henrygr

This topic has been bandied about before, but was dismissed due to a) the expense of interfacing, and b) the difficulty in removing anything analogue and leaving the AINs to there own devices. I have been toying with the idea though, and was inspired by http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=8054.0 to start a new topic on it. I will tell you what I have come up with thus far. a)Expense of interfacing- Using a 40 pin double row SIL header either end would be really cheap. All you would need then would be an IDE cable to connect them. If we haven't all already ripped our spare ones apart, then no purchase necessary! If we have, then the cost of one is only about €5. If or the sake of example we are using one whole muxed AIN board, that uses 32 pins for inputs, and two extra pins for Vs and Vd, leaving six pins on which to get around the problem of........ b)The difficulty in removing anything analogue and leaving the AINs to there own devices- Came up with two workarounds. One, rather complex idea of a muliplexing relay switch that would send the AINs to ground when the cable is removed by using the spare pins to act as a switch. Rather expensive, and it seems that these parts are not exactly available of the shelf for guys and gals like us. (Side note- I have come to the conclusion that when googling such things, and GlobalSourcesChina comes up on the first page of results, I am in for a tough time in finding a feesible solution. From here-on, I am calling this "The China Syndrome"). The second idea utilises banksticks. I have not programmed or used them yet, but I was thinkling that if it was possible to embed a bankstick in each modular unit, one could then set the AINMuxed number of inputs in the core to 32 for normal operation. That way the second multplexer is not regarded, and you could tapdance on the pins without getting any jitter. The only difficulty here is that you have to learn to tapdance. However, when you connect the unit, you could put in an additional DIN switch that would call the bankstick to be loaded or unloaded, hence an on off swith for the unit. What do you think?

I had a thought recently of using the MIOS to trigger a realy t ground/unground AIN's. It came from an idea of making modular add ons to a core module (discuused before), and overcoming the difficulty of having the AIN's throwing out an old crap when the module was not there.

Antimon. Hang in there. First time is always the hardest. Two questions Any other messages besides the sysex request every two seconds? What is your power source? (and I mean every aspect of it) Mark.

Thanks for both your replies. And an update.... The idea is fairly sound, and works only OK for the moment. The big difficulty is the action of the drawbars, and the atypical American Over-enginerring that does not leave much room for modifications. It's like everything was designed for a task and that task only, whereas with european clasic keyboards, parts were borrowed or reused from other models (for the purpose of budget one can summise), making spare parts both easier to source, and also easier to find information on. All I can compare working with it is to filing the frets on a guitar, where each string has a seperate fret!! I opted not to do the voltage divider method. The main advantages of it was that the drawbars could be left as make before break and there would be no need for additional grounding of the contacts, as they are never in a state of flux. It is in fact the best way to go. But in considerstion a break before make system had the advantage of being compatable wth pre 1954 model Hammonds (up till then all systems were break before make). I may change my mind yet. But the short and narrow of it is that there is certainly more than one way to skin this cat. He'd better bloody taste good, that's all i'll say..... stryd_one, would love to do a Wiki on all things organ, and try to amass all the information here into one concise article. Perhaps over the year I will do this. For the meantime though, got to finish this keyboard as the clock is ticking, and I'm back on the road fairly shortly!! Hammond fanatics, this link is to the most comprehensive guide I have yet to see on the net about the Hammond. http://theatreorgans.com/hammond/faq/files/faq.txt Will keep ye all posted, Mark.

Just a quick question. When one leaves an AIN pin ungrounded, and then touches a ground to it during all it confusing jitter, should the final value be "0"?

I know. The idea of it- so shoot me. But, to be honest, I am under pressure, and don't have time for UPS to get me DOUT modules grom SmashTV. It's a nine by nine matrix (yes,once agian, Hammond drawbars). Very much discussed on the forum, but with no real conclusion, except for the implemtation of the scan matrix http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=2755.0 here. Here is what I have done thus far. I have split the bus-bars into 81 seperate switches and am happy with the result (only took about three hours, so not so bad.), and have also rendered the switching system "break before make". I have absolutely no idea of the sense that this topic makeshttp://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=2754.0, about a "switched resistor scheme". I have never seen the schematic, but on reading through it a couple of times, I was left with the impression that all information would be mixed as each wiper shares a common ground. Before I go on, I can still revert to the original Hammond layout of the bus-bars, so if someone can clear up the second topic I posted, I will go ahead that way. Otherwise, I will continue with the 81 seperate switches. As they are now break before make, I am playing with a model of crossing the ground via a 7.5K resistor to the AIN to eliminte jitter. At the wiper/busbar contact section, I have run a series of nine resistors from 100R to 10K from switches one to nine. The theory is that a value will be returned based on the differential of voltage between the Vs and the Vd and translated into MIDI. Its a bit messy. But I will keep at it (I am doing it drawbar by drawbar (wiper by wiper) for the sake of quality control). Any tips, suggestions or obscenities would be appreciated. WARNING-Anyone else thinking of doing it, don't- it's a last resort from the topic of the first link!!!

Any Irish midi boxers out there??

http://www.geocities.com/dsaproject/electronics/eprom/eprom_prg.html Hope this helps!! ;D

One workaround would be to let the two cores work independantly and connect them via Midi. I actgually pulled an old Spirit Folio apart last night for the same purpose. Never occured to me about the logarithmic taper ??? Any workaround?

Yeah sorry. Time for an updat. I agree thet you need blacklight. Three days now, and the small coerner I left on the widowsill still hasn't set (ever seen an Irish guy with a tan?) It stinks, just to let you all know. I removed the backing to see if the glue will dry out also. If it doesn't, I don't see it as a major stumbling block. I could easily put a layer of cling film there and then let it set. I also got some MorphPlast off of ebay. Am waiting delivery. This is the injection mould plastic that melts at 60 degrees to become maleable, and then sets when it cools down. It will be interesting to see how that works. Imagine doing a gig and your keyboard dissapears under the lights!!! He he. We used to do music, and now we're magicians!! Goe mine in Atlantic Homecare in Dublin. Don't know if B&Q stock it. Mark.

I saw this one from an old midi to com port DIY page http://www.maxmidi.com/diy/serial/index.html I am not so hot on all of this, but I will try to get samples and see if I can work it out!! The key point here is "try"!! Mark

http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/FT232R.htm Would this work?

Hey Jidis. Did you make the plastic wheelie bin too? he he he :D Joking aside. Looks great

Thanks for that Jidis. Will look into it. It is exactly what I want to do!! Cheers, Mark.

It is extremly difficult to get a good organ sound live, I agree. What I gig with is a PC in a rackmount set to run B4 automatically on start up. I am in the throes of builing a keyboard/PC in one. I started last week and hope to have it finished within a fortnight- basically before gigging heats up again. Look forward to seeing the pics! ;DMark

OK. I'm not so hot at the synthesis end of things. But if I understand correctly, the issue you are having with your midi is the fact that everything is in SYSEX and is slowing you down. I guess the thing here is to try and ascertain what midi messages control what aspects of the SoundCanvas. If the SoundCanvas can be manipuilated from your PC, try to get a read on its various messages by sending its MIDI out to a program like MidiOx. What exactly is causing this? I am a bit lost here. Did you already midify a set of drawbars, and if so, how so?

Lovely runners. Really ;D There are some great ones on ebay too.

Yes. I've tons of advice, as organs are my vice. First off. take a look http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=6818.0. Some photos are missing. I rehoused vox continental drawbars for that project, and as I speak, am about to test some Hammond Smooth T Bar style drawbars- two sets. One from a M100, the other from a H series. It is not clear, however, what you want to achieve. What drawbar system are you running? What do you want to control? How many drawbars? Any other switches? Why did you use sysex? (I know Roland tend to get OTT on the sysex. Their most up to date keyboard, the Fantom series, loves SYSEX, loves other Roland keyboard, and hates everything else- in short a nightmare.) Let me know exactly what you are concocting. I should have the code lying somewhere around.... Mark.

Folks, The mantle in my covete Bernzomatic is burnt out, They don't do replacement tips. Any suuggestion on a DIY replacement? Have tried both gas lamp mantle and steel wool. Neither work Cheers, Mark.

Have a look at this http://www.fibertechdiy.com/fibertech-patch/product-info.htm. I bought a 225 by 300mm patch today. Set me back a whopping €20. Will put it to use some time this week, and will do a photo shoot of it for the sake of formulating a proper technique (not so you can all have a good laugh at my oftentimes crass DIY, or out of context photographs of my feet as I point my camera/phone down toward the table). Comments? Suggetion? Mark.

I posted the links as I think it is always necessary to keep an open mind to what is available as alternatives- I guess that is the basis of any business or intellectual model; to be forever striding for the perfection that doesn't exit by learning from others successes and mistakes. Trust me when I saythat I was relieved when I saw all of your replies- I thought you might shoot the messanger boy!! The board is €15, and then the additional USB interface board is that price again. I think it is quite limited in its amount of physical inputs, which would make it impractical for the gear that most midiboxers (once they get addicted) build. (Off topic- www.midiboxers-anonymous.org- for those of us needing to get off of our asses and tell our family and friends that we still exist!!!! he he he) My final thought on it is that it would make a good quick fix to a problem, but would not not make a permanant solution. Long live MBHP ;D Happy new year all. Mark.

Folks, Have a look here http://personal.ilimit.es/principio/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.6-pack and here http://www.arduino.cc/.... Any comments?? MP

This is super stuff. Will pull a mouse apart and see what I can come up with. I assume you are using rotary encoder source code at the PIC end?

Great to see this topic being bandied about, as organ playing is my first love in the live scenario. I drive a PC built into a rackmount set up, and run NI B4 from a midibox console I built. Am about to go to work on some Hammond M1 drawbars. However, I am at an advantage, as I do not need the drawbars to be left in tact to control the stops of the original keyboard, as it is totally dismantled. I know from searching the web that there are not many practical solutions (in fact- none) of leaving the drawbar assembley in such a way that it can produce a midi signal from customisation, and still perform it's original task of powering the tabs on the host keyboard. If I am mistaken, please let me know. If I am correct, then please let me know, as I have a few ideas I want to throw in the discussion!! MP Oh yeah. It would be nice if we all fot together to do a comprehensive WIKI page on all our findings, no?

OK guys. Am about to try to upgrade an old keyboard (Roland JW 50). It is c. 1992, and i think it is the same keyboard that would have been used in the JV series. I say this, as there are plenty out there, and if I can get this nailed down, then it might open up the door for others to follow suit. Saw this thread http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=6386.15 Thing is, a year into midi-boxing now, so I don't want to start learning assembly, so that would be my first stumbling block. I know there are trial versions in C code floating about, but I haven't seen any conclusionary results posted, so I am assuming it is still a work-in-progress. Can anyone who has tried it update here as to their experiences? Also, am lost as to the type of interfacing between the keyboard and the core, so I would appreciate any input there. And finally, when I get the keyboard running with velocity sensitivity, I think it would be only fair of me to look into getting the aftertouch in order. So, big enough of a project, and as ever, look forward to your help and sharing my experiences!! Go raibh maith agaibh, Mark :)