Navisto

Hi Roger The whole process was indeed rather straight-forward. I've encountered only very minor errors (like forgetting the last bridge on the DOUT...) and needed to tweak just a few things in the source code (Bankstick and menu encoder types), the rest was "plug-and-play". Of course, having built other stuff like a Theremin in the past helped, I knew what side of the soldering iron I should touch... ;) A big congratulation to Thorsten and everybody else who contributed documentation and tips is definitely in place, here! Bye Martin

Here's some additional information regarding the design: As far as layout and parts are concerned, I basically duplicated Thorsten's design (yes, I'm both lazy and also liked the original design...). Buttons and caps were ordered at Reichelt (along with most other components), encoders and bankstick from Voti. The MBHP modules were built based on the kits distributed by Mike & Claudia. The additional elements were built upon standard breadboards that are also used to support the whole construction (see the images on the webpage). It is basically one layer that holds all the UI elements, and another layer back-to-back that holds the MBHP modules. Since I'm allergic to wall-warts, I included the power supply inside the case. It's a standard print transformer with 9V, 1.5A output. I also included a switch/filter/fuse unit as connection to the external world. The case is built using a few wood pieces - simple, cheap, and very easy to manufacture. And also good looking IMHO. The front-panel, finally, is a home-made one. It's designed in Illustrator and printed with a color laser onto A3 paper. I glued the printout onto a 3mm sheet of PVC (whatever it's called in english...), a material that is relatively easy to cut with a knife, but hard enough to be drilled into. Before I started cutting and drilling, I added some clear coat to both conserve the surface better, and also to strenghten the paper a bit. After drilling, I had to fix many little tears and dangling material leftovers manually. If you take a very close look at the picture, you will notice some problems around the F2 button - there are many more actually. While this is a very cheap solution (less than 5 Euros), it definitely doesn't look as good as a Schaeffer panel - I might actually replace that later - in addition to the menu wheel that is way too large... Torsten also mentioned the demo song on that page. I made that one after some friends asked for samples. Here's some information: It's just a quick jam session with the bass (Pulse) and some percussion (Nord Lead) triggered by the Midibox Sequencer. Drums courtesy of the Electribe EM-1, additional sounds by the Z1, Trinity, and Virus. Everything was recorded live as a straight stereo mix into the PC, some minor mastering applied. Hope you enjoy the design and sounds! Martin