Analog Circuits for Music Synthesis

(2-0-3-3)

CMPE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the CMPE degree.

EE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the EE degree.

Lab Hours: 0 supervised lab hours and 3 unsupervised lab hours.

Technical Interest Groups / Course Categories: Threads / ECE Electives

Course Coordinator: Aaron D Lanterman

Prerequisites: (ECE 3043 [min C] or ECE 3741 [min C]) and ECE 3084 [min C]

Catalog Description

Circuits from classic analog synthesizers: voltage-controlled oscillators, filters, and amplifiers; nonlinear waveshapers. Operational transconductance amplifiers. Exploitation of dynamic resistance of semiconductors. Hands-on projects.

Textbook(s)

Course Outcomes

Analyze circuits employing operational transconductance amplifiers. 

Analyze linear and exponential voltage-to-current converters. 

Analyze sawtooth-core and triangle-core voltage controlled oscillators. 

Exploit the nonlinearities and dynamic resistance of semiconductor devices. 

Analyze various voltage controlled filter configurations, such as Sallen-Key filters, state variable filters, and the Moog ladder filter.

Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)

N/A

Topic List

  1. Historical perspective
  2. Demonstration of a modular synthesizer
  3. Circuit theory review (emphasis on operational amplifiers)
  4. Operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs)
    1. Voltage-controlled amplifiers
    2. Linear current sources
  5. Voltage-controlled oscillators
    1. Sawtooth cores (comparators with resettable integrators)
    2. Temperature-compensated exponential current sources
    3. Triangle cores (comparators and integrators with current switches)
    4. Basic waveshaping circuits
    5. Complex waveshaping circuits for generating time-varying spectra
  6. Voltage controlled filters (VCFs)
    1. Single-pole OTA-C VCFs (resistor replacement and "systems" viewpoints)
    2. Four-pole VCFs with feedback (pole migration and resonance peaks)
    3. Transistor-ladder and diode-ladder VCFs (dynamic resistance)
    4. Second-order filter properties
    5. State-variable VCFs
    6. Sallen-Key VCFs