DrBunsen

I hope you're not sick of all my questions yet  :)  I just have one more, I promise ...  I've started another thread for those people interested in pursuing radically different sequencer paradigms: http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1075654854 so you can be left in peace to finish your funky garoooove SEQ  ;D Please forgive if I am misunderstanding, or missing something obvious; it sounds like 1. there's not enough RAM left in the PIC to handle 16 tracks in realtime with one CORE, and 2. there's not enough CPU overhead to handle slave COREs in the SID fashion. So in the SID (I think?) the "master" CORE is interpreting all the actions of the control surface, and handling the LEDS, LCDs and MIDI. The "slave" COREs only have to respond to MIDI and operate the SID board. That is why a 16F PIC can handle it. Would it be possible though to physically switch the control surface from one SEQ to another? With a hardware switch to disconnect the DIN and DOUT lines from CORE1 and connect to CORE2. Whichever CORE is connected to the CS can be edited, while the other(s) continue to play whatever groove they have stored, without change. Or would the hardware/software choke on this and bring the beats to a grinding halt? I ask this because I am planning to build my system in a fairly modular way, like the suggestions here http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1062210038;start=1#1 and it seemed a natural progression. Excuse my ignorance please if it is not possible ...

So there's a suggestion already! Â And a nice simple one too by the sound of it. :P No summary tonight, must ... sleep ... dream of hot ... solder and ... microcode ...

If you are thinking of small Linux systems, check out the mini-ITX form factor motherboards. Â VIA came out with the first, and now many other manufacturers are too. Totally standard PC chipsets in a 5" x 5" low-power mobo. Â Integrated audio and video, USB, ethernet, printer, serial, standard IDE, PCI and RAM slot, some with Firewire, S/PDIF digital audio, CF and PCMCIA, depending what system you choose. Â Some run fanless. Â And they are a lot cheaper than true industrial embedded systems. That way you can use all the existing Linux (or BeOS or BSD or DOS or Windows) tools that other people have come up with, and set it up just like you would a normal desktop computer. Â Then strip it right down to run without video, keyboard and mouse (if that's what you want) I've seen one guy build a miniITX board into his guitar pedal board, and he uses it for multitrack recording with a USB audio interface, controlled with foot pedals. Â So if a guitarist can do it .... Â ;) There are tools ready to go in Windows, DOS and Linux for just about everything you want - LCDs, push buttons, knobs etc. Some links for you: www.mini-itx.com http://www.crudites.org/soundventures/handheld-music/ http://www.activewireinc.com/ I think the embedded Linux thing is a great idea, but if anyone want to stick to MIOS, come here : http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1075654854

Hi, There have been a lot of suggestions for different ways of working with the SEQ, and it's not realistic to think that TK should try and incorporate them all into his design. He has a particular workflow in mind, and that is getting more and more perfect over time. And there's a limit to how much more can be crammed in. But that's the beauty of the open platform, isn't it? What I'm suggesting is that everyone who is interested in different sequencer paradigms, should gather together and work out some new firmwares amongst ourselves. To me, this is a great opportunity to learn some microcoding and system design. This thread http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1073852710;start= started promisingly, but the ideas within it have come up against the limitations of the PIC platform, and has moved into discussion of embedded Linux and other higher-order environments. And I wish them all luck. What I'm proposing here is that we stick within the capabilities of the PIC and MIOS, use as much existing code and hardware design as possible, but get creative about what we can do within that. Starting with simple cases and building up. I'm not suggesting that the other direction is a lost cause or anything - it is just not what I am personally interested. Indeed I expect if this thread takes off, it could spawn more than one direction of development of its own. And any new code or hardware we come up with will feed back into the MIOS community. The first thing I will do is attempt to gather together and summarise all the ideas that have been put forward for alternative sequencers, and add a couple of my own. Then we can work out which of those are realistic PIC-scale projects, and which are not. Your thoughts welcome...

Oh OK so there would be no advantage in using extra COREs then Double YAY! !!!!!!!! Bitte schoen! Of course, and most grateful for the superhuman effort so far. Above and beyond the call of duty. I recently scored two 2x40s at a good price, so I will be keen to start on my box, get learning on the operations and on the code too, and perhaps to help in future with new features. Thanks for looking at all our suggestions TK, DB

Ok, so does anyone have a suggestion for a good one to run on classic MacOS? (OS 8.1 or below preferably)

Or aternatively, could you daisy-chain extra cores from the one control surface, and press a button to choose which one you are editing, like you do with the multi-SID?  Perhaps by importing the necessary code from the SID app? /edit/  I just noticed someone else already suggested that, and then the discussion moved on to using banksticks.  Which would be simpler to build/ more powerful in use? Hear hear!  I just listeded to your groove example above Thorsten....  YAY!  Thanks and well done.  How are you editing the groove; is it continuously variable with an encoder? (BTW a friend of mine makes and sells the "Swingchroniser", a MIDI/DIN master clock with a big knob on the top that *just* applies groove - that's all the box does.  He seems to sell quite a few of them) After reading http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc;action=display;num=1074705442, I began to think about drum editing.  Would it be possible to have a drum edit mode in the SEQ, which would work something like the good old x0x.  One track's "Note" layer sending different MIDI (drum) notes out on the same channel from the exisiting:  the existing 16 LEDs and buttons  for display and note entry, and a way of selecting which drum voice is displayed. An encoder could be used to sweep through the different drum names (=note numbers) on the LCD.  The pattern for that voice pops up on the LEDs.  A quick way of muting each note number/pattern would be great.  Layers 2 and 3 remain for CCs, velocity, etc, which would be global across all drum voices (ie code unchanged) I realise that you might not want to work this into the existing code TK as it might not be what you need for your own use, but in your opinion how much code work would it take, and would there be room?

You might want to have a look at the PAiA Theremax, a relatively cheap kit theremin that has CV (control voltage) outputs for pitch, volume, velocity, and gate/trigger. These should be easy to add to a MIDIbox through an AIN module. http://www.paia.com/theremax.htm

Once again, TK breaks new ground! This setup looks fantastic for live sequencing. I would have to second the comments above about shuffle - I have a 707 and use it in my live setup, and it definitely adds to the groove. I'd like to suggest finer adjustment than the 707 allows though, because the steps between amounts of shuffle are too high, and the highest shuffle settings are too drastic. There's only two other things I'd like on my Santa wish list: tap tempo and flam as described at http://www.retrosynth.com/ah/search/lookit.cgi?-v9705.1068. I realise that either of these might require some tricky programming. Keep up the good work guys, I look forward to more news on the Supersequencer.

Hi, not a question, just thought someone might be interested in it. 13cmx7cm with backlight. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2584990505 Not much information in the listing.

Thanks for your help guys, one step closer to my MIDIbox

Hi, I've just been offered a pair of the above LCDs (model number PVC400201AGL04) at a very good price, but the seller has no other information about them, and the Picvue website is no help either. Can anyone tell me how to even begin working out if they are useful? Yes, I have tried Google.

Here's one way: http://www.wiseguysynth.com/larry/ribbon/ribbon.htm

One step closer to the MIDIbox personal computer.... TK has already given us the TV output. What do we need next, an IDE interface?

These look like they might be adaptable. http://www.pcrange.biz/index.php?page=p_rheobus35&id=1 The name Rheobus suggests that the knobs are potentiometers (rheostats). If so, strip out most of the circuitry, add a CORE and an AIN, and you've got a nice-looking backlit four knob controller for your PC. BTW the price is in Australian dollars, so it's about $20 US.

Where are you getting those buttons from? I'd love some of them.

Two suggestions: make the overlays as strips that can be laid down between the rows of pots, or cut out a single long horizontal window for each row.

It appears the first group I listed are the Noritake T-Series. The thread I linked above suggests that the U-Series are the Hitachi compatible ones. So unless I hear otherwise I will skip these and wait for some compatible ones to come up. Thanks anyway goyousalukis.

Swing/ shuffle time? Tap tempo button? The wishlist gets longer and longer....

Hi, I've spotted an auction for some nice-looking Vacuum Fluorescent Displays on Ebay, but the seller's information says he will strictly only sell to buyers in the USA. They are 2x20 VFDs, information here http://www.noritake-elec.com/tversion.htm. He is selling them in pairs for a pretty reasonable price. EDIT: I note the following thread has some information on compatibility. http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=parts_q;action=display;num=1061702584;start=6#6. Please don't buy anything for me until I've checked this out. /EDIT If anyone in the States would like to bid on a pair for me (and snap up the rest while you're at it if you like ;D ), I could airmail you a US dollar money order for the cost and shipping, or Paypal if I get it sorted out soon... I have written to the seller asking for compatibility information and if I can bid, but I have had no reply. I'll take that as a "No"... The auction listings are here: NB the first two finish today, and the last one in two days time. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4660&item=2554732235 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=162&item=2749987447 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4660&item=2554732235 EDIT: I found some more, different sizes, some graphic, some in Europe, some ship internationally: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2554708298&category=26206 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3044426883&category=12070 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2555227621&category=26206 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2555033053&category=36811 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3428835303&category=32897 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2555556193&category=26206

Yet another idea ;D A row of 16 of the Panasonic encoders, with the integrated push-button, and an LED under each, running the SEQ engine. The encoder sets the value, and the pushbutton switches a step on or off. Would I have to wait for the MIOS port and/or do some custom programming to make this work?

Thanks Justin. I'll get it sorted out ASAP.

TK, you are a FREAK!!! In a good way... ;D ;D ;D That would go great with a SEQ box... Good thing we Aussies use PAL video

I'm having a problem with my Paypal account. Is there anyone in Australia who could take a direct bank deposit for me and Paypal Justin for my encoders? Thanks

Well this is what I'd like: a MIDIbox SEQ with as many CV and gate/trig (switchable) outs as it can handle. The patch matrix would be useful in a 4-SID box, combined with the 4-way mixer IC mentioned in another thread. Picture four mono inputs, four mono outs, a stereo mix out, all routeable to/from the ins/outs on the individual SIDs.