From lesser@hopf.dnai.com Wed Nov 22 11:35:08 1995 22 Nov 95 14:34:39 +0500 17 Oct 95 22:07:04 +0500 Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 18:50:02 -0700 From: lesser@hopf.dnai.com (SFiLBy) Subject: Speak & Spell Shenanigans Greetings- Modifying the Speak & Spell creates a great equalizer of an instrument. While the outcome is somewhat rendom, I have noted that some can play it better than others, my girlfriend can play it better than me. You have to gain a feeling for when to throw it out of alignment and do its thing w/out it freezing up.Modifying the Speak & Spell creates a great equalizer of an instrument. While the outcome is somewhat random, I have noted that some can play it better than others, my girlfriend can play it better than me. You have to gain a feeling for when to throw it out of alignment and do its thing w/out it freezing up. Doing mods on the TI Speak & Spell/Math/Read is really easy and you don't have to worry 'bout frying some expensive piece of analog gear. I barely have a pair of opposable thumbs but I was able to do all my mods myself. First, you need to have a couple of small on/off switches (these have to be really small because the housing does not leave much space to install them, except on the handle). Next, any piece of metal which conducts electricity. Finally, just a few wires and solder. What could be easier? Now, pop the top off that baby. Take a wire and start connecting points on the circuit board together, fucking w/ the logic circuits. Stay away from where the power comes into the board. If you fry this part, usually the bottom, left hand side, you can lose your display, which doesn't really matter. When you have the wire touching two different points, try a bunch of the keys on the front; what you are looking for is for the S&S to start spewing garbage. On my circuit board (#1040675-13 AK) the main funky connection between tow rows of connections, just to the right of the headphone adaptor. If I connect TOP 1 to BOTTOM ! the machine starts to go bonkers. Sometimes you can even get goofy messages on the display. EX: Once the the machine kept asking me (for like 10 minutes) how to spell something that sounded like "scchqliph". After each failure it would tell me it was spelled "F7". The older your S&S, the better results you will have throwing the machine. I have a relatively new machine so I was able to find only 1 sure fire spot to attack, while friends of mine have 3 switches just for different types of logic frying. After you have found a good spot, install an on/off switch and move on to find another spot, this way you can find what different combinations of connections will do. The older your S&S, the better results you will have throwing the machine. I have a relatively new machine so I was able to find only 1 sure fire spot to attack, while friends of mine have 5 switches just for different types of logic frying. The older S&S have actual buttons on the front for input while mine has this "High tech" flat panel, like Star Trek or something. The S&M's are really great, once you get them going, it's hard to stop 'em. If you have an expander cartridge installed in your machine, try all mods w/it in and out. Once your insta-destroyers are in place, you need to find the loop connection. In mine, it is in the same section as the logic scrambler but is at TOP 26, BOTTOM 25. This connection will put the machine in an endless loop. Start it looping without the logic distortion on, usually it will come back as something close to 4/4. Disrupt the logic circuits and stuff goes wacky. Last, put the S&S/M/R into loop mode. Start pressing down on different parts of the board. Somewhere you will hear the tone go down /loop get slower. This is your hack tone control, connect this to the piece of metal, something thin and bendable, and mount it on the front and you are ready. I haven't been able to work any good triggering methods, but let's face it, it is a toy. The best idea is to *groan* sample it. You can get amazing drum souds out of it, especially hh's. Playing it live is great fun too. I helped my friend make the "S&M 3000", which is a Speak and Math, w/ mods, mounted flush w/ PVC pipe, giving it a guitar look, and mounted the many switches and controls at the top of the neck like a guitar. I have one in the body of an old Commodore 64 and one that is attached to a long cor which a twirl over my head when we play. Very DEVO-esque. Well I hope this is helpful for you and that I'm not just rehashing material some other AH'er documented. Stay rad and rip puppies.