LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER Triples the Atari Punk Console for Unique Synth Sounds

The Atari Punk Console, or the Stepped Tone Generator as it was formerly known, was designed by electronics enthusiast Forrest Mims back in 1980 and featured a simple circuit that utilizes a pair of 555 timers to produce simple synth sounds. The circuit works by utilizing a square wave oscillator to drive a monostable oscillator to create a single (square) pulse. The platform includes a pair of knobs (potentiometers), with one controlling the frequency of the oscillator, and the other to adjust the volume.

The Atari Punk Console has been modded over the years so that the knobs can be replaced with any suitable sensor to produce sound, such as temperature, pressure, and light. One of the more unique mods comes from YouTuber Sam Battle (better known as LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER), who recently fused three APCs to create the AAAPPPCCC, or AtariAtariAtari PunkPunkPunk ConsoleConsoleConsole. That’s a total of six 555 timer oscillators that modulate or reset the next in the signal chain to produce a wide variety of sounds.

Battle designed his “Circle Synth of Doom” using six 555 oscillators mounted onto a custom circular PCB, which he states “basically cascade into each other, transforming a slow oscillator into a very fast one to create a noise-making machine.” He goes over how to assemble the board in the video above but has also provided the PCB and PANEL as a bundle with his “These Songs Are Obsolete” Vinyl.

The AAAPPPCCC is completely open source, so Battle's schematics can be found in his blog post.