some time to digest this. So:
Disclaimer: untried ideas sparked by the elenco manual. Wich ne7 (Dayglo Volunteer of International Masturbation) posted. Very inspiring. I must confess I prefer knowledge over "Bender's Illogic". Thank you lots.
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Quote jamiewoody:
If you take five wires loose, and one by one, touch them to another wire (intact), this unlocks a pandora's box ot glitch tones!
I think these wires must be a selection of pins 4-5-6-7-1-67-68. These jumper wires are not connected to anything if no button is pressed. There's no need to unsolder wires, you can solder an extra wire onto the jumpers and connect those. In fact, leaving them in place retains their original function and they gain an extra bend function when you patch wires together.
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interesting, thanks electri-fire. i may go back and reconnect them while also keeping them connected to the patch bay.
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jamiewoody: Did you notice onboard buttons not working anymore with jumpers disconnected?
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hard to find those (elenco) kits...discontinued.
however, i did find this...similar?
http://www.kitsusa.net/phpstore/html/AMERIKIT-AK-900-ELECTRONIC-KEYBOARD-KIT-non-solder-version-1075.html (http://www.kitsusa.net/phpstore/html/AMERIKIT-AK-900-ELECTRONIC-KEYBOARD-KIT-non-solder-version-1075.html)
Yes. It's the the same . The Zener diode D1 would keep the voltage to the circuit limited to 4.7V
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On pitchbend:
Quote:
I found two resistors for pitch- clock......is that correct? or is it just one that is really usable?
Both R11 and R12 influence pitch. Higher resistance lowers the pitch. Putting a potmeter in parallel to either resistor can only lower the resistance, so you need to REMOVE a resistor and replace it with a pot. I've had good range with 1.5M pots, but I forgot wich resistor I replaced.
Another factor in pitch is the 0.1uF capacitor C9. Higher capacitor value lowers pitch. So if you don't have high value potmeters (they tend to be more expensive) you can replace it with , ermm... like 1uF?
Quote:
one of the resistors works like a LFP-depth for the vibrato! nice!
Oh cool! That would be the 510K R10.
You must mean LFO though, not LPF. (nitpicking remark, sorry).
But what does it do exactly? Vibrato depth, that is varying the range of pitch wobble? Or does it do vibrato speed? (I would prefer that)
quote:
the other one is for pitch (clock).....but I want to have it going much much lower. I tried a 2 M potmeter, but even then it don't have the range I want.
high is ok, but for extreme low pitches I need maybe 100 M pots...is that normal?
Well no, 2M should do ok. Did you insert the pot (prefered method), that is replace a resistor?
Or did you connect to the pitch resistor on one side and to a point elsewhere , like ground? That could explain it.
quote:
....can I just try all connections (including the contact-points of the black IC-blob)
without any danger ? or do I have to be very carefull with the IC? Can I kill the keyboard easy?
It's pretty sturdy, but you can eventually kill it. Not easy but with higher voltage the circuit slowly deteriorates. Considering the 4.7 Zener diode D1 limiting voltage to the IC I think it wants that voltage. I've been relentlessly at it for days on end with the unlimited battery voltage. First effects are kind of cool, slightly frying the chip enhances it's low-fi gritty character. Sweeeet! Untill you take it too far.
Tip: get yourself a set of alligator clipped wires. Cut off one side, solder a 1k resistor to that end. Result: Safer bend probe.
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http://manuals.elenco.com/manuals/ak-900.pdf (http://manuals.elenco.com/manuals/ak-900.pdf)
THANK YOU!!! this is sooo excellent. most of the hin-hongs i've come across are the black blob type and they dont have 4 outputs for the rhythm section, just one. i have one that does have the chip that i have been saving. this manual will make it so much easier. so do they still sell that kit? has anyone here tried ordering it?
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http://manuals.elenco.com/manuals/ak-900.pdf (http://manuals.elenco.com/manuals/ak-900.pdf)
THANK YOU!!! this is sooo excellent. /..../ so do they still sell that kit? has anyone here tried ordering it?
I have to credit ne7 (http://ne7.untergrund.net/ (http://ne7.untergrund.net/)) for posting the link to the elenco manual, I was just quoting. And yes, excellent it is. Much easier than figuring it out yourself and documenting your findings with the opened crappy keyboard on your lap, wires and pots dangling around. Arghh....
Especially the small ones like that kit version are a bitch to bend, mechanically that is. With the switches and sliders falling out, I needed to solder temporary jumpers or replace with hardware switches if I recall well, before I could do some proper bending action. It's been a while since I did one.
[/quote] so do they still sell that kit? has anyone here tried ordering it? [/quote]
Now quoting jamiewoody :
http://www.kitsusa.net/phpstore/html/AMERIKIT-AK-900-ELECTRONIC-KEYBOARD-KIT-non-solder-version-1075.html (http://www.kitsusa.net/phpstore/html/AMERIKIT-AK-900-ELECTRONIC-KEYBOARD-KIT-non-solder-version-1075.html)
You have to register , but I think you can still order these. I won't, I have two spares left. In decent big casings, hehehe...
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Amazing video: http://vimeo.com/3356981
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Amazing video: http://vimeo.com/3356981
That's mine :]
Thank you.
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were the hinghon keyboards originally made by elenco?
i have some elenco breadboards and such, they seem to be good quality.
i am thinking about taking my hinghon apart again. i wonder if i were to build a wood box, similar to the one casper built (as well as many others by now!) for the sk1! my hing hon now sports a patch bay pitch knobs, switches for this and that...and i dont think i have even begun to exhaust the monster inside of this thing!
part of the reason i want to do a box for this, well, it seems that electronically i have been making some cool things, yet the outside ends up looking like a trainwreck! lol! so i need to make them into more of a "commercially viable product" (yuck yuck!).
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I recently got one of those myself. But the buttons are very weird. Especially the keyboard. It's like it laggs. When i press down a key it laggs out lots of notes instead of one. I have opened it up but the keyboard don't seem to miss any screws or anything...
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yeah, i hate those cheap sensor switches...at one time i thought of replacing them with toggles...i think some around here did that. not a bad idea! one of the cool glitches on the kb is when two voices are on at once!
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I guess I'll rehouse it then, and try to find another keyboard... :(
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Breakbeatnazi: Any chance you might elaborate on what you've done here? I'm very interested in that modulation pot and how you do video out? Great work!
I've got a CX-500 but guess it could be done on this one as well :)
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Hi, i want to post my schematic!!
It's my firt shema be cool with me ;)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs529.ash1/31039_120737747951856_100000468940962_226789_2759641_n.jpg)
EDIT:And the big size:
http://www.cannibalcaniche.com/forum/download.php?id=8449 (http://www.cannibalcaniche.com/forum/download.php?id=8449)
Bye
Osica
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I love it! Very helpful :)
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like i said before, tightening the screws on the box seems to help, otherwise the sensors do not hit.
or, in you prefer i speak pirate, "batten down yer hatches! shiver me timbers, matey!" ;-)
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i'm not sure what happened, but i had a happy accident! ; ;-)
it had been a month or so since i had turned on my hing hon keyboard. it was not working all that well, so i decided to change the batteries. unfortunately, the batteries were not sealed, so i took a chance and replaced them with some i use for testing things.
i changed the batteries and it WENT CRAZY! i mean, i pressed a key and it started glitching like crazy, just sequencing weird ramdom noise! it was beautiful!
so, of course, i recorded this instead of taking it apart to attempt to troubleshoot it! ;-)
so, when i do "fix it", i think i will play around some.maybe i can control this chaos!!!
i would love to build this into a home made box...but, since the operation of this seems to be contingent to the case being tightly sealed, that may be hard.
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my hin hon is a little upset at the moment. the envelope controls i've added seem to be playing up and it doesn't understand the concept of decay anymore... nice if you want a continuous tone but not all that useful beyond that.
i'm planning on operating on it today but need to get my pss270 off the operating table first (i've been accessing all the lovely chorus controls on it, yummy).
anyway, i'll try and remember to take some notes/photos when i open it up.
there's a bent hin hon on ebay at the moment. bit of a shame that it looks rather under bent to me. i always get a bit upset to see jobs half done...
What kind of envelope controls have you added?
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nice illustration...bless you!
Hi, i want to post my schematic!!
It's my firt shema be cool with me ;)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs529.ash1/31039_120737747951856_100000468940962_226789_2759641_n.jpg)
EDIT:And the big size:
http://www.cannibalcaniche.com/forum/download.php?id=8449 (http://www.cannibalcaniche.com/forum/download.php?id=8449)
Bye
Osica
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WOW! i'm taking a 2nd look at this photo, and it is not the same keyboard as i have! i would still like to do that oscillator thing though!
i really need to take a photo of mine!
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i got one of these too and it looks nothing like the picture either... mines looks like a Friday afternoon job for sure ::)
the board is actually three or four boards and there's sellotape all over the place and it kinda looks like there's parts missing although it does sound like those others with the same beats
its got Greensleeves as a demo
I've managed to get a pitch up and down and a low pass filter type effect but nothing else yet :-\
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...meant to ask if anyone has added trigger ins for the drum pads? i was thinking it might be cool to use with trigger outs on a 505 or something...
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vol, thanks for posting the photos in the other thread, that is the one i have!
is ours older? it seems pretty basic to me compared to some out there. anything you learn about yours, please post!
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i'm not sure what happened, but i had a happy accident! ; ;-)
it had been a month or so since i had turned on my hing hon keyboard. it was not working all that well, so i decided to change the batteries. unfortunately, the batteries were not sealed, so i took a chance and replaced them with some i use for testing things.
i changed the batteries and it WENT CRAZY! i mean, i pressed a key and it started glitching like crazy, just sequencing weird ramdom noise! it was beautiful!
so, of course, i recorded this instead of taking it apart to attempt to troubleshoot it! ;-)
so, when i do "fix it", i think i will play around some.maybe i can control this chaos!!!
i would love to build this into a home made box...but, since the operation of this seems to be contingent to the case being tightly sealed, that may be hard.
If the effect you describe was created by putting old batteries into the keyboard, then you could maybe reproduce and, to a degree, control the effect by adding a power starve (power crash) bend. Could be a cool addition.
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Ok, here's my Satellite with two nice bends and a makeover:
(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6/dsc01228l.jpg)
My first proper bend :)
this thing is so cool! i saw someone on ebay that had one of these built into a cabinet. it had inverted keys too. was it yours?
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No no, I'm not good enough at bending to sell my machines ;)
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did you paint the keys white/black?
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Hi I'm in the progress of transplanting a Hing Hong to a larger sized keyboard. I hope to add some mods / bends as well.
I have the model with the 3 boards, black blob, and transistor amp.
I finished wiring the keys, and I replaced the mic & master vol. control to potentiometers. I've also used 1/4" switched mono jacks for input and output.
If your interested in some pictures your welcome to have a look.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62235217@N07/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/62235217@N07/)
@breakbeatnazi I'm very interested in your mods, that you have shared privately. Maybe I can have a look as well?
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Also maybe someone coukd help with the pinout of this black blob ?
I've looked at that .pdf, and the schematic of my board differs from it.
Nevermind I got it.
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you know, a $15 stylophone is almost the same thing as a hing hon, but easier to find! and mods which are just as cool! just hook up an organ keyset...if you can find a lowery organ...it is so EASY to hook up REAL keys to a stylophone too!
the circuit in a stylophone almost exactly resemble that of my hing hon!
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hypothetically, what would one burn on a 'hing hon' pcb if he accidentally applied 12 volts?
not that i knew of anyone beeing so completely mindless...
frix
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Consider it as obsolete, I got myself two new ones. ::)
Anyone ever seen this layout of the EK-001? I never did...
Seems to me as it's kinda "better-quality, single-pcb-model".
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28790012/Foto_sm.jpg)
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Yeah, I've got one of those. Opened to check it but it's currently unbent. I'm suspecting it's pretty much the same schematic as the more common 3-boards-sketchily-soldered-together ones.
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I'm working on an EK-001, but i'm a bit of a proper electronics novice though. I'm trying to get an output for both layers of the polyphony so i can filter them individually (and get an envelope shape from each one). On the AK-900 circuit diagram there seems to be a transistor that looks like it inverts the signal before the amp chip. I have a couple of versions of this keyboard (the 'all on one board type' and the 'three boards linked with lots of wires' version) but neither seem to have this transistor on them.
For the controls for each envelope ive got a A100k pot in parallel with a 10u or 100u capacitor (switchable for 2 ranges). This is hooked up to replace or in parallel with the caps that control the env size from the diagram on this pdf: https://www.pololu.com/file/0J180/electronic_keyboard_kit.pdf
Any thoughts would be appreciate!
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Sounds like you know more about electronics than a lot of benders!
I have a suspicion that the separate outs are exclusive to the IC version, and not any of the blobs, which mix them internally before they reach any solderable traces. If I recall right, the drums are on one output and both synth channels on the other, whereas the IC has individual outs for all 4 drums and both synth channels (though I've not yet encountered an IC version).
So you may be a bit stuck there. One thought, though it may not really go with the dual channel approach you want to take, is I recommend getting hold of a dual A100k pot for the envelope, it's nice being able to control the two in unison!
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I think the blob ones do have both outs. They exit the chip via a pair of diodes.
RE dual pots. I like to use single slide pots close together, that way you can slide them both together or wiggle them separately! I recently made a 12 voice synth with individual sliders for each voices level, filter and noise amount, with all the sliders bunched together : https://vimeo.com/146105323
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Slide pots sounds a good approach for the way you're doing things. Personally I found it awkward to be playing the keyboard and have alternate notes sound different, but it's entirely a stylistic choice. Checked the video, that 12 voice sounds cool!
Here's how mine turned out btw :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7tOLv01S60
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Wow devastating!
Im making some slow but useful progress with my research. Ive got a super simple env response from each voice by putting LEDs in instead of the diodes on the board. These will be coupled with LDRs on a filter circuit with switches to change if it envelopes itself or the other voice. Im trying to find a full A-101-1 filter schematic (Preferably one modified so it can run on something other than +/- 15v).
I'll report back...
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Inspired by the way http://www.noystoise.com/ (http://www.noystoise.com/) reverse engineers synths from toy ICs and the way http://gieskes.nl/ (http://gieskes.nl/)does manhattan style soldering, I decided to try and do this with my hing hon chip. So ive built the basic bits to make it go from the ak-900 schematic and it can parp out notes and change instruments and play the demo etc (and added envelope size control). Ive worked out a simple resonant filter circuit that I can make a pair of for each voice of the polyphony.
I now want to modulate each of these by vactols paired with LEDs that follow the two envelopes, and an LFO.
Heres how its looking so far... :
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cCvaevk_rhM/Vq_EpQigyhI/AAAAAAAAAyY/dpi74PdcUrU/s640/12656129_10153970550308278_904342636_o.jpg)
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and heres how it sounds. Its with drums obvs : https://soundcloud.com/michaelanimationpage/band-and-new-synth-test
https://vimeo.com/161904129