canrull

Thanks HG!!! You gave me some very interesting links for the construction (Shavano in particular), I think butt joints seem the easier choice. I also will have a look at your alternative materials, although I think they might be much more difficult to work with (plastics, etc.) and to find. I have nearly decided to use an strong plywood, glued with phenolic WBP. I can get one standard sheet (250 x 150cm) for about 100 euros, which seems reasonable. Now I am working on building something that can be easily carried, using flight-case accessories. I want to design the full box from the bottom thinking about this approach. See this photo for the idea: http://picasaweb.google.com/julian.gregorio/Jamon7/photo#5173610618235711634 Thanks again! Julian

Hi Henrygr! Thanks for your post. I am close to start building the wood box, and I feel confident using ply. I still have doubts about how to join the plywood, as I have read that drilling the edges may be dangerous. I was looking specifically for a organ-like feel keybed, that's why I choose these controllers. I already have a piano controller for pianos. I want to build something lightweight, and use my sound expanders in a rackbag. So the thing being built will be only controller. I will design the MIOS application to allow for high flexibility, so any of the two keyboards can control any expander. This may be a solution even for playing piano sounds, as I have played those keybeds and they are semi-weighted, so the solution may allow me to leave the piano keybed at home. I had already seen the 47K thing... I have read that if cables are short, it may work with no problems. I will test them once I assemble the CORE/AIN modules. If problems arise I may put a resistor in paralel to lower the total resistance. I don't mind the result is not linear, as I will be using calibration tables in my code to get the 16 positions of the Doepfer drawbars. I will keep you updated about my progress... Regards, Julian

Hello, I am starting an ambitious project, after my experience with a MidiBox (see http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,9495.0.html). It will be a hammond organ controller for my hammond xm-2 expander. It will consist, basically, of Doepfer parts: 2 keyboards, a set of drawbars and mod/pitch wheels, and a custom MIOS application, using CORE, DIN, DOUT and AIN. I have drawn a design using google sketchup, which you can see here: http://picasaweb.google.es/julian.gregorio/Jamon7 I would like to build a wood box, and use aluminum panels for the controls. My first thought is using plywood (9mm) for the box, and use Front Panel Designer for the panels. Do you have any recommendations or experience using plywood? Can you think of a better alternative? Thanks, Julian

Thanks, stryd_one, for your kind response. I'll order the new PIC and see if I can manage to make it work. Regards!

I already searched the wiki, but I didn't find an unequivocal statement saying it would work... maybe I am a little bit clumsy. In fact, I saw the thing about the 4620 bug, that will bring me problems with MIDI, because MIDI IN/OUT can happen at the same time, and I am not (and I will not be) using MBHP_IIC_MIDI: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=mios_pic18f4620 So I was wondering if using PIC18F4685 was the solution. Regards, Canrull

Hello, guys. I have a finished C application running on a Core + Bankstick + Unmuxed AIN + DIN module. See http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=9495.0. I run out of memory, so I cannot keep on expanding the application. So I am thinking of replacing my PIC18F452 by a PIC18F4685 to get more application memory space. Will my C application work just by recompiling it? Thanks in advance, Canrull.

Hello there! I have finished my MidiBox!! The box is for live performance. MIDI IN is my master keyboard, MIDI OUT my sound module, and it has foot pedal connections. I wanted it to be small, and fully configurable for any parameter. I have written code specifically to control my sound module, although it can be easily changed to any other module, because it mostly uses CCs and some RealTime Universal Sysexes (and some manufacturer specific messages too). It is based on the following hardware: - An standard CORE module, running MIOS with my own C developed application - A custom stripboard, that holds a DIN module, AIN connections (unmuxed) and Bankstick - An standard LCD 16x2 screen - 6 foot controller connections, 3 analog controllers (AIN) and 3 digital switches (DIN) - 3 pots - 3 momentary buttons (switches) for left, right and mode functions - 1 encoder, for incrementing/decrementing values - IN/OUT MIDI ports I wrote the software to control a sintetizer (Roland XV-5050) using pedals, and also to read some MIDI messages coming from my master keyboard (a Casio Privia 100). The basic functionalities of the software are: - Two application modes: standby and setup. Setup allows to access a tree-based menu with four sections: program, preset (8 programs), global and pattern. Global allows to provide default behaviour for all controllers. - Left, Right and Encoder allow to navigate the menus and change numeric and alphanumeric values. - Every parameter is saved to Bankstick (programs, presets and global). A total of 8 programs * 16 presets = 128 programs can be stored. - Buttons from my Privia are used to change program (0-7) inside a preset. - Every pot and foot controller can be programmed from the setup menu to send different messages (Sysex and CC). Foot switches can be defined to have inverted polarity, or act as a latch. - A drumbox, based on patterns sent in Sysex. Sysex is read by application to load the patterns and play them. Patterns are saved to Bankstick. Tempo changes are sent to my XV-5050. - I have a table to convert AIN values (for pots and pedals: Roland EV-5) to 0-127 values. It allows me to calibrate values. - I have also a table to convert key velocities, so I can change the velocity curve. - A led connected to RD4. Its use can be also programmed: can be assigned to a switch latch or to show a metronome. - A debug mode for reading MIDI incoming messages. You can have a look at the box at this address: http://picasaweb.google.com/julian.gregorio/MidiBox I can share the code with anyone interested. Regards, Julian

Thanks, Michael. I found a post by Tk saying the whole EEPROM range is available for programming, and it's not used by MIOS. So I will be using this for storing data in EEPROM. Regards, Julian

Hi, Michael. This is my first Midibox project, I have built the core and connected the LCD, uploaded the MIOS and tested with a loop that MIDI IN flows to MIDI OUT. That's all... I am designing the application now, using C. So the thing was to know if I could use freely the EEPROM to store parameters... I am a little concerned about storing data, as you say... Anyone else had any experience storing data in the internal EEPROM? Regards

Thanks, Michael. I still have one relevant doubt, about the EEPROM memory space (0x8000 to 0x80ff). Is this space totally usable for my applications or does MIOS use any address range for storing internal data? I am saying that because I found some significant values when I read this memory using a MIOS SysEx memory read. Thanks again, Canrull

Thanks for your reply, Michael. I am developing the application using C language on a PIC18F452, it will be a kind of MIDI filtering solution based on MIOS, with MIDI IN/OUT as input/output. I am not planning to use banksticks, as I want to keep it very simple (use basically a CORE module with MIOS). I want to keep some settings for the application, i.e. filtering options. And it seems the easiest way to go is using EEPROM (256 bytes) or program flash (const variables in code). Any other ideas about my two questions? Regards, Canrull

Hi there. First of all, I am grateful for the existence of this project! I want to program an application that allows storing persistent data. I understand I have two options: to use internal EEPROM and to use flash memory (I would use it if more than 256 bytes are needed). 1) Which space of the internal EEPROM is free for application usage? I read the memory using MIDI Sysex message (implemented by MIOS) and I saw the starting bytes were used (I asume by MIOS). 2) How can I change content for flash memory from outside the application (initial values)? I understand I can declare a const array, but how do I know the starting address asigned by compiler in order to address it from the MIOS Sysex MIDI message that changes flash content? Thanks in advance! Canrull