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i was just looking on the web.. at least one place has the ymf262m new.. http://www.ic-distributors.com/HTML_ICD_Y.shtml i couldn't see the yac512 on there but they have about 500 of the main chip.. and a $50 minimum order, maybe mike or smash would be interested in selling these i know it's not very diy to use new chips ;-) but i like the idea of them being shiny and new.. and if they're available cheaply enough, maybe others would want them as well..

a guy in england has new 65whatsits at the moment.. search ebay.co.uk for sid chip.. i ordered some but they haven't arrived yet.. not exactly the same i know but a quick solution

good idea... but they're new and un-c64-d... so the good news is that there are new sids on ebay right now.. the not so good news is that they were £5 2 weeks ago.. and are now £10.. if lots of folk from here rush to buy them the guy will raise the price more i think.. he has at least 95 and is selling them very slowly... so everyone play it cool ;-) everyone who wants some that is... i think they will be around for a few months at least i didn't actually get mine yet but can post again when they arrive

i just bought 2 sids on ebay, is there a quick and easy way to test them? i don't have a sid board built yet.. i'm wondering if theres some jiggery pokerey i can do with a multimeter? best wishes adam

hi Thorsten (and everyone else..) i found an interview with martin walker, who used to program for these chips.. http://interview.sonikmatter.com/data/martin_walker.php he works for Sound On Sound magazine now... he posts on their forums quite often... he is helpful generally.. if you have any problems writing the drivers he might be able to help, if he has time and feels like it of course.. if you email the magazine then i think they will put you in touch with him.. www.soundonsound.com here are extracts from the interview.. Most of the hardware classics are already being revisited in software form, and Native Instruments' FM7 takes FM synthesis to new heights, again because it's much easier to use than the original. I missed out on FM synthesis the first time round, but met it at the deep end when programming a sound editor for Sega's Megadrive games console, which effectively contained a Yamaha TX81Z that I had to talk to at chip level. I fell in love with its unique timbres, especially the metallic and bell-like sounds, but the beauty of dealing with synthesis at a low level is that you can investigate anything that takes your fancy. I found adding a little randomness at various places to the algorithms gave FM a more living, breathing quality. and... ------------------------------------------------------- With the other game machines you got a few channels of square or pulse waves, plus hopefully some white noise, and from these primitive elements you had to extract the last drop of creativity. I worked at sound chip level, programming in assembly language, so that I could manipulate the chip registers every 1/50th of a second. Thus, chords could be created as very fast arpeggios to give the illusion of a bigger sound, while bass drums started with a tiny chiff of noise, followed by a decaying tone, and snare drums oscillated between noise and tone, again at 50 times per second. Sega's Megadrive was more fun, since this had the same Yamaha FM chip as the TX81Z, but I used similar techniques to manipulate the sounds, so that I could get sword clashes, gunshots, and even running water, by rapidly altering the parameters.

i hear that the sega megadrive also has an fm chip inside (the same as in the yamaha TX81Z.. 7 or 8 dx7's in a box)

found it.. http://www.ibva.com/

http://condor.gmu.edu/~paras/WEB/pages/bwcsig.html there is a company that makes a brainwave midi controller .. can't find the page but here is another one..

thank you both for your replies.. best wishes adam

thanks for that.. i want to use one (or more) for midi control and i fancy making my own wah pedal too.. i like the idea of using pedals instead of knobs for some things too.. i found another company in the uk last night... http://www.bespeco.net/ could be good for the europeans.. expression pedals with 20k pot for £20 (30 euro) best wishes adam

thanks for replying, have you got any idea what value of LDR would be good to use? 9-20k? is it a matter of trial-and-error finding out which value of resistor to use in series? I thought of using a trim pot or pot instead of a resistor to add some element of controllability (to adjust for different light conditions etc) Any ideas which value to use? Best wishes Adam

I am interested in making a midi box incorporating light dependent resistors.. I am not sure which to use.. I would like to know which value (S) would be suitable to reproduce the effect of turning a pot or slider from closed to open... I have been looking at to the list at http://maplin.co.uk/search/menulevels.asp?CartID=040919191636321&Level=2&Criteria=&Menu=266&Exact=&Name=LDR%20s&Recs=&PrevMenu=16&PrevName=&LevelList= Does anybody know which ( if any) of these values would be suitable? best wishes.. has anybody used these in a midi box already?

does anyone know where to get cheap expression type pedals?

http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/954002xxxxz.htm and lots of other stuff.. they also have an office in the uk.. postage ais reasonable.. looks really good

indeed, only on the shaft.. they look very old.. thanks for the tip

I bought some old pots on ebay. They are rather sticky and take quite an effort to move. Is there any kind of lubricant or technique that I can use to free them up a bit? best wishes adam

i've made something a bit like this using pure data.. a midi programming thing similar to max/msp.. pure data is free and can be found at www.pure-data.org my midi delay and other patches (random note generator etc.) can be found at www.hatstand23.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pd thorsten has already made a delay for the midibox called the magic midi delay, it can be found in the "mios toy of the week" forum bye for now best wishes adam

hello... traditional programming sometimes makes my brain hurt ;-), but lately i've been using pure data (open source version of max/msp) to make my own midi effects and that sort of thing.. since pure data is open source, and new objects can be programmed for it, it got me wondering if it would be possible to use it to write Mios applications.... the more i thought about it, the more i realised that this might be a lot of work to set up, which i don't really have the skill to do, but i thought i'd mention it anyway i'm imagining some kind of thing like the nord modular, where effects and applications can be built on the computer by connecting objects graphically, then saved onto the midibox... the pure data homepage is at www.pure-data.org (i think anyway, it is not connecting right now).. i notice there is a max/msp forum on midibox.org... i have to go to school now, but i think later today i will put some of my pd patches on my website... i will list the address later on..... well it's later on now, my patches can be found at http://www.hatstand23.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pd/ bye for now best wishes Adam

hi, I'm thinking to buy a nice enclosure made by hammond from a firm here in the uk, what i have in mind is an A4 size sloping case with wooden ends (walnut i think) these are cheaper if larger quantities are bought, so i thought i'd write and ask if anyone would like one of these cases, i think the price will be something like £25-30 or 45-50 Euro this is the page from the manufacturers http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg16.htm if anyone is interested then i will post further details when i get the catalogue from the company the UK supplier is onboard electronics, http://www.onboard-electronics.ltd.uk/ bye for now best wishes Adam

hi, I'm thinking to buy a nice enclosure made by hammond from a firm here in the uk, what i have in mind is an A4 size sloping case with wooden ends (walnut i think) these are cheaper if larger quantities are bought, so i thought i'd write and ask if anyone would like one of these cases, i think the price will be something like £25-30 or 45-50 Euro this is the page from the manufacturers http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg16.htm if anyone is interested then i will post further details when i get the catalogue from the company bye for now best wishes Adam

many thanks for your replies... best wishes adam www.hatstand23.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ny3

many thanks for your replies... best wishes adam www.hatstand23.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ny3

hi there... i'm planning my box still... on another forum at www.tapeop.com one of the guys has suggested a 15W iron for components and a 45W for soldering pots (this is on analogue desks but i think applies here also) at the moment in the uk i can only easily find 15, 30 and 60W irons... i plan to get a 15W for small stuff but would like to know if a 30W or 60 watt would be better for soldering pots? bye for now best wishes Adam x

hi there... i'm planning my box still... on another forum at www.tapeop.com one of the guys has suggested a 15W iron for components and a 45W for soldering pots (this is on analogue desks but i think applies here also) at the moment in the uk i can only easily find 15, 30 and 60W irons... i plan to get a 15W for small stuff but would like to know if a 30W or 60 watt would be better for soldering pots? bye for now best wishes Adam x

thanks everyone for your replies! best wishes Adam