Introduction: The SynthCat 4000

By Artist site
About: Brian McNamara is an experimental instrument builder and sound sculpture artist based in Bungendore, NSW, Australia. Brian mixes his passions for music, electronics and sculpture into unique objects that shou…

Is it a synth, is it a cat... It's a SynthCat 4000!

You can find a video of this beastie here: https://youtu.be/AViN59aRU58?si=wULrvJ-bv8XBa1NO

This is a super basic little project based electronically and lets face it physically on an Arduino UNO. Print out a few parts, hook up the 2 pots and audio plug, upload the code and you're good to go.

Two basic controls: the head controls the frequency and the tail controls the modulation.

Supplies

Parts:

2x 10k PCB mount potentiometers

1x Arduino UNO

1x Wire about 1 meter

1x 3.5mm audio socket

3x Header strip (this normally comes with the Arduino)

1x Heat shrink a few centimeters

A small amount of filament for 3d printing.

1x USB cable for power and to program the Arduino


Tools:

3D Printer

Computer to program the Arduino

Soldering iron

Solder

Side cutters

Hot glue gun

Step 1: The Fun Printing Part

Print the parts; go the the link and print the parts in the colours of your favourite cat. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6574190/files

I printed it all in one go with supports only on the head and tail connectors.

Step 2: Getting Started on the Board

Cut the 6 ISCP pins (sometimes they are not there) flush using side cutters. This will allow the head connector to fit.

Step 3: Soldering

Wire up the 2 pots and the audio connector. I used heatshrink to make it tidy.

Connections:

Audio connector + to Arduino Pin 11

Audio connector - to Arduino GND


Head pot left to Arduino GND

Head pot middle to Arduino pin AO

Head pot right to Arduino 5V


Tail pot left to Arduino GND

Tail pot middle to Aduino pin A1

Tail pot right to Arduino 5V

Step 4: Fitting the Printed Parts I

Add the head and tail connectors, you can use a little hot glue here to keep them stable if you need.

Step 5: Fitting the Printed Parts II

Add the legs. You can use a little hot glue here to add stability.

Step 6: Mount the Pots

Slide the 2 pots up into the head and tail supports. The pot connected to A0 on the Arduino is the head and the pot connected to A1 is the tail. A little hot glue can be used here for supports.

Step 7: And I'll Form the Head

This is it, time to place the head and tail.

Step 8: Programming

Now we need to program your SynthCat:

  1. Download the Arduino IDE
  2. Add the "the_synth" library. If you are unfamiliar with adding libraries just do a search for "add Arduino library" This is the link to the library: https://github.com/dzlonline/the_synth
  3. Download my CatSynth 4000 file and upload it to the Arduino.

Attachments

Step 9: Play

This is it, you have done it.

The real fun starts here, now you can modify the Arduino file to create a different sounding kitty or modify the STL files for a different looking kitty.

I really hope you have fun with this project, I'm always here to help if you run into any problems.

Happy noise making...