mr_chombee

Thanks Roger for the heads up. I think I'll take the plunge and give that a try. I'll keep you informed. Best, Nico

well, it looks like the major problem is finding a suitable motor driven pot. I spent 2 days now to find an alternative, but there's seemingly absolutely no alternative to the ALPS RK25. Do we know for sure that the RK25 won't work? Anyone out there who tried it?

D'oh! These ALPS motorpots at Ebay are K-Type! Too bad... :-\

Hi all, great to see that this place is still alive! It's been quite a while now since I finished my MBSeq, it's still doing a great job! I always wanted to build another box, a mixer-like controller as many people use for Ableton Live, but I never made it beyond the layout stage as I always ended up thinking "Nope. I don't really need this thing". However, one thing I could REALLY need in my studio is a small, versatile, automapping plug-in controller, primarily for EQs / channel strips. "Small, versatile & automapping" means: I need to use endless encoders, but I HATE encoders. Tweaking an ordinary pot is so much more intuitive, but not really an option either (due to parameter jumps etc). Looking at the Mackie Control (or respectively the Midibox LC emulation), I really love the 'flip' function which lets you control device parameters via the motorfaders. So what if I had a controller that uses 8 motorized pots instead of faders? Sounds like an ideal solution for me! A quick (incomplete?) sketch: ______________ __________ |__________| <-- 40x2 LCD to display plugin parameter names (upper row = pot 1-4 / lower row = pot 5-8) - - - - O O O O - - - - <-- 8 motorized pots with "select" buttons above them (to emulate the push encoder buttons on the MCU) O O O O - - - - <-- channel navigation up / down (optional); plugin parameter bank left/right; "exit" button which exits - the plugin parameter page and returns to the device selection. ______________ So my questions are: 1. As you can see, the LC application in its entirety would be a bit over the top as I really don't need or want any of the extra MCU functionality (mute/solo/rec/transport/whatever), but I need to find a way to a) permanently stay in the MCU's "plug-in" mode and b) permantenly have the 'flip' function activated. Is this possible? If so, what's the programming effort like? I have a very tiny little experience in C programming (very, very basic stuff), but I'm afraid that won't help me much :-/ 2. Does the LC app also send 10-bit messages in 'flip' mode? 3. Has anyone ever worked with motorized pots? I'm wondering if there's any major downside which would render the whole project pointless. I am planning to use these hi-speed ALPS pots (300°/1s): http://cgi.ebay.de/ALPS-High-speed-Motor-Potentiometer-RK25T11M-10K-300-s_W0QQitemZ260157504209 35 EUR per pot is not really cheap, but I'm willing to spend that for a REALLY useful studio controller. Let me know if you have any doubts. 4. Anyone wants to join / help me with the project? MIOS skills are highly welcome (my MIOS programming experience is near zero ;) Let me know what you think. Any help is highly appreciated! Cheers, Nico

hi, ich wäre an 6 stk interessiert, falls es noch nicht zu spät ist. ist das auf dem 2. bild eine hintergrundbeleuchtung? lässt sich sowas einigermaßen problemlos realisieren? grüsse, nico

hello, to answer your first question, it is possible to create custom scripts in Live 6. please find the following folder and read through the text files: OSX: /user/library/preferences/Ableton/user remote scripts WinXP/2000: c:/documents and settings/[username]/application data/ableton/live x.x/preferences/user remote scripts Note that on some Windows systems the application data folder is hidden by default. Here is what you have to do to make it visible: 1. Launch Windows Explorer. 2. Select Tools/Folder Options/View. 3. Check "Show hidden files and folders." You could also check this thread: http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47157 best regards, nico

thanks everyone! I bought an optional rackmount case for my virus years ago. this replaces the virus' original housing, so it was leftover and seemed to fit perfectly for the sequencer. the keys are from an old cherry pc keyboard. I think most newer keyboards have different buttons which are not usable. the old mac keys should work though. mine had all individual alignments too, but I used same types of buttons for every row in my seq. just had to adjust the mounting height... as for labelling, I've sanded them until the original labels disappeared. new labels are done with letraset (abrasive letters for pcb design) and 3 layers of varnish. cheers, nico

done!

great! you're the man! really looking forward to the next release. p.s. I just wanted to make a donation by clicking the link above. I'm wondering if j.laan10(at)quicknet.nl is the right recipient of the payment. could you please confirm this?

awesome! thanks for all the effort TK! one question: do you think you can get the beat synchronized pattern change feature to work? this is on top of my wishlist. best regards, nico

the box looks beautiful. can you send the joystick data to the midi out port? and how have you done the case markings? (what is a vinyl cutter?)

yes. it works either with one 64k or with two 32k chips. if you use two 32k chips, you will have to change the bankstick setup in the main.asm file. open the file with MPLAB IDE, search for DEFAULT_BANKSTICK_SONG_CS and set it to 1. you may have to read the instructions how to compile the file into sysex here: http://www.ucapps.de/howto_tools_mplab.html good luck! nico

btw, does someone know how I can get the buttons labeled? there isn't much space available on the frontplate below the buttons. therefore I thought it's better to print the labels directly on the plastic caps (although they would look better without labels...???). would 'decal paper' be the right thing for that?

thanks again! the buttons are indeed cool (cheers to myself! ;)) as they come close to the feel of a 909 and are rock solid. here's a description how I made them: first of all I have to admit that I got inspired by various topics here on the board, so all credit goes to you guys! as I seriously wanted to have backlit buttons, I followed the idea of glueing plexiglass on them (this came from you pay_c, right?). I ordered these round standard buttons from reichelt, which thorsten usually uses for his projects, but I wasn't satisfied with their feel and quality, especially when I thought of a live situation. however...I found this topic: http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=tips;action=display;num=1084776108 ...and luckily also found an old spare keyboard with the right buttons (read the topic above to learn what kind of buttons you need). I had many ideas of how to make them backlit, but they all turned out to be too tricky, so I took the simplest way and just glued 3mm thick plexiglass on their top, which you can buy in most DIY stores (home depot or whatever 'baumarkt' means in english). after that I took a multi-tool (dremel) and roughly grinded the glass down to the shape of the button. the rest is done with a rasp and sandpaper. sounds a bit tricky, but once you get used to it, it takes only a few minutes to finish a button. mounting them was a bit complicated though, as they dont fit into a 2.54mm rasterplate. 3 pins did, but the 4th was totally out of the grid. I just bent the 4th one up and attached a short bridge to it...easy. the other problem was, that they have a round bulge on their bottom, so I had to drill 3mm holes into the rasterplate in order to make them fit. that's all =) I'll post some pictures of the whole process later. some more hints: 1. as these standard keyboards usually have white and grey buttoncaps, you can use the grey caps to mark special buttons or functions on your sequencer (i.e. I took grey caps for step 1, 5, 9 and 13, etc.). 2. you can also use the larger 'alt' and 'ctrl' buttons. I took them for the 'play' and 'mute' function. (btw, I mounted the beat indicator LED below the 'play' button, so the whole big button flashes if the sequencer runs. looks nice!) 3. use bright, transparent LED's! bear in mind that these buttons need space! also, there is always a small gap of 2mm between each button if you mount them onto rasterplates. you'll either have to leave it open or get a professional made frontplate with 2mm ridges to cover the gaps. I'm still curious if it all fits when I get mine from schaeffer :-/ nico

thanks! the original virus housing was leftover since I mounted mine into a rack (the virus a needs an additional rack tray in order to fit into a 19inch rack). so the original bits are still doing what they are supposed to do ;)

still unfinished though...frontplate and encoders are missing. I'll buy one from schaeffer, but I have to wait after x-mas ;) the pictures are taken with a cell phone, so the resolution is a bit crappy. first finished DIN module: test run: buttons mounted: finished buttons (backlit and sanded): in the dark we live: ... everything is built into an unused virus a housing. the buttons are taken from an old cherry keyboard. I glued some plexiglass on their top and sanded them (thanks to the nice tips in this forum!). I'll post some more pix as soon as the seq is completely done. cheers, nico

hmmm...the chips' engraving is pretty hard to identify, but it looks like: 24LC256 I/P0AJ 0403 manufacturer is microchip. I guess these are the right chips, are they? the wiring is absolutely correct...I re-checked a thousand times. hmmm...I guess I better order a 512k chip from voti, huh?

oh sorry...I took an original file where I inserted the code. with the correct bankstick setup it returns: C00036280101FFFF00 (pattern adress=0, song adress=1) 3001FFFF00007A5C01 (pattern adress=1, song adress=0)

it returns the following: C80036280100362801

hey, thanks a ton! unfortunately I can't give it a try before sunday. I'll let you know as soon as I'm back in the studio.

yes, I'm using v2.1.

I'm using 2 of 24LC256-I/P IC's from conrad. one on adress 0 and the other on adress 1. the wiring does exactly match thorstens description, but mios detects only one of them. I compiled a syx file with reversed adresses (song adress=1, pattern adress=0). when I upload it to the pic, mios detects and formats both right after rebooting, but as soon as I switch the power supply off and turn it on again, it keeps saying that either the song or pattern bankstick is not available. any solution?

thanks for the quick reply. you rock! I already saw the wishlist. just thought one of the options in my 1st post (especially #2 with the 'All'-button) could be realized quite simply...just to have a little extra toy until a new software version is being released. but well...I guess it's worth to wait and I'll need some time to finish the box anyway :) the new song part / track edit feature sounds awesome! good luck!

hi all, my sequencer is almost ready...just waiting for the frontplate now. this is a great piece of hardware...big up to TK! however, let's come to my problem: I noticed a slight disadvantage of the pattern/song playback routine. as I want to use the sequencer for live appearances, I want to be able to 1. mute/unmute the 16 tracks of a sequence - which is no problem at all, but 2. to edit the first 4 tracks in realtime (of every song!). the problem is: if I want to perform a new song or lets say live sequence without taking a break, I would either have to assign the next 4 patterns manually in pattern mode or I would have to create a song structure in song mode, where song #1 i.e. loops pattern A1 A2 A3 and A4 and song #2 loops lets say B1 B2 B3 and B4. (hope you can follow me... ;)) both options would cause problems in regards to switch over 'smootly' to the next live sequence: - if I have to assign the patterns manually, it needs time to select every single pattern, so the different sounds and drum arrangements of both live sequences would mix up. - if I use the song mode, the changes made on track 1-4 will always be discarded as soon as the song goes back to position 1, as it completely reloads the stored pattern from the bankstick. a workaround could be simple, but I have almost zero programming skills, so I'm wondering if anyone of you can help me with this? workaround #1: the pattern mode menu could be extended with a function that allows to select a complete 'set' of patterns which changes all 4 patterns at the same time. something like this: P1 P2 P3 P4 SET A1 A2 A3 A4 1 P1 P2 P3 P4 SET B1 B2 B3 B4 2 I guess you would need another bank stick in order to save the sets, right? workaround#2: you could use the 'All'-button to change the pattern bank (group) value of all 4 patterns at the same time. P1 P2 P3 P4 A1 A2 A3 A4 ('All'-button = active) P1 P2 P3 P4 B1 B2 B3 B4 you would have to organize a live set in pattern groups, i.e. song #1 consits of track A1-A4, song #2 consists of track B1-B4. workaround #3: a complete rebuild of the song mode which does not reload a pattern from the bankstick if it is in loop mode. but I guess this is getting too complicated. can you mios freaks tell me if one of the options mentioned above is possible? and would you help me to program it (if it doesn't get too complicated)? and another question: is it possible to save the track mute status of a pattern? right now, if I switch to a new pattern, a track keeps muted if the track of the preceding pattern has been muted. ok...that's enough for now ;) cheers everyone! nico

uuuuhhh oohhh uhhhh....all blame goes to me! I found out that the 6th bridge at the bottom side of the core has been connected to a wrong pin. how embarrassing. displays are working fine now. yeehaw! thanks for your time...