sneakthief

I'm in the process of developing a very simple pattern sequencer that supports up to 256-measure long tracks. I was wondering if anyone here had any C examples of sequencers of any kind that they'd be willing to share? I will document this project and post the code. My first version will simply play back pre-loaded patterns - so I don't need any pattern-programming capabilities yet. (31cmx17cmx10cm) Here are the specifications: 1. 2 independent sequencers, one of which can be slaved to the other. 2. Each sequencer will be able to load one "song" at a time. A song is chosen by the push-button rotary encoder. 3. 16 sections per song 4. 6 tracks per section that can be muted or unmuted with the track-mute buttons (more than 6 tracks could be implemented, but that's all I need) 5. 256 measures per track - this is where this really differs from the Midibox Seq 4. Components: 2x Cores 2x AIN 2x DIN 2x DOUT 2x 16x2 PLED - $21 US each http://home.swipnet.se/ridax/connector.htm 1x case - 14,50 euro http://www.reichelt.de/?SID=22Qq-CFn8AAAIAADkJaHM6632e15d52ed8ada3ec8c009a7e3b932;ACTION=3;LA=5;GROUP=C712;GROUPID=3354;ARTICLE=21189;START=0;SORT=artnr;OFFSET=16 20x knobs - $0.35 each http://futurlec.com/SwKnob.shtml 20x pots - $0.50 each http://futurlec.com/PotRot.shtml 52x buttons - 0,35 euro each from http://www.pollin.de/shop/tabelle.php?ts=0&pg=OA==&a=OTU4OTA5OTk=&w=NDk2OTk4 2x push-button encoders - 0,75 euro each from Pollin.de The total cost is roughly 180 euro. You can save 20 euro by getting LCD's instead of PLED's. I've already ordered everything and the hardware should be finished next month. Then comes the hard part :) I'll be posting build pics next month. cheers, michel ps. Thorsten - You'll be happy to know that I changed the pot spacing so there's 3cm between each post!

Ah excellent. So the first midibox is declared as: MIOS_MIDI_MergerSet(MIOS_MIDI_MERGER_MBLINK_FP) ...and the other is: MIOS_MIDI_MergerSet(MIOS_MIDI_MERGER_MBLINK_EP) cheers, michel ps. this will come in handy for a very simple replacement for my RM1x that I've been planning over a year: (31cm x 17cm x 10cm - It will have two independent cores. Each one will hold ~60 songs, up to 256 measures for each of the 6 tracks. They'll be triggering my 6gb handmade collection of audio loops on Kontakt 2 as well as my crazy KSP scripts)

Does the C skeleton that the Clockbox is based on support MIDIbox Link? In other words, when I link two together (as shown here http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_link.html) does one core automatically merge data from another, or do I have to use a MIOS_MIDI_Merger command? Cheers, michel

before you go crazy when trying this out, make sure that the midi cable you're using has all 5 wires! most midi cables just have 3 (plus ground). cheers, michel

hey, that's a great implementation! i'm quite impressed. regards, michel

i don't see why not - give it a try! i would imagine that the biggest concern in your case might be midi-data drop-outs. let us know how it works out for you.

or you can live life on the wild side and connect two midi outputs-jacks to the single output on the core board :) i've been using this technique successfully for a while now, but it's not recommended fot all situations and may not work with all midi devices. cheers, michel

I'm baaack! I've been busy building a DIY modular & I made a page which details the whole building process - check it out: http://sneak-thief.com/modular Huh? Those are all my own tracks (Sneak-Thief and/or Polygamy Boys) and they were performed/improvised live. dj_statikfire - those cases look really cool! rio - the clockbox syncs up all my sequencers, but it also sends commands to my custom NI Kontakt KSP scripts so I can keep all my loops & fx sync'd. Here's what my Midibox CV looks like now that it's been integrated into my DIY modular: Build pics: (more pics here: http://sneak-thief.com/modular ) cheers, michel

Hi Rowan - sorry, it's actually already a remix of somebody else: http://www.discogs.com/release/263860 :D (I have two projects - one called Sneak-Thief and one called Polygamy Boys) The studio version sounds better though - when I was trying to perform it, a crazy drunken irish minx came up next to me and starting flailing her arms and accidentally pushing buttons! Live gear list: rs7000, 2 nord micromodulars, rozzbox & a good ol' rm1x sequencing a tiny 8"x8"x3" custom live pc running kontakt - no monitor, no mouse, no keyboard ;) ...And here's what my live setup looks like: Anyhow, back to midiboxes: Doing those Midibox projects gave me a lot of confidence for my next project which I've been thinking about for over a year now! Imagine a hardware version of Ableton live - but without a monitor, keyboard or mouse: This year I'm hoping to build a whole box with a custom pc, dj-style audio mixer, and midi controller/sequencer. I don't need anything as complex as the Midibox SEQ, so I'm just going to keep adding some simple code to the clockbox. One bankstick will be more than enough to hold all the required sequence info... I only need 10KB to store the sequence arrays for 60 "songs" that have been broken up into various drums, melodies, bass, fx, etc. I'll post some concept illustrations in the coming weeks. cheers, michel

Moebius & Thorsten - thanks for the nice comments :) Re. Clockbox - I didn't want to use a rotary encoder for the main tempo control because I feel that buttons are more precise when using on stage. I also modified the code so that instead of a pause button, it's a "Stutter" button - as if you hit stop then play at the same time. As the name inplies, you can get a nice stutter effect that way :P These Eurobox cases are great - they snap together and are easily drilled & cut! cheers, michel ps. here's a much newer live set: Sneak-Thief Live in Cork Ireland: http://chromaticon.com/sneakthief/Sneak-Thief_live_in_Cork_Ireland_Nov_27_2005.mp3 (81min / 76mb / 128kpbs)

It's somehow familiar to me too - reminds me of old north american telco gear from the early 80's (I grew up in canada).

It's called a Euro-box and they cost ~3 Euros new here in Germany: http://www.reichelt.de/inhalt.html?SID=14Q%40uDBtS4AQ4AAGyGCIs69f6282bb1269d23c5c8957f3a4459c2;ACTION=3;LASTACTION=2;SORT=artikel.artnr;GRUPPE=C714;GRUPPEA=C71;WG=0;ARTIKEL=EUROBOX%20RT;START=0;END=16;STATIC=0;FC=6;PROVID=0;TITEL=0 The company website is here but doesn't really have any useful info: http://www.euroboxenclosures.com Cheers, michel

The Notron's "superstep" feature (which you referred to as a "curve table") is fantastic to use, as well as the "force-to-scale" option. There are 40 built-in scales on the Notron, quite a few of which are a lot of fun to use. I think the closest sequencer to the Notron is the Colin Fraser's P3 - http://p3sequencer.com ...although I'm not found of the physical user interface. I've had a Notron MkI since 1998 - the biggest pro for me is the amazing physical ergonomics. The software user interface is quite straightforward with most features only a few button-pushes away. The biggest pain in the ass is that it will randomly reset due to static eletricity. Argghhhh! That why I don't use it for live performances anymore. Cheers, michel

I'm ecstatic with the Midibox Clockbox! I needed a master clock for my live performances (electro/techno) that also sends a few custom midi commands: I had the case for a Nord Micromodular lying around so I built a Midibox CV inside. Also here's the back of the Clockbox: The midibox CV is controlling my tiny little Blacet modular: Cheers, michel ps. Here are some pics from building the Blacet: http://sneak-thief/blacet ...and this next project is why I have a leftover Micromodular case: http://sneak-thief.com/nordrs7000.html ...haha!

Oh that's way easier 8) Vielen Dank für deine Hilfe. Deine Projekte haben mich immer angespornt! Grüße von einem Kanadier in Berlin, michel

But I need to perform this simple arithmatic operation before I transmit it: bpmCC = bpm - 80; I'm making a new variable because I don't want to mess with the original BPM value. That's a good point. Even though I'm only going to be working in the 80-207 bpm range, I don't want to cause any errors. One last question: I only want to transmit this midi CC when the BPM is changed, so is this an OK place to put this code (in mclock.c)? ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // These functions are used to set/query the BPM ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// void MCLOCK_BPMSet(unsigned char _bpm) { // re-init timer depending on new BPM value bpm = _bpm; MIOS_TIMER_ReInit(3, MCLOCK_GetTimerValue(bpm)); ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // New BPM to midi CC subrouting ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// bpmCC = (unsigned char)value; bpmCC = bpm - 80; MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut(0xbf); // CC at MIDI Channel #16 MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut(0x77); // CC# 119 (reserved) MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut((unsigned char)value); } unsigned char MCLOCK_BPMGet(void) { return bpm; } Thanks so much for your help! cheers, michel

Hi C experts! I know very little about C, so please be patient ;) Question 1: Does a variable have to be in hex to be transmitted as a midi CC value? I'm working with the BPM variable from the Clockbox application and I want to also transmit this variable as a midi CC (Clockbox code is here: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=5691.0 ) Question 2: Does this syntax look OK? // Step 1. Make new variable called bpmCC for holding CC to transmit based on current BPM: unsigned char bpmCC; // holds the current BPM-based CC to transmit // Step 2. Convert current BPM to a CC value and offset bpm to transmit by 80 in order to get CC value within valid range (0-127) bpmCC = bpm - 80; // Step 3. Transmit bpmCC (does this have to be in HEX? if so, what's the best way to convert decimal to hex?) bpmCC = (unsigned char)value; MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut(0xbf); // CC at MIDI Channel #16 MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut(0x77); // CC# 119 (reserved) MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut((unsigned char)value); Background: When using the Clockbox, I would like to transmit a midi CC whenever the BPM is changed. Why? This function can provide tempo-sync'd midi CC functions to midi devices that don't provide this feature. Transmitted Data: BPM's between 80 and 207 would transmit corresponding values of 0-127 on CC #119 (or other desired midi CC) Example: 1. When the BPM is set to 80, Clockbox would transmit a value 0 on CC #119 2. When the BPM is set to 122, Clockbox would transmit a value 41 on CC #119 3. When the BPM is set to 160, Clockbox would transmit a value 80 on CC #119 Thanks! michel

I moved my question here: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=6122.0 cheers, michel

Oh good! Everybody's on the "same page" now 8) I agree - the fancy arps should stick with the MB Seq. Moebius, I've lurked on this board for years, so I should have remembered that you get cranky ;D I admit, I get into really excited discussions very easily when it comes to gear... heheh. Obsessive? Yes! Definitely. Regards to all here, michel

SmashTV: I think a comparison between Midibox CV and its alternatives is completely on point for this thread, given the discussion of future features. As far as I can see in this thread, people got excited about new features, other convertors were discussed and compared, and uninformed opinions were refuted. Oh and bad behaviour was chastized. Sounds like a typical day in the life on a forum ;D But seriously, may I politely point out that discussion time (heated or not) is often just as valuable as tinker time? It helps guide the technical process in terms making informed decisions about the tools of the trade. cheers, michel ps. I take discussions like this seriously seeing as producing & performing is my sole living

Wow, you're pretty cranky. Um, what exactly am I being naive about? I just wanted to point out that the price/performance ratio for the Midibox CV is arguably better. Having built a Midibox CV (with Max525's) and comparing both the prices and the system flexibility, I still think it's a better deal for DIY folks. Let me flesh out my argument: Re. MCV32 - yeah, 32 outputs at 8-bits or 16 at 10-bits... first of all, for the majority of modular users, I truly believe 32 CV outs is overkill - especially when limited to 8-bit control. 8-bit sucks for any delicate modulation destinations, ie. filters, vca's, etc. Plus it looks like you have to etch your own PCB, nor is the firmware even available. Et je vois aucun endroit pour l'acheter non plus. Re. Fat Controller DAC's - if you check the parts list, you'll see he's using a MAX544, MAX306, MAX6225 & 4x MXL1014's. Altogether these cost roughly the same as a couple of MAX525's. And as I said before, all the PCB's are currently sold out Furthermore, you can successfully stack a DIN, A_OUT & CORE with spacers on the back of a frac panel the same size as the Fat Controller. The maximum 6" depth on the frac standard is actually a lot of space if you interested in stacking boards. Whatever... ::) Last I checked, this site was a "market" of ideas, and not commercial products. As such, isn't a little hypcritical to carry such an arrogant aire in a place that's built from enthousiasm for new ideas & concepts? The uCapps community is proof of the "NON-market" that you speak of *sigh* ...and you can actually easily get a Midibox CV right now unlike the options that you mentioned. Besides, the backhanded "cult of Midibox" comment that you speak of is what keeps the platform developing. Why do you even bother posting if you're just going to insult people who are interested? Cheers, michel

Actually, I beg to differ - the proposed features of the Midibox CV go way beyond the MCV32 ( http://m.bareille.free.fr/mcv32/mcv32.html ). Although the new Midibox CV OS would make it similar to the Fat Controller ( http://burnit.co.uk/sdiy/index.php?page=fatcontroller ), Seb isn't currently selling any PCB's (which are 40GPB!!!). Not to mention, the overall price of the Midibox CV is much cheaper. Also, neither of them have arpeggiators 8) The PSIM ( http://www.synthmodules.com/psim-1.htm ) is much more powerful in terms of programmability, but alas it's sold out and many times more expensive. So I say "go Thorsten!" Mit freundlichen Grüssen, michel in berlin

Thorsten - Das würde richtig geil sein! Interpolation would make a huge difference in terms of practical useage when controlling CC in realtime. Can't remember: is the PIC18F4620 pin compatible with the current core? And I second the idea for midi-sync'd lfo's :) Sorry for all the feature-creep ...it's hard not to think of the possibilities *lol* Not to mention, the Midibox CV is such an invaluable tool what with all the new modulars that have appeared during the past few years. Looking at the new modular offerings from Blacet, Cwejman, MOTM, Modcan, Plan B, A.Sys, Curetronic, Metalbox, etc., it's like we're in the middle of a synthesizer rennaissance of sorts. Cheers, michel

I think that list is fantastic! The quantizer alone would be worth its weight in gold ;) I just built a Midibox CV in November (with the original AOUT) and am driving this simple Blacet setup: http://sneak-thief.com/blacet Question: when controlling an AOUT via a midi CC, is there any way for the midibox CV to smoothly interpolate between the steps in order to avoid stepping, aka zipper noise? Or should I just use a few lag processor (aka glide/portamento) modules to do this for me? Thanks, michel