D-Punk Discrete Atari Punk Console
Joel Eagles’ recreation of the Atari Punk Console kit oscillates with 49 discrete transistors.
The Atari Punk Console (APC) is one of the simplest audio synthesizers that you can build, and typically uses a 556 dual-timer IC to produce oscillations. Two potentiometers modify the 556’s outputs, which work together to produce some very interesting noises. The original design was published by Forrest Mims as the Stepped-Tone Generator. Later a line-level version was posted online by Kaustic Machines, giving birth to the APC.
The trick here is that there is a rather impressive array of electronics within a 556 to allow it to produce dual oscillations, a detail that we typically treat as a “black box” and call it a day. Joel Eagles’ D-Punk fully discrete Atari Punk Console kit, however, does not feature a 556 timing IC, or even two 555s, but instead creates oscillations using 49 transistors, 26 resistors, and two capacitors.
As noted in the kit’s product listing, it takes about two hours to put together, per the 234 individual solder joints that must be connected. So if you want an easy way to get APC-ing, this isn’t the kit for you. At the same time, it looks like a great intro to digital logic and/or through-hole soldering. The kit includes an info booklet with information on how to put it together, along with an explanation about how the APC works both from an electronic and musical point of view and a bit of history on the device.
Check out the D-Punk in action in the video directly below. For a bit more info on the APC in general, see the clip after that.
