Collin’s Lab: Atari Punk Console

Music Technology
Collin’s Lab: Atari Punk Console

YouTube player

http://bit.ly/prZRJ1
A true classic for DIY synth makers and circuit benders, the Atari Punk Console can kick out some ear-catching square waves. It’s easy to build and a lot of fun to play around with. It may be challenging to make traditional music with an APC, but hey — there’s enough of that around already, right?

1 thought on “Collin’s Lab: Atari Punk Console

  1. Synthesis with Light – Atari Punk Console/Forrest Mims PunkPac | The steamship says:

    […] Punk Console. For a very entertaining introduction to the Atari Punk console, have a look at the Collin’s Lab introduction to the Atari Punk console on […]

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

ADVERTISEMENT

Music Technology
Collin’s Lab: Atari Punk Console

A true classic for DIY synth makers and circuit benders, the Atari Punk Console can kick out some ear-catching square waves. It’s easy to build and a lot of fun to play around with. It may be challenging to make traditional music with an APC, but hey, there’s enough of that around already, right?

Subscribe to the Collin’s Lab Podcast in iTunes, download the m4v video directly, or watch it on YouTube and Vimeo.

Oh, and here’s a schematic for the APC I built in this video:
(The 556 timer chip is shown in two parts in order to emphasize the two separate timers included in the IC.)

33 thoughts on “Collin’s Lab: Atari Punk Console

  1. Christian Restifo says:

    Hmmmm….already made crystal radios with my Cub Scouts. May need to do this to really annoy the parents……

  2. Christian Restifo says:

    Hmmmm….already made crystal radios with my Cub Scouts. May need to do this to really annoy the parents……

  3. Christian Restifo says:

    Hmmmm….already made crystal radios with my Cub Scouts. May need to do this to really annoy the parents……

    1. Collin Cunningham says:

      that’s one lucky troop!

  4. Mark says:

    The APC was how I learned to solder…. good times

  5. Santiago Ozafrain says:

    Hi! Nice video. I’ve tried this project and encountered two problems. The first one is that the potentiometers don’t work gradually, the changes are too abrupt. I couldn’t get 1M and used 500k ones, my guess is that that’s the problem. And the other one is that the output is too low. I plugged it to my guitar amp but the volume is very low. I used a 1k resistance instead of the 4.7k before the output, can this affect? Thanks, sorry for my english. Bye, Santiago.

    1. Saulo Silva says:

      Maybe you are using a logarithmic instead of the linear potentiomer, that makes this abrupt changes. i guess…

  6. Jordan Gutierrez Jr. says:

    pitfall…..i love that game

  7. Mike Wittmer says:

    I found these videos yesterday…very cool! I’m an instant fan.

    I’m trying to find a couple of parts used in the video for this project. 1. the power jack soldered to the board which Colin attaches his 9v bat to. 2. the little rings he installed to support the pots.

  8. Zomby mike says:

    I would really like a good look at the bottom of that completed board. Take a snapshot for me?

    1. josh says:

      same here dude

  9. William says:

    i am a noob at electronics, i have no idea what to do, do you think it is possible for a noob like me to do this project?

    1. Jason says:

      Im a noob to and i did it.

  10. a fellow electronics hobbiest says:

    i was wondering were i could find schematics for this using 2 555 timers… instead of 1 556 timer… my spare parts are limited!

  11. a fellow electronics hobbiest says:

    wait… never mind… the schematics you posted should work!

  12. giedriuszzz says:

    I make this AFC with two NE555, forked perfect.
    http://giedriausweb.lt/?p=62

  13. mosantos says:

    I’m having some troubles :(
    yesterday I make this circuit and it worked perfectly.But today I can’t make it work??
    I’ve not change it.
    Anyone can help me?
    Sorry for my English :)

  14. graehme says:

    just built a homemade motherboard from scratch. took me 4 years to plan and make and now im done. Only works with a special home built security card that plugs into the motherboard to make it run or it will not work. built in ram of 512 mb running a os that i paid my buddy to make. and alot of pic processors combined to make it compare to a pentium. Supports only my custom made video card that has a custom slot to attatch to motherboard. Video card has a whopping 256 megabytes of ram and core clock of 400mhz. Reads floppy disks only. no cd’s.

  15. Thijs v Beers says:

    could it be split in half, like two circuits. one with a potentiometer to pitch a constant tone, and one with a potentiometer to break a tone. I`ve got two small containers an apc cant fit in but half an apc can maybe, if you have any other ideas for small noismakers I would like to get them.

  16. Blinkyblinky says:

    What is the synth you are playing with in the beginning?

  17. johngalt says:

    In the audio he says it is the Sound Lab synth. It is from musicfromouterspace.com
    YOu can check google for links.

  18. Nick Latocha says:

    I decided to create a similar sounding patch in Max/MSP for those who aren’t too hot on soldering…..

    http://www.myredhotcar.co.uk/blogg/?p=376

    Although not truely authentic is creates a decent stepped tone sound.

  19. Dylon Jamna says:

    Are those 500k or 1m ohm potentiometers?

  20. Bill says:

    Can someone please list me all the components needed to make this exact device please?

  21. Brad says:

    I made this, but only the potentiometer controlling pitch is working. There is nothing wrong with the potentiometer so what could be wrong?

  22. sam says:

    What kind of capacitors?

  23. Bline the lynx says:

    what might go wrong if i use 50k pots instead of 1M pots? the first obvious concern is giving the 556 to much current

    i dont have 2 1M pots laying around and i really dont want to go get them

    rawr help!

    1. jayson says:

      You can use other sensors like photo-resistors and stuff,.so i’m sure a 10k pot and a photo-resistor might be cool ..(I haven’t tried) so I can’t say for sure..I’ll prob try something similar, cuz I only have one 1M pot ,the rest are 10 k…..

  24. JS7457 says:

    So cool ! I done it and it so cool !!

  25. sinta maharani says:

    Nice article about drone moreover accompanied by a video. It helps mengobati keputihan dengan cara alami in studying it.

  26. Paradox says:

    I tired to build one with similar connections, but either the pots got burnt or something else….

    I wonder how the pots are connected in the video (especially the two little wire attached to the 3rd pin)

    also

    Can I attached pin 4 and 10 directly to the 2nd pot pin?

  27. Brian Doom says:

    The facial expressions really sell this video for me!

  28. Jensi says:

    Circuit board is the important factor in electronic components.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK