What is goin on here !?
The May 1979 issue of DOWNBEAT magazine has a short article on the subject of Do-It-Yourself synthesizer kits. I’ve uploaded a scan of the entire article as a PDF below. Much of the article focuses on kits from Paia. Paia, if you are not familiar, is a very long-running company that makes audio kits. One of my earlier experiences building audio electronics was constructing their Theremax Theremin. I got the Theremax together in about a day, and it worked right away. No issues. I used it (mostly as a performance voltage-controller) for about a decade before I sold it at a moving sale. It was a good, reliable piece. I know that nowadays there are a lot of cheap theremins on the market, but 15 years ago it was a pretty unusual item.
DOWNLOAD ARTICLE: SynthKits_Dwnbt0579
Anyways… PAIA still makes and sells descendants of the synth modules that are described here, and the prices are extremely reasonable. A time-honored way of getting into audio electronics.
btw, dude in the pics here is not me, but it might as fukking well be.