@@ -16,25 +16,26 @@ A research project on e-textile circuits and soft interfaces for making noise wi
# PLAY / LEARN / MAKE / HACK
# PLAY / MAKE / LEARN / HACK
## PLAY
Playing Stitch Synth is easy! Snap the modules together, plug it into a speaker, and touch / press / pull the sensors to make different sounds.
Go to the [PLAY](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/01play/) page for more information on how to play Stitch Synth.
## LEARN
Stitch Synth is an analog synthesizer. With no computers, no coding, not even a microcontroller, all the sounds are generated by logic chips (aka CMOS ICs) working in combination with capacitors and resistors.
The [LEARN](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/02learn/) page has more detail about how Stitch Synth actually works, including circuit diagrams, an explanation of logic gates, and an introduction to e-textiles.
## MAKE
You can make your own Stitch Synth! Access to certain toosl - a laser cutter, embroidery machine, and a soldering iron - will help, but you can make some or even all of the modules without them.
Big influences for Stitch Synth were *Handmade Electronic Music* by Nicolas Collins, and the [Logic Noise](https://hackaday.com/2015/04/10/logic-noise-more-cmos-cowbell/) on Hackaday. I highly recommend these if you want to get into making your own analog synths!
For detailed instructions go to the [MAKE](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/03make/) page.
## MAKE
You can make your own Stitch Synth! Depending on what materials you can get your hands on, you can make some or all of the modules.
## LEARN
Stitch Synth is an analog synthesizer. With no computers, no coding, not even a microcontroller, all the sounds are generated by logic chips (aka CMOS ICs) working in combination with capacitors and resistors.
For detailed instructions go to the [MAKE](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/03make/) page.
The [LEARN](https://class.textile-academy.org/2019/jessica.stanley/projects/02learn/) page has more detail about how Stitch Synth actually works, including circuit diagrams, and links to more in-depth resources on the circuits that make it all work.
Big influences for Stitch Synth were *Handmade Electronic Music* by Nicolas Collins, and the [Logic Noise](https://hackaday.com/2015/04/10/logic-noise-more-cmos-cowbell/) on Hackaday. I highly recommend these if you want to get into making your own analog synths!
What's analog about an analog synth? This word causes a bit of confusion because the word analog can mean two slightly different things:
What's analog about an analog synth? Finding a simple and easy way to explain this is something I still haven't mastered, and this quest has taken me down a bit of an an electronics and signal processing rabbit hole. So for now let me point you in the direction of [this Sparkfun explanation of digital and analog signals](https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/analog-vs-digital/digital-signals) and [this other one one digital and analog circuits](https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/analog-vs-digital/analog-and-digital-circuits).
In our world we have two types of signals (or two types of information):
* DIGITAL signals are binary. On or off, True or False, 1 or 0, high or low, and nothing in between.
* ANALOG signals can vary continuously between two points. It's not just on or off, but
For example:
* Light switches that can be either on or off are binary. Dimmer switches are analog.
* Your phone or computer can be on or off (binary), but the battery percentage can be anything between 0% and 100% (analog)
* An exam that is pass/ fail is binary. An exam where you can score anything between 0% and 100% is analog (or if we're being pedantic, the grading system is binary / analog, not the exam itself).
But the way we often use the terms analog / digital in daily life is more like:
If you don't want to really get into the details, here's a surface-level explanation. Basically, when we use the terms digital and analog in normal (non-technical) conversation, they are often used to mean:
* Digital: computers, smartphones, the internet, basically anything electronic
* Analog: the real world. No electronics.
* Analog: the real world. No electronics
The technical meanings of these terms are a bit different. And when we talk about analog vs digital synthesizers, what we mean is: in an analog synth, electronic components - capacitors, resistors, potentiometers, transistors, and integrated circuit (IC) chips - are arranged in configurations that create signals that we can turn into sound. Digital synths, on the other hand, replace a lot of these components with a computer (or a microcontroller like an Arduino).
Digital vs analog circuits.
To put it another way, imagine you need to carry out a specific task, like transporting a ball across a room. An analog synth is like creating a Rube-Goldberg machine to do this, setting up an array of different objects that, when placed in exactly the right way, will carry the ball where it needs to go. A digital synth would be more like a robot that you would program to understand the instruction 'carry a ball across the room'.
Building digital synths requires coding and less hands-on electronics, and analog synths require zero coding but lots and lots of different components. There's much debate about which is the superior form of sound synthesis, but for me personally I found it satisfying to create circuits the analog way. I've written more about my decision to go the analog route in my [project diary](<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/Qo3qovmbqaKT6" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><ahref="https://giphy.com/gifs/rube-goldberg-machine-rude-Qo3qovmbqaKT6">via GIPHY</a></p>)
## Modular
Probably the simplest part to understand, 'modular' means that Stitch Synth is made of separate parts, or modules, that connect together. Modular synths have been around since the 1960s, and are still in use today. Classic modular synths use patch cables (the coloured wires in the image below) to connect inputs and outputs of different modules together - personally I'm a big fan of the 'big mess of wires' aesthetic, but it is also pretty complex, and totally bewildering for newcomers to modular synthesis.
