nebula

The TR-808 doesn't have dynamic voices. There is a global accent and that's it. The TR-909 is different, in that its built-in sequencer offers two dynamic levels for most sounds, in addition to a global accent, plus it offers more dynamic control if controlled by MIDI. I have been casually trying to figure out the best way to do this for the 9090 as well. My 9090 boards are about halfway finished, and once they're done I plan to investigate this a little further. I also would like to have a MIDIbox sequencer controlling the 9090. I'm going to bet that the best way would be to use the DAC on the 9090 board (created with a resistor array). Unfortunately the MIDIbox 808 sequencer at this time AFAIK does not offer any way to program different dynamics for each note. So this will probably involve modifying the MIDIbox 808 firmware, or using MB SEQ (I don't want to do this). As for those who suggest that MIDI control of the 9090 is better, I have to agree with nuke that a standalone drum machine ultimately should not be subject to the timing limitations of MIDI when played from its own sequencer. It's not a big deal when only playing an individual part, but if you have a place where, say, 5 sounds occur at the same time, you will necessarily have an audible flam as the notes must be serialized with a best-case 1 ms gap between notes.

And now, a word from the solder-technique nazi: When "reflowing" a solder joint, you should always either: (a) apply flux first, or (b) add a small amount of flux-cored solder to the joint. Flux is like the magic elixir of soldering. It removes contaminants and small amounts of oxidization on the metals to be joined, and carries it away. If your solder joint was poor in the first place, there is an good chance that it is due to insufficient heat, or because the flux in the solder did not reach the required surfaces. Oxidization occurs on metals like copper very quickly, so adding flux will greatly improve the likelihood that the solder will bond properly when re-heated. It also prevents the joint from becoming contaminated. Just sayin ... :)

Agreed ... there's no real advantage to doing this on the MIDIbox, since the samples are most likely to be PC-resident anyway.

Forgive my ignorance, but I don't completely understand why we can't do this. Would it be really difficult to reverse-engineer the PCM card data? Or is there some other reason I'm overlooking?

Seppoman hasn't been seen in months, and the Eagle file does not seem to be available. If it was, I would get a couple made. I tried to PM him back in May; no response :cry:

Yes, and we're also older than we'd probably like to admit. Aww cmon ... not if it still makes noise. I will admit I've been wrestling with the idea of hollowing out my old Anatek SMP-7 MIDI patchbay / Mac serial MIDI interface though. I agree from your rendering that there is not much room for an SD Card socket. Maybe I'm being a bit lazy, but I still have found no published layout for an SD card for MIDIbox that uses an actual socket I can buy. Everything I've seen documented so far is a hack.

This is fantastic. I will be watching this closely... suddenly I feel a need to free up a rack space beneath my WS A/D. I never owned a SAM1, and I never even owned a PCM card. So I'll build this for sure. But may I suggest your final "shield" board include a footprint for a readily available SD Card socket? Many years ago (in the mid-1990s) I used to run the majordomo mailing list for the Wavestation. It was pretty cool seeing you scroll through old Ben Hall patches. Nice work!

This in a weird way reminds me of "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat ... must admit those SIDs sound sweet. I don't completely understand why you wouldn't use SIDs for those bass notes though ... I would think they could do it just perfectly. I really enjoy your videos!

May I suggest my proposed modification be added to the official 1.2, so that shift + instrument encoder invokes "rotate"? ( ) I'm even thinking about changing mine to be the other way around, so shift is required to select instruments!

did you try adjusting the contrast pot? failing that, maybe you could try plugging your lcd into a different core.

Logic Pro actually has an option to control a "RECORDING" light with MIDI messages (in the "control surfaces" settings) spreemusik's concerns are valid, but it could be configured with a "hang time" so it stays lit for a few minutes after the recording is stopped. I'd probably also add a toggle switch to force the light to stay on, regardless of the DAW's recording state.

Heya Prof, got any of these? NE566 CEM3394 XR2206 XR4739 Thanks, -Steve

Lemonhorse: your demos made me smile. As soon as I build this, I need to recreate the theme from "SNAFU" :thumbsup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5U_fD3abKU

The CME keyboards are surprisingly nice.

TK, do you plan to put Eagle files for this board up on uCapps?

Like Rosch said, sammichSID's an easy project, and it is a complete kit (except for power supply). None of the projects on this site are available for commercial sale. That's one of the terms of using these designs. Occasionally you'll find one for sale, on eBay. These are not only unauthorized, but they are way overpriced!! If you really don't want to build one, you should consider MSSIAH, HardSid, or see if you can find a used SIDstation.

Hey altitude, can you describe how you "made a set of punches"? I might like to make a round punch for this stuff, about 1 cm diameter.

I really don't want this to be perceived as a flame ... it's just my two cents: Arduino is about building robots, weather stations, LED decorations, and ... oh yeah, music stuff. I happen to like that MIDIbox is focused on MIDI and musical devices, in which the timing MIDI i/o or other musical communication is absolutely NEVER compromised, for any reason. I have complete trust in TK and everybody who develops for MIDIbox that this philosophy will always prevail in hardware and software designs, so we have an excellent and future-friendly platform for real-time, embedded musical applications. I fail to see the value Arduino could bring to MIDIbox, in the context of professional music production. It is always good to stay abreast what's going on in that other realm, but its technology, motivation and culture is precisely that: another realm! Here's an example: almost everybody in the MIDIbox community is an electronic musician of some sort. Can the same be said for Arduino? Regarding value in commercial: projects like "Beat707" are proof that cool music apps can be realized on Arduino, but to build it you have to pay somebody for it, and that person had nothing to do with the creation of the Arduino platform! MIDIbox-DMX is a great example of a non-musical MIDIbox project, and to build it all you have to do is download the schematics, documentation and firmware. (Optionally you can buy PCBs at bargain-basement prices.) It is the good will of great people that has made MIDIbox what it is, not financial gain. I think the LPC Expresso-based core will pave the way for more shield-like submodules however. The "core" PCB is really a bridge between the LPC and the classic MBHP modules. I envision complete projects as "shields" for the Expresso, and ribbon cable interconnects to other modules becoming less common.

Very nice .... but no hula girl?

Solder, Doug! Solder like the wind!