El Dinosaurio

El Dinosaurio is the nickname of an analog patch chord programmable voltage controlled synthesizer that I designed and built from scratch in the late 70's and early 80's (in Buenos Aires, Argentina). This is the second synthesizer I built, it took me about 1 1/2 years to finish and I was done sometime in 1981 (the first one was a clone of the ARP Oddysey). I did the electronic and mechanical design, hand etched all the PCBs, cut the face plates, and assembled the whole monster. This is the front panel:

Modules (top rack, from left to right):

• Power Supply (blank panel)
• Pink and White noise source, Ring Modulator
• Dual VCO
• MIDI to CV converter (PAIA Kit, added in 2007)
• Dual VCF, one HP/BP/LP 12dB/octave, one LP 24dB/octave
• ADSR envelope generator and VCA
• Digital programmable sequencer (700 steps, A/D D/A, all hardwired logic)

Modules (bottom rack, from left to right):

• 5 channel analog mixer (noise, RM, VCO1, VCO2, VCO2)
• LFO
• ADSR envelope generator

And this is a complete view:

I don't normally use my old keyboard controller, I just drive it from a MIDI controller and/or my computer.

It was never meant to leave my room back in Buenos Aires, but now it has been to Germany twice for concerts and (barely) survived the trips.

Fernando Lopez-Lezcano

Composer, performer, lecturer and computer systems administrator at CCRMA, Stanford University

Quick Links

El Dinosaurio
Applesauce Modular Mark V
Planet CCRMA

Music & Performances

Of Dinosaurs and Other Creatures
The Well Modulated Dinosaur
The Love Songs of Flying Dinosaurs
El PianoSaurio
Dinosaur He[a]rd!
Wings
Resurrections
Pia[NOT] Etude
The Miraculous Multiplication of Strings
Y Sonó Como Arpa Vieja
Un Esqueleto en la Cocina
The Hidden and Mysterious Machinery of Sound
Modulate me, please?
Space, S[acred|ecular]
Vox Voxel
Toast and Jam
Divertimento de Cocina
Velvet Skin, Heart of Steel
Fugue 1 (Fanfare)
Jurassic Modulations
Earth Songs
Dinosaur Skin
A Very Fractal Cat, Somewhat T[h]rilled
65 Second Bycicle
The Dinosaur At War
Exit Variations
El Dinosaurio Habla
Kitchen <-> Miniature(s)
Instant Knoll
iICEsCcRrEeAaMm
House of Mirrors
With Room to Grow
Knock knock, anybody there?
Three Dreams
Espresso Machine II
Hot'n Cold
Quest