Braintu

Hi, just found this guy here (104x4) http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Lumex/LCM-S10404DSF-Y1P/?qs=UWUCXFQQ%252bdm7DU%2f9EFVaIA%3d%3d Best, braintu

Hi everybody, I build a working prototype of the SeqV3 (with a PIC) some time ago. Now I attached a LPC to it and decided that I want to build a new sequencer with a different user interface. The basic idea is to have 64 step buttons directly available for step programming because most of the time I program beats that are longer then 16 steps. There is a very rough sketch attached: [1] 64 step buttons with leds -> 64 steps direct accessable [2] row selection buttons with leds -> select the row that is shown in the display and can be modyfied with the encoders [3] shift button -> selects second parameter for the 64 step buttons (Mixer, Event, Edit, Trigger Layer,... ) [4] navigation Let me give an example how I would imagine the workflow to show the detailed functions of the UI elements. I am in step programming mode. The pattern is four bars long and 16th notes are selected so I can program 64 16th notes (four bars) via the buttons. So the instead of showing four tracks with 16 16th notes each - like on the 4x16 Button/LED matrix the sequencial light (Lauflicht) would go through each row like shown in the picture (red arrow). Now I would program a track. I can program all the 64 steps of our 4 bar pattern via the step programming buttons [1]. Let's say I want to change some parameters of step 32. Therefore I have to select the second row via the row selection buttons on the left [2]. This button will light up to indicate the selected row. Now all the parameters of the second row and therefore the second bar will be shown in the display. The parameters can be change now via the encoders above the display. Next I would like to open the mixer page. So I press and hold the shift-button in the upper left corner [3]. All of the 64 step buttons can have a second function witch are available when shift is pressed. So I press the assign button for the mixer page. The display could also show the assigned second functions if the shift button is pressed but since we only have to rows in the display only two of the four rows could be shown. Can you guys give me some input, if this concept would be realizable with the Seq4 Software without changing to much? Moreover the DIN/DOUT pin assignment would be probably different from the Seq4 but as far a I understood it is no problem to change that in the software. Would be realy nice to get some feedback. Best, braintu

Hi Tim, sorry, I did not meant to make bad advertisement. But since you are here, could you imagine to have a reseller in e.g. Germany? I do not mean myself, but maybe there are some people willing to. Lot of these arduino/breakout-board-shops are popping up these days and maybe there is somebody how would resell your pcbs. I am just thinking about making the live/ordering easier, cheaper and faster inside Germany. Please let me and us know what you think. Best, Daniel

Hi Thorsten, - ja, you're right with the buttons/pullups. But for the LEDs there still has to be a e.g. 220 ohms resistor. I was thinking about having these soldered already to the board to avoid extra soldering. Maybe a combination of 220 ohm and a pullup is possible - but I am not quite sure at the moment. I think I will start drawing a schematic the next days so there it is possible to discuss about concrete problems... I must admit that I haven't thought about this! But there are several things coming to my mind: 1) In the past there was a shop from a guy out of Germany who sold only pcbs. (mikes shop or something like this) Not sure if there are different laws regarding not soldered pcbs. 2) I thought maybe for a forum community the legal issues could be avoided - but that's quite naive. 3) I've seen this discussion in the mikrocontroller forum - but in my opinion these people are always taking about what is not possible instead of figuring out a way. 4) There are a lot of shops who sell pre-soldered pcbs, like sparkfun, adafruit, dangerous-prototypes, ... but, yes, they are all outside of Germany. I once ordered some pcbs from smash tv and the shipping it self was already 50 $ - So maybe it is time to find a shop inside Germany or at least EU? If it is alright with you, I would start a wiki-page about the uCore and the idea behind it. I had a look at Fairlightiii's wiki page and it's really great documented. If you agree to a wiki-page I would try to make it a bit like this page. So I will start to do some schematics design and also investigate on the legal issue and then see how far I will get... Best, braintu

Hi everybody, sorry for the delayed answer... This seems to be a very effective way but you still have to solder and build all the parts around it, depending on your project. Sorry, I was in the 80 char-style. As far I understand the schematics, that's not 100% true. Yes, there are GPIOs available, but they do not have a e.g. 220 Ohms resistor for LEDs or a pull up for buttons. So I would not totally agree with this. Why so? What would be so problematic with pre-assembled boards? I mean from my point of view, building a midi controller is not so much about soldering - for me it is about designing the UI and build up great ideas in terms of building something that exactly fits to your needs. Yeah, maybe because you have hardware equipment, like synth you want to control. In my opinion, today most of the sound generating equipment is software so a USB would perhaps be enough for lot of people. As mention in a later answer something like a shield could be the answer. Indeed I do - build my first sequencer with it and also the Clockbox... Do you also think that pre-soldered boards are not a way to go? - I mean what would be the problem? Not so sure. If a pre-soldered board would be an option this could be already done, if not - on the programming part of the LPC-board there is a 10 pin SWO/JTAG connector so a JTAG programmer would cost 20$. Even if the feedback is not that positive, I am still confident of the idea of a uCore. - Maybe because it fits so good to my needs. I think I will draw the schematic and try some layouting and then post it here to get some feedback again. Best, braintu

Hi everybody, first I have to say, that I am totally exited by the MIDIbox NG concept! While I was reading the tutorial, I came up with an idea that I want to present you and ask for your oppinion. Lately I was working with the BeagleBone and some time ago I worked (had to) with the Arduino environment - and the realy nice thing about these boards is the form factor. I thought that it would be great to have something like this for the MIDIbox environment. So let me explain this a bit more: In my oppinion there are three main issues that make, e.g. the BeagleBone and the Arduino so handy: 1. The physical appearance - size (fits in your hand and in small housings) - data transfer and power are managed via usb 2. The programming environment incl. the library which are easy to use. 3. The documentation and the community support. So here is how I see these points with the MIDIbox envoironment - let's start with the last point: 3. I realy like the way the user manual for NG is written, with all these nice headlines 'Remote me!', 'Toggle me!' and so on. Also lot of pictures witch is really good for newbies. And everybody here knows how good the community support is. 2. With the MIOS-Studio and the new 'midi scripting language' I think this point is checked. 1. I realy like the idea of having a core module and putting all the peripherals around it as you need it is a great concept. Also the idea to have it all in through hole parts makes it very good for beginners. But: From time to time I build some midi-devices - sometimes just for test reasons, sometimes to have a small controller. So it is a bit of an effort to build a new core everytime or even disassemble old projects to get a core module free - so I was thinking, why not build a core module with some basic in- and output possibilities. Than I started to play around with the core module schematic and try to figure out what is needed in small midi projects. At the same time I did some basic pcb test, just to figure out, what could be put on a small BeagleBone-sized pcb. I came up with the following: - 8 digital inputs - 8 digital outputs - 8 analog inputs First I tried to free some pins but it didn't seem to work and than the compatibility would mess up. So I put one 74HC595 and a 74HC165 one the bord. But the pcb was much bigger than the BeagleBone or Arduino - with the LPCXpresso and all the huge through hole parts. Therefore I had to make some radical decissions: - everything smd - no Xpresso, instead the bare LPC1769 - no Ethernet connection - no midi connectors on the board At the first glance this seems to be a bit to radical, but I think it could be worth a thought. Very often for small midi projects - or just to get something to work USB is fine. The midi connector is only used for hardware equipment - but could be connected to an extension header. Ethernet is mainly used for OSC, but nearly all the devices that speek OSC can also speak MIDI (not true for the mobile devices). With protocolls like Copperlan, OSC can be tunnel through USB, and as TK showed in a thread (sorry - can't find it right now) MIDI via USB is superior to OSC. Also I decided to put a microSD header directly on the board. I put a serial ADC and the DIO connector on the board so it would still be possible to add external boards like AINSER, DIN, DOUT. So I was thinking about layouting a pcb for this. Here is a first rough sketch of the idea: So please tell me: - what you think about this concept? - what could be changed/added/...? - is there a general interest/need for this board? I am curious for your comments. Best, braintu

Hi, I was trying to understand the configuration in mios32_spi.c and I am wondering if I don't understand it right or there is a small mistake... From line 76 to 79 there is the initalization of the IO-Pins: // Push-Pull Config #define MIOS32_SPI0_PP_INIT { LPC_PINCON->PINMODE_OD1 &= ~((1 << 24) | (1 << 23) | (1 << 22) | (1 << 21) | (1 << 20)); } // Open-Drain Config -- NOTE: unfortunately it has no effect on SCLK and MOSI pin! This isn't documented in the LPC17xx user manual #define MIOS32_SPI0_OD_INIT { LPC_PINCON->PINMODE_OD1 |= ((1 << 24) | (1 << 23) | (1 << 22) | (1 << 21) | (1 << 20)); } The macro MIOS32_SPI0_PP_INIT calls PINMODE_OD1 to set the resistor configuration but instead it clears the open drain mode and the next macro sets them again. Or why is the headline Push-Pull Config? Can somebody help? Best, braintu EDIT: Sorry for bothering. I understood the push/pull comment wrong. It refers to the output which push/pull-s not to the resistors...

Hi everybody. I tried to understand the Luminance-circuit of the PIC/STM32-Core because I want to know if I can use a Display (2x16). The Datasheet-specification says that there should be about 3.3-3.7 V and 45 mA. Can anybody give me a hint how to analyse this circuit? Thanks braintu

YEAH! - Then I know what to do! Very cool - Thanks

Hi everybody. I build a SeqV2 some time ago but got lot of trouble with reflections on the bussystem (DIN, DOUT). Some days ago I fixed it with C/R-termination so I played around with it and had much fun. But there is one point that bothers me: I just can edit pattern 1. To edit another one I have to save it first to another one and then I can build the next pattern. Is there something I do not understand? If not - can I edit every pattern in SeqV3? I dont want to change to SeqV4 since I have to build a new core board. Thanks for your help braintu

Hi everybody. Thanks a lot. Works well.

Hi everybody, I have a detailed problem. When I send the MIDI START command, is it the command that every device starts, means that this is the first clock command OR is the START command something like 'everybody be careful the next command is the first CLOCK' and the next CLOCK comming in is the "one". - Got the problem? Would be nice if somebody can help me or give me some literature. best D

Hi everybody! Now we are nearly done with our clockcox. since we change nearly all the connections on the din my question is, where to change the assignment between the hardwarepin and the software. thx for your help. braintu

Well - the wireing is nearly done. There is an old software which is working but we want to improve it. - Why?

Jej - pics are back. @TK: Can you please upload this file http://www.ucapps.de/mios/clockbox_multi.pdf as an eagle file so I can edit it like we have done it an post it too. braintu