Pucktronix tabulaRasa FAQ

partially compiled from http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27829

last modified 07.12.2012
greg surges
surgesg@gmail.com
What is the tabulaRasa?
The tabulaRasa is a digital wavetable oscillator with voltage control of frequency,
waveform selection, and the amount of interpolation between waveforms. The
tabulaRasa consists of two components: a hardware synthesis module which can
integrate into a modular synth system, and a software application which allows the user
to create their own custom waveforms. These waveforms are then transferred from the
computer to the tabulaRasa module through a standard SD card slot.
As of 07.11.2012, the tabulaRasa is open source and hosted at http://
www.bitbucket.org/pucktronix/tabularasa/
Do I need an Arduino to use this?
No, pre-programmed ATmega328 chips are generally available from Greg Surges.
However, it is also possible to burn your own.
How are waveforms stored? What about i/o resolution?
All the waveforms are stored as byte arrays, for 8-bit resolution. Output is PWM. The cv
inputs are 10-bit.
I like tonal sounds, can it do 1V/octave?
Yes, it can do 1V/octave. If it's not scaling the way you want, you can swap R10 with a
20k trimpot in series with a 10k resistor, then put a 20k trim between R19 and R20.
Where are some examples?
http://soundcloud.com/greg-surges/tabularasa-glitchy-modulation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CGQeakFUgo
https://soundcloud.com/paperproducts/tabula-rasa-first-test
https://soundcloud.com/greg-davis/tabularasa-test-040412
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=600VLAokojw&feature=player_embedded
https://soundcloud.com/robinsomniac/tabularocka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vUKErutlv0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toClSwwSqUg
What are the PCB dimensions?
The board is 3.85" x 3.15"
How does the interpolation control work?
The waveforms are stored in 64 paired 'slots'. The waveform select control selects the
current slot, and the interpolation control does a crossfade between the two waveforms
in that slot.

How are people mounting this?

Here are some user panel designs:
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/userpix/137_mod_tabula_1.jpg
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/download.php?id=6010
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/userpix/2726_tabularasa1_1.jpg
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/userpix/2726_tabularasa2_1.jpg
http://www.robinsomniac.com/images/panelDesigns/tabulaRasa/tabulaRasaEuroV3.jpg
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/userpix/1278_img_2152_2.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5277/5894772847_fb9266d1d1_n.jpg
Is there a Bill of Materials?
https://bitbucket.org/pucktronix/tabularasa/wiki/Parts%20List
Where can I find *part*?
SD Socket:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/136
http://littlebirdelectronics.com/products/sdmmc-socket-for-secure-digital-disk-or-multimedia-cards
SPDT Pushbutton:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/97
Crystal:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/536
Here is a Mouser cart which contains everything except the Sparkfun components:
https://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=acb7d295c3
Do I need 1% resistors or other precision components?
No, 5% tolerance will work fine. You can also use a 3k9 resistor instead of 3k8 for R21.
Just use a standard 3.9k instead-it's within the 5% tolerance range - the capacitor it
forms a filter with is going to be 5% tolerance anyway, so no need to be too critical with
the value.
How should I format my SD card?
FAT16, and you don't need a large size. A few MB will be plenty.
Can it run on +/- 15V?
Users have reported it running fine on +/-15V with no modifications.