Dad & Son Build a Thompson-Bell Custom Tube Console

[matriachamplification]

Hello groupDIY

I am looking for any insight into our development of online lesson plan for Mr. Thompson-Bell's MKIII Tube Console design.
Presently my 12 year old son and I are building out a Classic EZ Tube Mixer verbatim to the original specs.
That said it makes no sense to create 3D exploded modelling and interactive step by step lesson plans given the new MKIII is in development.

THE FURNITURE: We wanted to created something portable and classic that incorporates the compact size, flexibility and ease of implementation into new audio environments.
This is the basic idea for the MKIII Furniture with the addition of hinged fold out legs of some sort that double as a 19" rack when in desk format while protection when collapsed.

THE PLAYBACK: The goal is to create a console that accommodates close proximity mixing in 3D digital audio programs like Wwise, Dolby Atmos or Fmod where traditional channel based monitoring is replaced with a digital, malleable sphere around the users position.

The MKIII 12 Analog in 19 " space meant we could design and build a comprehensive mastering and monitoring system build on Tube and Analog tech in a large format.
At this point, with artwork, modeling and lesson plans in progress we are hoping to get some insight into the best way to present a affordable or even free educational program where the lessons are built on MKIII builds.

DIY Audio & Soldering Online Lesson Plan
With a multi-national collective of very forward thinking and established DIY Audio Device Designers and Manufacturers we have developed a "badge" certification system for DIY home builders.

The program is simple, we support a group of 13 interested parties contributing to a DIY Crate of the Month Bulk Buyers club. Along with Hakko America (Partner) & Electro Harmonix (Partner) we have a website and online cloud based teaching platform called PATREON we are offering our course through.

DIY Kits & Educational Hakko America Soldering Kits are purchased  through our Patreon, www.patreon.com/majesticelectric, platform and shipped directly to students from the manufacturers each month.
We support the construction of these Pro Audio Devices and the existing manufacturers instructions.
below are a list of our programs founding partners.

DIY Kits are offered at discounted bulk pricing for 13 online classmates at a time with a whole slew of builds to choose from.

• 
  [li]HAKKO America
  DIYre
  Trinity Amps
  Erica Synths
  Microphone Parts
  Electronics by Uwe Beis
  Ethan Winers
  Electro Harmonix
  

Look forward to hearing your ideas.

Wall

 

[mjrippe]

Sounds neat and I like the case idea.  What did Ian have to say about it?

 

[ruffrecords]

Sounds neat and I like the case idea.  What did Ian have to say about it?

Wall and I have been discussing his idea of running a specialised pro audio course for several months. I am very much in favour of people learning more about tubes and how to use and design with them so I am doing what I can to support him. The EZTubeMixer project is now quite mature so it is a relatively safe build (in the sense that it is known to work and relatively easy to get going).

Mechanics is always a problem area so Wall is basing his mechanical approach on the crossover console idea I discussed in my most recent blog post:

https://mark3vtm.blogspot.com/2019/11/crossover-tube-mixer.html

Here the electronics is built into a number of of standard 19 inch sub-racks that also provide overall screening for the electronics. This allows the case to be a relatively simple wooden construction fitted with 19 inch rails. So apart from the case, all the mechanical bits are available off the shelf. The beauty of this approach is that in the future when the Mark 3 modules are available, the same basic mechanical construction can be used to build mixers with twice the number of channels.

The only thing I would add is that I would recommend Wall includes removable bottom panels in his wooden case. The reason is that without them it is extremely awkward to fit the wiring harnesses that connect the various 19 inch racks together. This was the one thing I regret not doing in the design shown in the blog. The add on cost of having removable panels is small and pays real dividend when building and debugging the wiring.

Cheers

Ian

 

[matriachamplification]

Sounds neat and I like the case idea.  What did Ian have to say about it?

Hello mjrippe

thank you for the enquiry.

The desk design and construction will eventually be spearheaded by Martin Pilchner of Pilchner Schoustal as part of a Mastering Suite and Voice Over facility for Video Game Industry.
http://www.pilchner-schoustal.com/work/acoustic-workshop/
...more on this as it develops...

Mr. Thompson-Bell has been a solid support with positive insight into growth both for his Audio Designs as well as how to remain focused given the multitude of variations available in the CTC System. The partnership that formed is first and foremost to support Mr. Thompson-Bell. Given this is a iterative process we have created full plans to see CTC products promoted through main stream pro audio marketing channels as well as plans for "micro" manufacturing capabilities for our students/programs material needs.

As my family has a background in Industrial Training we are able to lean on many standard measurement systems to encourage learning in a product based environment. This is unprecedented in the current audio educational cirriculum with focus being on digital (which is easy to learn when you know analog).

I am working on a online test to showcase the presentation of progress. This is built on Mr. Thompson-Bells Pulteq EPQ1/ME5 with High Frequency Induction.

More soon.

Wall

 

[matriachamplification]

Mechanics is always a problem area so Wall is basing his mechanical approach on the crossover console idea

This is a great point to build on.

We are putting our money into documentary footage that pairs with the interactive iOS/Android app that anyone can watch and digitally build out the console with an actual product based result.

It is arrogant of me to assume I can create a useable platform without insight.

Whats your idea?
What do you want developed?

Outside of building the dangerous power section and back panel (which I feel should be offered as a pre-built items for purchase) personally I am interested in seeing a Culture Vulture'esque card added to the current line up and a Tube Compressor.

With the intent of building out prototypes and raffling them off to students, there is lots of fun incentives to being involved. We intend to collaborate on building CTC MKIII and Classic Systems with no real use for all the gear....

More soon...

Wall

 

[Rocinante]

Well I am certainly a fan of Ian's and think this long overdue. Thank you for taking this up.

 

[matriachamplification]

We are humbled and completely thrilled to be working with Mr. Thompson-Bell and his contribution to the future of Analog Audio Design.
We are just putting together bundled kit options from a DIY Educational supplier, one I order from regularly only 2 hours from our farm. With the Canadian dollar being so low and our Import/Export handled by a third party broker, one versed in music instrument transport.

We are believers of rapid prototyping and are ready to collaborate bulk costs asap with anyone looking to build out CTC designs be it current or MKIII.

My wife says that this is a "train the trainer" opportunity for established DIY Audio Designers leading to casual contract Desing positions. We have a Branding Lawyer on our team so any individual designs can be integrated into a plan with official channels of oversight. 

We are extending this exclusively to groupDIY members. Truth, I am exhausted, there is a LOT of mental planning that goes into any development of this magnitude and help is appreciated and can be compensated (within reason, I am on Disability afterall

More soon...

Wall

~addition~ No one beleives me when I tell them about Mr. Thompson-Bells designs. There is a lot of interest without even going into official promotion or conversations about our planned platform.

 

[matriachamplification]

Radiotron Designers Handbook.

The lengthy process of turning RDH4 into a educational documentary screenplay is well underway with 1950's military electronics training films being a big part of our current stock footage, B Roll material.

As this is a mass amount of information we will be releasing some early film footage for interested parties to review.

 

[PRR]

> turning RDH4 into a educational documentary screenplay

 

[matriachamplification]

> turning RDH4 into a educational documentary screenplay

Thank you PRR. What a thoughtful share, it is very much appreciated.

Yes the RDH4 is the holy grail of Analog Audio Design. I discovered this reading Mr. Thompson-Bells paper NFB 101
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_n67A1hN3qtR09CekNiSDM1N0k

With that said we are working on the first 7 chapters ending our first mini-documentary at Negative Feedback.

I hope everyone likes obscure audio designer history and the EZ Tube Console

 

[PRR]

Formal announcement:

 

[PRR]

2-

 

[PRR]

3

 

[PRR]

4
(anybody seen the Polish edition??)

 

[matriachamplification]

Formal announcement:

This is an amazing find. Looks like the layout for the film poster

 

[matriachamplification]

Notable mention.

We are currently reconnecting with NASA Ambassador Rachel Zimmerman Brachman, whom invented the BlissSymbol Printer.

I had reached out to Rachel about aiding with the educational side of the project as well as participating in films narrative and insight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Zimmerman

 

[Rocinante]

Ian baby fed me in the thread 'another Neve summing mixer' and it was a tremendous opportunity for me and everyone else who followed along. I learned so much and am eternally grateful to Ian for his endless patience with me. He is not only a great teacher but his designs are incredibly well done and have helped me understand a lot in pro audio design.
Ian's Helios thread regarding Dick Swetenham and the Redd modules is like pro recording anthropology coming to life before your very eyes. He connects the dots and allows us all to reap the benefits of his acute observations.  It is truly fascinating.
And if that wasn't enough Mr. Thompson-Bell makes all his designs available online for everyone to use.
I am excited that you have taken this on as it gives a shout out of praise to these endlessly patient geniuses like Jakob Erland of Gyraf Audio, Volkner Meyer of [silent:arts], Teekay at TK audio, PRR, CJ, Jeff Steiger, Guatav, Zayance, John Roberts, Abby Road, SSL Tech, Rochey, Paolo at APP Studio ing, Mnats, Bruno2000 (rip), Udo, Sahib, Mike at Hairball, David at Cinemag, and the list goes on (pardon me if i didnt put you down, you are loved) who guide us boneheads through this strange corner of the world.  I have learned so much from these people and others, I can't express how grateful I am.
So thank you

 

[matriachamplification]

...He connects the dots

 
Unfortunately, given the sheer magnitude of research into DIY Audio we are forced to pull back a bit and have a scalpel focus on the projects scope. This was mandated as the communication and candor of the, and within the, pro audio manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors of the industry was not pleasant for me.
Fortunately Mr. Thompson-Bells designs give the distinct advantage of a full spectrum of conversational topics helping most of all to build off his visions.


Here are some details.
We are currently in talks with Emmy nominated Composer Christian Ruggiero regarding the audio lead position. Christian is also the proprietor of Preservation Sounds website.
https://www.preservationsound.com/
http://christianruggiero.com/

Jakob Erland of Gyraf Audio we have reached out to in regards to his official product line acting as a benchmark standard we can fall back on during discussions throughout the films content.

Recycled, Reclaimed, Re-Purposed and Revived
This is our current project to build.

I do need help to design the monitoring section of the CTC build.

 

[matriachamplification]

I have thought long and paced miles contemplating a way to present my love for analog audio without being pushy or sound like I am pandering. My family and I opted for a simple start to my overall vision.

With some great progress this week (more on that soon) my family and I wanted to get back to our original concepts for children's education. Our first and most prominent project is a Children's Pop-up Record Book called "Anna Longford and the Big Red Book".

It is a simple children's 9 part series that teaches symbol and schematic understanding through the fun of Reading with Vinyl.
The CTC consoles and other equipment we are building is to represent a true sonic picture of the stories with quality voice acting, big orchestra studio recordings and esoteric sound design all done in analog.
We already have the pressing details ready, now to build the set up.

The Online Lesson Plan was a Par-Product of this purist's vision to offer a follow up free educational mechanism  for a more serious or mature audience.

 

[matriachamplification]

My son Oden and I have begun building cards. As Mr. Thompson-Bell foretold, many uncertainties fall away with hands on thought.

The first project we got Karate kid'd. While learning Fernells website to collect assets for the CTC build we uncontiously learned more about electronics then I can express.

The workbench and toolbox set up was simultainiously being sourced With so many brands it was hard.
I will share the workbench tool list once it it's fleshed out.

"the devils in the details" - Oden quoted regarding analog design. Great Insight from the boy child.