Josh Mason
Selected Works ︎︎︎
Selected Works ︎︎︎
Everything Is Connected To Everything Else.
The purpose of the PCE project was two-fold: at the outset, it began as an endevor to build tools I wanted but didn’t have for use in recording. It was also to act as an educational/informational platform for things I am working to create, understand, and control—namely low to medium-gain discrete drive designs which took advantage of NOS/recycled/upcycled/surplus/salvaged components where applicable) to see how much could be done with low part counts and an emphasis on exploration of user control and player technique (tone is in the fingers, so I am told.) Much of this is approached from the angle of it being functional sculpture and less so as market-ready audio equipment. While am not an engineer per se, I am coming to understand that those tendencies are in my blood, and I suppose I have my family to thank for that (or maybe I just enjoy the way burning flux smells, for better or worse.)
The purpose of the PCE project was two-fold: at the outset, it began as an endevor to build tools I wanted but didn’t have for use in recording. It was also to act as an educational/informational platform for things I am working to create, understand, and control—namely low to medium-gain discrete drive designs which took advantage of NOS/recycled/upcycled/surplus/salvaged components where applicable) to see how much could be done with low part counts and an emphasis on exploration of user control and player technique (tone is in the fingers, so I am told.) Much of this is approached from the angle of it being functional sculpture and less so as market-ready audio equipment. While am not an engineer per se, I am coming to understand that those tendencies are in my blood, and I suppose I have my family to thank for that (or maybe I just enjoy the way burning flux smells, for better or worse.)
These days, when it comes to circuits for audio amplification, I realize that there really isn’t anywhere left to stand except the shoulders of giants. Many of the things I am interested in exploring here have been iterated on time and again since the late 1950s, but after spending years standing in front of amplifiers, modular synthesizers, abstract paintings, et al., I can, at best, offer a new way of looking at and experiencing music technology, in perhaps a similar way that the Eames brothers challenged the perception of what furniture was supposed to be made of, or even function as (lofty as a goal that may be)—or at the very least, present something akin to “studies” (in the B. Thom Stevenson sense of the word.)
A simple voltage recall utility module. 4 stages of manually addressed voltages (jumper selectable between 0-5 or 0-10v per stage), gate output (5v) that goes and stays high whenever its stage is active, global trigger output (10v) goes high whenever any button is pressed and respects press duration.
︎
Size 10HP
Depth 24mm (with power header)
Construction FR4, Analog SMD
Power +4/-8mA (quiescent)
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Size 10HP
Depth 24mm (with power header)
Construction FR4, Analog SMD
Power +4/-8mA (quiescent)
Now I Am You is a dual probabilistic bi-directional (ab/y) switch. A single clock input flips both switches randomly, and each switch is/can be weighted against the other, so at extreme ends of the potentiometer throw, only one switch will flip. When external cv is applied, it overrides the manual control and the probability follows the polarity of the incoming control signal. Loosely inspired by a consumable item from Elden Ring.
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Size 8HP
Depth 44mm (with power header)
Construction FR4, Analog SMD
Power +60/-55mA (quiescent)
︎
Size 8HP
Depth 44mm (with power header)
Construction FR4, Analog SMD
Power +60/-55mA (quiescent)
Fans & Stoves is named after a Northeast Florida antique shop that is/was run by some nice old ladies that had multiple seller’s stalls packed to the gills with all manner of bric-a-brac and sundries…which is basically what this is, a collection of all analog tools for when you wish you had “just one more xyz” in your case:
Attenuator, Symmetrical Slew Limiter, Bi-Directional Half-Wave Splitter/Mixer, Noise Generator, Sample & Hold, VCA, DC Offset Generator, Fixed Threshold Comparator
︎
Size 8HP
Depth 44m (with power header)
Construction FR4, Analog SMD
Power +31/-20mA (quiescent)
Attenuator, Symmetrical Slew Limiter, Bi-Directional Half-Wave Splitter/Mixer, Noise Generator, Sample & Hold, VCA, DC Offset Generator, Fixed Threshold Comparator
︎
Size 8HP
Depth 44m (with power header)
Construction FR4, Analog SMD
Power +31/-20mA (quiescent)
This drive, based around a circuit that’s been floating around in transistor manuals since the early 1960s, mimics (if poorly) the scuzz and sag of smaller “F-style” amps. Works best in front of an amp that’s already on its way to being too loud, but can also be used as a “boost with character” as well. A shorting bar in included with each device for use with the banana jack signal clipping network.
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Stage Single
Edition 5
Size L 10" x W 2.75" x H 2"
Power 9v DC (Center negative, reverse polarity protected) - No battery option
︎
Stage Single
Edition 5
Size L 10" x W 2.75" x H 2"
Power 9v DC (Center negative, reverse polarity protected) - No battery option
