This is a square wave tone generator based around three 555 timers wired up as oscillators. I took some inspiration from the dub siren and figured if two were good then three would be better. This was mostly true. Several unlabeled pots control the oscillators impact on each other and then two signals are mixed at the final stage. Just as a note I get these pots by buying damaged internal boards of Mackie mixers. With a little time you can remove these great center detent pots for pennies. A schematic isn’t available right now but I will get something together and post soon.

There were a couple problems that I didn’t really notice until after the circuit was wired up. I used a pot to control the balance of the two signals going into and additive mixer at the output. This causes large swings in output volume depending on how far from center the pot is. When jamming it all in the box with a battery something happened  and one pot has no impact on the sound. These problems aside, the tone generator makes some great chirps, bleeps, bloops, and squeals.

I’ve recorded a string of the sounds you can generate with this tone generator, chopped it up into a couple dozen samples and included them for your use. If you end up using them in something I’d love to hear what you do.

You can see the complete set of photos here on Flickr

and samples:

This is a follow up to previous works of a similar grain by members of Master Mosquito, this track brings forward similar sounds of past tracks. Smooth and melodic synths backed with down tempo rhythms and crisp layered guitars which create an ethereal soundscape suitable for any listener. This is one of my favorites which compliments the similar track named ‘Tallboy’ nicely.  Much thanks to Aaron Schultz (DJ DRM) founder of Bastard Jazz, and Jamie Roberts for making this complete.

This work-in-progress is an unreleased (well, except for here)  follow up of past works of a similar grain by members of Master Mosquito. Emotive guitar styling with warm and sunny synth melodies carry you through this eclectic, spacious, and resonant track. Much like a Tallboy it’s good anytime in any situation. Much thanks to Aaron and Jamie for their hard work on this one.

You will find that the stripes included in this zip are not one-to-one matches with the final mix. As edits, adjustments, and rearrangements made I opted not to export the stripes a second time. Nonetheless, all the elements are there and ready to go!

Here’s what I wrote on the old site:

“Green” started several years ago and the initial melody was used in a song I co-wrote with a band that’s been long broke-up.  Out of respect for music in general I will never post the track’s roots; but eventually it was reworked into its current form. Pretty and melodic. Not bound by deadlines this will likely always be a work in progress as I’m constantly attempting to “fix” the drums. My perpetual dissatisfaction notwithstanding, please enjoy!

This still holds true.  The sounds in the beginning of this song are some of my favorites.

“Orange” sounds a bit like Trans Am meets Ratatat and uses some interesting point and counterpoint melodies that blend together across a tight unaggressive rhythm.   It’s not danceable but it’s definitely listenable.  The melody sounds continuous but it’s actually two different parts that introduce themselves in the beginning then overlay on top of each other making a nice moving progression.  In retrospect, changing the tambre of the two parts or panning them in the mix might make that more apparent.  Lessons learned for next time.

This is a track from Master Mosquitto (Aaron Schultz, Jed Elijah Mowshowitz, and David Langolf, with guitars by Jamie Roberts) put out on Bastard Jazz records back in 2004.  From Bastard Jazz: a melancholy beat driven downtempo joint – heavily layered with droning synths, delayed percussion, and distorted guitar mumblings intersecting with emotive and pastoral post-rock loops.

This one is a few years old but it still puts a smile on my face. 

The MP3 is Available through iTunes. For more information check out Bastard Jazz

We still have the stripes for remixing though: