Building and playing the LMN-3 DIY open source synthesiser

00:00 sponsored by @PCBWay
00:12 introduction
00:57 getting the PCB and the enclosure
04:04 other hardware needed (and current prices)
05:24 soldering the diodes
06:19 ... the Teensy 4.1
07:39 ... the microswitches
08:25 ... the joystick and the encoders
08:43 assembling screen and case and Pyssla ;-)
11:18 keycap stickers & Barry
11:48 compiling and installing the Teensy firmware
13:18 installing Debian Bullseye on the Raspberry PI
14:00 installing the LMN-3 DAW
14:19 adjusting touch screen settings
15:17 important considerations
16:00 booting the synth (real time)
17:23 uploading samples, creating a .yaml file for drum sets
18:00 UI overview
18:30 adding a plugin (4OSC virtual analog synth)
18:53 short 4OSC plugin overview
20:18 adding effect plugins
20:56 step sequencer
22:25 adding a drum track
23:37 adding a (chromatic) sampler track
24:16 ... improvising on a track ...
24:46 conclusion / my personal opinion on this device and current internet discussions / whom is this for? / call for developers
26:28 demo track 2 (muting and unmuting while playing)
27:53 demo track 3 (Vangelis impression using an external reverb pedal)
29:38 outro, summary

Links & Resources

Join this channel to get access to perks:

Here's what I have in my setup at the moment. Want to have that, too? Please use the followings links and support me:

MPC One, Novation PEAK, Reface DX, Strymon Nightsky, Strymon Volante, Strymon Iridium, Zoom MS 70 CDR, Korg NanoKontrol 2, Korg NanoKey, Akai EWI USB, Zoom R24, Zoom H5, Yamaha MT7:

Some bands / artists I've been following for a long time are (among others) Massive Attack, Pink Floyd, Pet Shop Boys, Archive, A-Ha, Yes, Porcupine Tree, John Mellencamp, Jean-Michel Jarre, Metallica, Peter Gabriel and Perturbator. So my music will kind of sound like those (without ever reaching the greatness of those artists, of course). :-)

[mr_floydst]

Index and links to resources for smartphone users. 🙂
00:00 sponsored by @PCBWay
00:12 introduction
00:57 getting the PCB and the enclosure
04:04 other hardware needed (and current prices)
05:24 soldering the diodes
06:19 ... the Teensy 4.1
07:39 ... the microswitches
08:25 ... the joystick and the encoders
08:43 assembling screen and case and Pyssla ;-)
11:18 keycap stickers & Barry
11:48 compiling and installing the Teensy firmware
13:18 installing Debian Bullseye on the Raspberry PI
14:00 installing the LMN-3 DAW
14:19 adjusting touch screen settings
15:17 important considerations
16:00 booting the synth (real time)
17:23 uploading samples, creating a .yaml file for drum sets
18:00 UI overview
18:30 adding a plugin (4OSC virtual analog synth)
18:53 short 4OSC plugin overview
20:18 adding effect plugins
20:56 step sequencer
22:25 adding a drum track
23:37 adding a (chromatic) sampler track
24:16 ... improvising on a track ...
24:46 conclusion / my personal opinion on this device and current internet discussions / whom is this for? / call for developers
26:28 demo track 2 (muting and unmuting while playing)
27:53 demo track 3 (Vangelis impression using an external reverb pedal)
29:38 outro, summary

Links & Resources

Also, as mentioned by @klangraum, "As an alternative to the Raspberry Pi, compatible single board computers can be used. These are not all affected by the price increase and continue to cost ~€50. But you would probably have to adjust the holes. Examples are: Orange Pi 3, Khadas VIM2, Tinker Board 2S."

[fundamentalfrequency]

Thanks for trying out/building a LMN-3! Incredibly well produced video. Awesome job on the music as well. Things are definitely a little rough around the edges still, but hopefully with it being free and open source more people can contribute and continue to make improvements. Great build!

[jtmurr]

So very happy to see a detailed, quality video about this build process. when i first found the project a few months ago i was very excited and scrambled to get my hands on all of the components and got to work despite my lack of experience with any electronics or raspberry pis or linux. I got through the physical build process but hit a wall when it came time to set up the firmware and actually unite everything in a complete unit, and gave up due to my lack of knowledge with linux and vscode. now i am inspired to pull it back out and finish with a video of someone going through the process to follow. Thank you very much, whether I am able to use this complete my project or not, you've earned a enthusiastic subscriber

[JonathanDotExe]

Great explaination and demo. I don't often watch 30 minute videos but you made me watch it through :). It's great seeing so many open source synth projects recently and seeing how they evolve closer and closer to becoming professionally usable.

[DawlessHouseMusic]

Congrats on making it happen! I look forward to seeing more breadboard projects in the future!

[mksln]

Awesome video as always Floyd, great to see you got it finished and working! Very nice tracks too! 🙂

[lightbeatz]

really cool that there now print services and really cool to see how a synth is build

[StepDub]

Floyd, thanks for this, it’s just what many have been looking for.

[BramBramsBerg]

New achievement unlocked. Nice to be a witness of your evolution in YouTube. Great job. Now it seems plausible I maybe will try to follow your steps. 👏👏👏👍👍

[dillipphunbar]

Well balanced explanation and demonstration. This synth does have potential. Your video expertise gets better and better.

[va]

We need a company to make an actual op1 killer because teenage Engineering is just pissing in our eyes.

[XavierRadix]

Another fun project I would like to try in the future! Cool as always.

[nacs]

Incredible work assembling, video-ing(?), and making the demo tracks. This item has a lot of potential

[roterodamus]

This project has great potential, especially the daw and I think that they should focus on that part altogether IMHO. Making a midi controller using a teensy 4.1 and mechanical keys is expensive. and maybe even unnecessary and could be replaced by a pro micro or more elegant some multiplexers and the RPI GPIO pins. A teensy 4.1 already runs an OP-1 killer with M8 headless. If this project would utilize a generic USB computer keyboard or something like a joypad or maybe even cheap commercial midi controllers like the Akai APC mini this could gain a lot more traction.

[lundsweden]

OMG not sure if I need one of these, but I love building computers and computer-y things!

[treennumbers]

Thanks for the full walkthru. It looks like we've gotten to the point where we have various chips which can be programmed for specialized uses and yet somehow we seem to keep using the same old idea of one central processor and external specialized processors.

[johngalvin]

Thanks Floyd, as always informative and entertaining, I agree with you if the improvements are implemented it will really be something. As always respect.

[cjlewis]

Teensys are now around 30 bucks and Pi 4B I have found for 60. I have access to a 3D printer so that lowers overall cost. 250 cost for parts and for another 120 a 2nd can be made based on the parts bought for the 1st! Made two of them that have a black case and black/white keys so it looks like a piano. Its been so fun and use it way more than when I had an OP1.

[FlatG]

Another great and entertaining video of a massive uphill climb to achieve minimum musical equipment reward! I Love it, made me inspired to dust off my old raspberry PI and start my own experiment! ❤❤

[jacobrosen]

I love the IKEA spacers. I'm going to start use that