sheepslinky

Okay, I am rather busy, and realized that I will not have time to make revisions to my code for a few weeks, so I just decided to post it like it is... Please excuse the sloppiness, it works, though :) It is on my insanium page at: http://shoko.calarts.edu/~lorinp/insanium.html It is in the middle under "developers and technical" I am excited to see what creative and wonderful things people do with this code. I will post schematics soon. Please inform me if you improve or build upon the insanium project or use it in other projects -- I am sure I will learn a lot from others who decide to work with the speakjet as I have been... So, don't hesitate to contact me! Regards, Lorin

Sorry to drop out of site on this list. However, I have done a LOT more work with the speakjet and I will post code for anyone who wants it. My insanium 2.0 is ready, and there will be circuit boards and kits available soon. I am simply waiting until I finish my current tour and have time to print them... The Insanium has become its own, howmebrew, tweaky entity. It is controlled with knobs and dials, as well as touch sensors and some analog ciruitry. It would certainly be very adaptable to MIDI, though, and I am happy to post my code at this point (please remember that I am an artist not a programmer :) ) So, I went an analog, tweaky, old school route, but the MIDI route would be easy to do. I'll post my code and schematics on my site this weekend when I get home. I'm glad that people are working on their own versions as well. The more sounds the better! Oh, and, by the way, the frequencies listed as limits in the speakjet manual are not really limits. For instance, it says that oscillator 0 will only go to 200Hz -- I've had it go well beyond 1000 to create amplitude modulation. Just send it the instruction and it'll usually do it. Also, don't be afraid to overdrive things a bit and let the oscillators clip - it sounds GREAT. Theoretically, I imagine the speakjet can create sounds up to 16k. However, they might stop sounding like oscillators and start sounding like digital garbage. Just have to try... Once again, sorry to leave people hanging. I love the work everyone does here and refer people to midibox often... Lorin

Yes, I am planning to post all the code as Open Source. I am hoping to finish the next version by September. It is a great instrument, and I am using it quite a lot. I'll keep everyone posted. Once I get the current versions finished, I will be very interested to try porting some design to the MIDIBOX. Lorin

I have developed a speakjet based synthesizer instrument. I premiered it in April at the BENT festival in New York City. Currently I am integrating new features, updating code and getting ready for another version. It is not MIDI compatible but is CV controllable (0 to 5V). I think you guys should check it out to see exaactly what the speakjet can do. It is on my webpage (in the inventions section): http://music.calarts.edu/~lorinp/ Listen to "Parts of Speech". That track uses ONLY the "insanium" synthesizer and voice (no other synths -- just reverb and panning). The synth is essentially speakjet with a PIC 18f452 at the core. It also has some analog pre-amps, filters and VCAs. I think everyone will enjoy the sounds possible with the speakjet. It would be easy to use the AOUT module to interface my design. I will be redesigning the PCB, streamlining the code, adding envelope generators, more memory and some other features soon. I plan to post the code and PCBs as soon as they are ready. People can also email me (use my website to contact me) if you are interested in getting a PCB or code examples from me. I don't know when / if I will do a MIOS module, per se, but this is a step in the right direction, no? Lorin

Yes. If the whole thing is running on 5V regulated power, it is fine. PICs and most TTL devices use 0 and 5 volts for low and high (respectively). That's what the speakjet wants to see, and that is what the max3100 will send, as long as your power supply is 5V. The speakjet is very sensitive to power fluctuations or surges, so be sure to use a voltage regulator when powering it. Also, if the power is a little too low, it starts tweaking out and speaking nonsense. Get as close to 5V as possible. The whole rs232 issue comes from the fact that PC serial ports use 0 and 12V. 12V would fry a speakjet, so people usually use a different MAX chip to step down the voltage. The 3100 has no relation to rs232, though, it is designed for use with microprocessors which deal with 5V signals. This leads to another issue, which is that you may want a development board for the speakjet so you can hook it up to your PC serial (stepping down the voltage, of course). It's much easier to set the baud rate and configure the speakjet using the speakjet utility "phrasealator" before putting it in your microprocessor circuit. Lorin

Have you written some code to talk to the speakjet? I've started writing some assembler for 18f452 -- it is a mios-less prototype at the moment and uses serial to talk to the speakjet. However, I figure that I can work the bugs out, condense it and switch the output to SPI once I'm happy with its performance. Though, it seems that you may already be there. If you have some code, lets share... Let me know how the MAX3100 works -- mine are collecting dust for the moment. Lorin

:) Fantastic! I'm going to start building one and try it on one of my 18f4550s! Thanks. I do a lot of diverse hardware projects and it always seems that midibox.org is a great source of help and the "latest information" for any multimedia PIC project. Thanks again, Lorin

Thanks for stepping up! I'll post here when I get the ball rolling. Honestly, I don't know what to expect until I start doing it. Don't let that stop you from getting started, though! If you've done SPI with encoders that'll be similar. Regarding the Atari: So far as I know the atari speakjet simply makes speech possible for new atari games (yes there are new atari releases). It doesn't act as a synth -- just an add on for atari game players / designers. I need to find someone who has one... There's a "hacker's" club here in LA, and many people involved are game gurus and addicts -- I'll try and find someone who owns one. Could be educational :) Lorin

Devil's advocate here (sorry), The QT401 seems only to be available as a SOIC (a surface mounted chip). It is a real pain to solder them. However, there are SOIC to DIP IC sockets to solder them to if you do breadboarding. Aries brand makes some (seen them in the mouser catolog). According to the datasheet, the QT401 has 1.37mm spacing (middle of pin to middle of the next one) -- that means about 1mm between the pins (a dip has .1" {about 2.5mm I think}). Be prepared to use a fine tip iron and magnifying glasses. You might check out http://www.anatekcorp.com/smtdsldr.htm -- I've done similar with SMD chips. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just wanted to warn people. Most of the other Qprox chips have DIP versions. I'm fond of the idea of using the 5 button discrete type with the AIN module. No SPI to code, no microsoldering. Lorin

Hey all, I'm going to start experimenting with MIOS control of the speakjet soon. If anybody else has such intentions please let me know -- it's always better to have more people and more information. Also, I get busy, so I don't know how fast I'll be. I'll start writing some code soon. Luckily, I have a collegue who is much more familiar with PIC18f452 and SPI than I am (that'll help). I'm going to try the maxim chip and SPI first. If anyone else is trying this or any other method, lets keep communicating! Lorin (http://shoko.calarts.edu/~lorinp/)

The development boards are great ways to go. I have one from the Mark III robot store http://www.junun.org/MarkIII/ -- They have really fair prices on stuff. It works great with a computer serial port. (mine's a tigerbotics brand board). The schematic posted on my site is very similar to the development boards out there. I chose to use some transistors to switch the signal levels, rather than the maxds275 chip. Both work. There is a speakjet group on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/speakjet/ . There, you will find more discussion about such things... Last I checked, speakjets were on sale at http://www.speechchips.com/ $10 off!!! I am waiting for my order before I start breadboarding new designs. The Atari thing is pretty different, no? Anyway, they make great sound, and they do handle pitch, speed and intonation really well. It's tricky to program them to be real understandable, but you get the hang of it after a while (you need to think about speed, pitch, bend, sluring.. etc to get a really good word). I think it's fun, and I've performed live with them here in LA, and people love it.

The MAX3100 is the SPI -- UART chip. The datasheet says it is QSOP, but they also have a PDIP-16. It is for sale on digikey for about $5 or so. http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/1731/ln/ I would like to use midibox hardware to begin. So, using the MAX3100 makes the most sense. I mentioned a MIDI interface to the speakjet because there is a growing community of speakjet fans that wish to use it directly with sequencers, keyboards and computers. In a midibox system, though, SPI makes the most sense to me too. That's where I will start. Conveiently SPI is available too. I would like to keep I2C lines open for possible use of external memory. I'll keep people posted. Thanks for your input. Lorin

Yes! I am already at work on this. I have been working with the speakjet for a while now and have unlocked pretty much everything it can do (which is a lot)... On the lowest level, it is a five voice synth with noise, LFO, and a few filters. I sounds great when you access the registers themselves and play the synths. Very funky. Anyway... I have assembled some speakjet resources at http://music.calarts.edu/~lorinp/resources.html . I have a dictionary of raw decimal instructions, some max patches that interact with it and a schematic for a new board to place inside a modular system, like a midibox. I have only just gotten to thinking about writing an application to control the speakjet. It receives UART serial (8 bits 1 stop bit, no parity). The baud rate is 2400 to 19,300. My issue is that the UART TX and RX pins are tied up by MIDI in the midibox. Using those pins would be the easiest for coding purposes. I need a plan to send simple serial messages from the midibox at the speakjet's baud-rate. My ideas so far: 1. Use J10 (which is used to talk to the SID). Use pin RC4 to send the information. It would have to be coded the "old fashioned way", by calculating the baud rate and using a loop and delay to synchronize the signal (as you would on older pics without USART). 2. Again, use J10, but set up the pin RC4 as an SPI transmitter. Maxim makes a chip that converts SPI to UART at any baud rate (using a crystal). That hardware could be placed on the speakjet board. 3. Use another PIC to make a MIDI to speakjet application. A PIC 16fxx with UART comes to mind. It would receive the MIDI (thru in this case from the core) and parse the data into speakjet commands. The code in this case wouldn't be too rough. I have only just started putting together my midibox system. So, I am new to the PIC 18f452 (although I am not new to electronic instrument design), so someone please tell me what makes the most sense using the chip we already have. At this point, I want to reserve as many inputs for sensors as I can, which is why I wonder which pins I should use (I am running short). Also, I am frustrated that I can't just simply write instructions to a UART register for this... I would love some input. I also need to think about it a little longer. Lorin

I'm not sure if these are the same LCDs... But, they're $4.00 per piece & available individually. http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=365&item=LCD-107&type=store I hooked one up to the midibox core today and it works great. I haven't tried the backlight, but it's real crisp and readable without the backlight. Be aware that you'll need an inverter to light the backlight, if you choose to use it (about $4 from the allelectronics).

Thanks so much, I assembled your work-around code in MPLAB and burned it with the correct ID. The PIC then loaded MIOS. The LCD works. I then loaded a small program and it did A to D quite well. Thanks, Lorin