electricwestern.com

To develop the best creations the old west has to offer, Electric Western is moving from the western port city of Los Angeles, to the renown artist colony of Taos, New Mexico. Home of the famous electroacoustic phenomenon - Taos Hum.

Lorin Edwin Parker will be working full time on developing a range of unique kits and artwork, and also pursuing "greener" business and lifestyle. We already have, in place, 0.75KW solar power, rainwater catchment, wind power prototypes, an electric car in progress, greywater treatment, and new innovations to remove the toxic from electronics design and manufacturing.

Please pardon the ruckus as we move, but, by October, our new shop will be ready to deliver the Phantastron kits, Pitch Ribbons, custom orders, custom machining, and all with a smaller carbon footprint and a lower cost!

The cost of living index comparing Los Angeles to New Mexico (from cnnmoney.com:

Groceries will cost: 16.083% less
Housing will cost: 61.899% less
Utilities will cost: 8.994% less
Transportation will cost: 14.176% less
Healthcare will cost: 10.412% less

That means 101% more for steam valves, vacuum tubes, germanium, copper and bronze! Plus there’s a great bunch of folks in Taos and Santa Fe that do amazing artwork and crafts. What other town has "blacksmiths" in the yellowpages (I mean real blacksmiths!!).

Plus, just speaking personally — I’m a 132 year old Westerner from Idledale, CO. It’ll be better to be back in the montain west frontier again.

If you’re in the Taos / Santa Fe area, we’d love to meet you, too. And feel free to come by, shoot the breeze and play a theremin or Phantastron. Or just marvel at the metalurgy and steampunk contraptions that are Electric Western.  Contact us and let us know.

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INTRODUCING: The Electric Western PHANTASTRON!

The Electric Western Phantastron is an amazing, new, all-tube synth VCO with capabilities for waveshaping and crazy effects

if you don’t want the details, just listen to the MP3 samples here (recorded direct line in, no effects).

Electric Western Phantastron Sample One - Square / Ramp wave generated at the plate. First controlled by a CV envelope (just a dc signal ramping up and down slowly), then synced with a sawtooth and tweaked.

Electric Western Phantastron Sample Two - Pulse wave output from the screen. First controlled by an envelope CV, then connected to an LFO and "knob tweaked". When synced to a high source, you can hear it locking and unlocking with the octave and other partials…

I can’t wait to Sing and Plug the drum machine into this thing. It will pulse and sync with anything!

Try and get a chunk of silicon and an led to do that!

Details:

The majority of the instrument is based on a classic pentode circuit, "The Phantastron" — No kidding, that’s what it’s really called. For more info on that I’ll send you to find some good books on vacuum tube computing or radar timing (try teh 1946 Cruft Labs book from Harvard, it’s one of my faves)…

Nerd Talk:

The phantastron takes a sharp timing pulse from a gas thyratron and integrates and differentiates it between its grids. The suppressor grid acts as input, creating a drop between suppressor and plate, then the screen grid grabs some of electrons from the pulse (creating a sort of rounded pulse). The control grid, meanwhile, which is held high, above the low-biased cathode charges more slowly, introducing a very steady voltage ramp between the plate and cathode. I’m kind of oversimplifying here, maybe badly, but you get the picture.

The 5 unique points within the pentode all react differently to an incoming pulse, and generate different waves for each pulse. A sort of square, a very linear saw, and some very interesting asymetrical pulses. The pentode itself also acts as a bit of a tank and resonates the waveforms, creating some filtering, ringing and sync possibilities.

To alter the Phantastron to musical usage, I had to do some serious tweaking… Not many precedents apply to audio-rate signals (although Leon Theremin {Lev Termen} is rumored to have used the phantastron circuit as a basis in his "terpsitone".

Regardless, this module REALLY sings. There are soooo many tonal possibilities. Plus, the inputs and outputs interface very well with existing analog modulars, audio signals and CV driven equipment. It also functions alone as it’s own instrument and could be hooked to far more sensors and controllers than just a knob… Or you could simply play drums or guitar through it and process your music in this unique way.

This will be the first kit that Electric Western offers to the public. So enjoy, and look forward to making and tweaking your own very soon.

This is a very special circuit and remind me of the old days playing with HeathKits in the basement. I’m very glad that I can offer this experience to you. It’s a great way to learn about tubes, synthesis and extra-super-old-school synth-brewing.

Lorin

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Okay, so here are some pics of the water cooled motor control module I obtained from a Honda EV+.

The IGBT modules underneath the capacitor packs are MG600J2YS59. Here’s a datasheet for the newer model, MG600J2Y60, which should be similar. Ill try and track down the exact model datasheet when I have a chance.

Meanwhile, does anybody have any insights on these modules? If you do, email me…

The Pics:

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Sarah and I are converting a conventional car into an electric vehicle (ev).

Why? Simply because it is beneficial, and because we can do it. By making our own EV, we are improving our lives, having fun, making something, and removing a polluting vehicle. No, it isn’t perfect, but it’s beneficial right now – and on an artist / professor salary….

Furthermore, with our access to surplus materials, creativity and smart folks, we can (hopefully) make an EV that is more affordable than typical conversions.

I’ll post technical considerations later — there are a lot, and I have plenty of ideas and opinons. However, AC vs. DC, range, cooling, accelleration are small points compared to our goal:

To make, own and use a zero emission vehicle cheaply.

The 1984 VW Rabbit that will serve as the chassis of our EV…

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Branding the "1936" chassis

The "1936" tube amplifier chassis was branded in a traditional wood fire, the old fashioned way, with a brand I forged from steel myself.

The 1936 is a new breed of tube amplifier, made for:

    Unique Color and Tone.

    Lots of harmonic content and resonance.

   Antique quality & craftsmanship.

    A variety of applications for all sound artists from synth players to radio restorers.

Right now it features a 1930’s vintage pentode input stage with line output and a loudspeaker output. It functions terrifically as a DI or to color and strengthen synthesizers. Or, simply to tweak out all the harmonics of any input to give a powerful antique tone.

All EW instruments are branded by hand in this manner. I insist upon the ritual, as it seals the bond between artisan and instrument in flame.

It also conjures the spirit of hand craftsmanship, pride and uniqueness that I wish to imbue on every Electric Western instrument. 

Go to the Instrument Page for the latest info on EW creations.