Fall_X

Hi stefstabilizer, Those are some nice kits, I was about to order the Theremin kit for practice, but saddly it said "no shipping options available" (I live in Belgium) :(

I'd be interested, but not yet. Still have to begin work on my first midibox and learn a lot. But in half a year or a year, hell yeah, I'd love to get this.

For a while I've been playing around with the idea of programming an application that allows non-musicians to make music, and even improvise. Basically it would work by having "blocks", which have a scale and a chord property (and some others), and the application will play through them. So the application always knows the current scale and chord. One idea would be to just press keys on a midi keyboard, and the application would filter out the notes which aren't in the current chord (with some more flexibility, to play non-chord notes when needed), and quantize everything. Or there could be a module that plays some notes of the current chord, and an arpeggiator creating melodies from this. This would allow me to jam with some of my friends who don't know anything about music, and at least it wouldn't sound out of tune. I'd change the chords now and then, and all instruments would follow. Seems like a lot of fun to me :) I was planning to make this into a computer program, which I would control with a Midibox64 - but now I'm wondering if it could be done entirely with MIOS. I don't know assembler (well, I do have some asm experience but it's a long time ago), and my C is very very rusty. I do know a lot of other programming languages (C#, some java, php, actionscript, javascript, ruby, etc) so I think I'll be able to learn. So I would have one main box which would need the following features : - send midi time code - a list of many musical scales and the possible chords within these scales - an interface to create and select patterns, which consist of blocks with a length, scale, and chord (displayed on a 16x2 character LCD, I'm currently working out the screens for how this would look...) - when a block is played, it should send the notes of the scale and then the notes of the chord through midi on a certain channel Then I'd make slave boxes (starting with one, off course), which would do the following : - receive the midi time code - receive the notes of the scales and chords sent by the main box - each box could have a different way of handling what notes to play, ie arpegiators, little integrated keyboard, etc - quantize notes, with a changeable resolution (or even quantize to certain rhythm-patterns) - send midi data to synths, etc This is the basic idea, I hope I explained it well (language barrier). I have lots of other ideas (for creating beats, etc) but I want to start "simple". I know this will probably be a lot of work, but can it be done with MIOS? Or would I be better off just writing the software for the computer, and then create some midiboxes or buy some suitable controllers to control the software?

Sorry if I wasn't specific enough, but I meant what you described. I did order the kit from SmashTV, but once again I wasn't specific enough - I was not talking about the core stuff, I want to use the bread/perf boards for the control components. Thanks for your reply.

Hi, Since I'm a complete newbie and I can't solder or make PCB's, I was thinking of using breadboards or perfboards to build my first box. But I can't decide which option to go for. I know perfboards require soldering, but they should be more stable than breadboards, correct? I don't want my box to break as soon as I pick it up :) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your reply. Off course... But I mean, is this something really tricky, or is it possible for a newbie to do? I was already planning to try it out on junk before working on the akai board, but thanks for the tip. Nope, that's why I came here. I'm really really a newbie when it comes to this stuff. How can I check this? Yes, I know... But how can I check whether it will work or not? I'm sorry if I'm being a pain in the butt :)

Erm... All I basically want to know is if I'll be able to use the LCD, and if I'll be able to desolder and use the pots and buttons without too much hastle (never soldered/desoldered anything, I'm just getting started with all this). Anyone?

I've attached a couple of photo's from the disassembled DPS-12.

I just remembered I had an old, broken Akai DPS12 (multitrack harddisk recorder). So I decided I'll try disassemble it for parts, which will save me some money. It's got a whole lot of buttons, 13 faders, 18 rotary pots, a rotary dial (like the mpc), and a graphical LCD. My question is, how easy would it be to desolder the required parts? And will I be able to use the graphical LCD? It's got S-11114B written on the back, not sure if that is of any help. Thanks!

I'm going to try and find someone who has the tools and can borrow them to me for a while... And also someone who can help me out with getting started, because all this is way over my head. I can barely change a light bulb, lol. Well, I once built my own pc, but that's still a completely different ballpark. Not sure if I should try making my own PCB's, or design and order them somewhere...

I just wanted to get the answers before I order anything, to make sure I get the right parts. I don't have too much money I can waste, this project will be quite expensive already. I haven't ordered anything yet though (except for the core kit from smashtv), because I'm still planning, figuering out how many/what parts I'll need.

Yeah, I realized that the pots/encoders would be too close to eachother right after posting this and already started redesigning. This box will be one huge monster filled with controllers. I'll have to be careful so it doesn't get struck by lightning - otherwise it might come alive! I'll post it as soon as it's more or less finished. I don't really need it to be used in mios, I want each key to send a different midi message. In fact, I don't think I'll need much mios programming at all. But I was wondering, how are encoders handled? Do they send a midi control message with a value from 0-127, or is it also possible to make it send, for instance midi note-on's depending on the speed and direction you're turning? Might be a stupid question, I don't know. Well, ableton, yes and no. I want to write some custom software on my computer, which will interpret the incoming midi messages before sending it to ableton (and possibly other software or hardware as well in the future). So the 12 buttons underneath the lcd screen would be used to trigger clips in ableton, with bank up/down buttons next to it. You asked for it :) : My software will work roughly like this. You have a grid of patterns (vertical) and blocks (horizontal). There's always one pattern playing, but you can edit other patterns and then switch to it when you're ready. I can select patterns and blocks with the cursor buttons on my controller. A pattern is made up of blocks, and a block had a number of properties - such as length, scale root note (A, B, etc), scale type (minor, major, etc), etc, which can be controlled by the rotary buttons above the cursor pad, and by the keyboard buttons underneath it. These properties will be used to feed a number of arpegiators, which are also controllable from the box. I'll have three instrument sections (one left, two right), each with a few controllers to control the synths, and some arpegiator settings. The numpad will be used for entering ranges for the arps (for instance, if the current scale is A minor, pressing 1 will toggle wether A will be included in the selected notes, button 2 will select whether C will be used, and button 3 will select whether E will be used, and this for a number of octaves). But I'm still thinking about this - for instance, I will also need to define rhythm parts which indicate where accents go, and then I need to be able to select whether a certain arp can have non-chord notes on accents, and between them, etc. I want it to be as flexible as possible, so it doesn't always sound the same. The idea is to have an improvisation box, where all synths automatically play in the same scales and follow the same chords. I'll be able to turn some knobs and push some buttons, and totally different melodies will come out. And I'll also be able to control the beats with the trigger buttons. I can handle the programming part (it will take some time, but I've done tests that indicate this is doable). Now, building the box and making sure I've got all the tools I need while still being user-friendly, that's another matter.

This is still unfinished. The design might be a little weird, but it would be perfect (well, almost, still need to tweak some things) for what I plan to do with it. The large holes are either simple pushbuttons or toggle switches, the smaller holes are for pots/encoders. The big hole near the bottom-center is for a numeric keypad (not sure if I can use this?). The buttons next to this will be used as a navigation pad (for controlling my computer software), but I might opt for some joyswitch or whatever it's called. The whole panel currently is 272x232mm. So what do you guys think? I'm a bit worried that I put the buttons etc too close to eachother. Will this be an issue? Thanks.

I can assure you it's the second option. It's all very confusing for me, plus there's a language barrier (I'm not a native English speaker), and I want to make sure I buy the right parts. I know I'll have a very hard time building my box, but I'm willing to learn. I know quite a bit about computer programming and software, but absolutely nothing about hardware... No results found... But I'm guessing this will do? http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=M8232 EDIT : on second thought, I'll probably be better off buying the power supply locally in a store somewhere, because some countries have different sockets and stuff. I may even have one lying around somewhere that fits the specifications.

Thanks for your help. I realize I still need the stuff for the case, but I'll worry about that later. I'll either build it in a flight case, or create a wooden case with a plexiglass top, I guess. Could you find me a suitable PSU on that site? I'd like to order everything from one place, but I'm not getting any results when searching for PSU, and lots of things when looking for "power supply" - but I don't know what to pick. Thanks!

I'm planning to build a MB64, so I ordered a kit from core kit from SmashTV, and some Rotary encoders and a midi socket. I'm planning to also order : - these buttons : http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S1135 (with caps) - this LCD : http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=Z7000A - a couple of switches : http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S1040 - a rocker switch for power : http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S3210 - a couple of potentiometers : http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=R1906 Will these parts do? What else do I need to get to build something functional? Is there a list of things needed for a basic MB64? Thanks!

I didn't realize the MIDIBox was this flexible - but I'll still mainly use it to control a program I'm writing myself (which is basically a midi scripting engine, translating incoming midi, joystick, etc signals to other midi messages through custom scripts), which will in turn control ableton live. I realize that. The downside is that it's only digital, so I'd need AD convertors to make it work, which would probably crank up the price of the project quite a bit. Unfortunately, I don't. But it's never too late to learn. So I ordered a midibox kit. But I don't want to ruin my box because I have no experience in soldering. So, I decided to follow DRBunsen's advice first. I had an old usb steering wheel which I never use, and I just opened it up and ripped out the electronics - and it's still functional :). It has roughly 17 buttons, one rotary pot, and an attachable pedal (which I can't seem to find atm, but it's somewhere), which I'll probably open up as well. So now I need to figure out which buttons I can order to attach to it, and how to do it. I'm really a newbie to all this, so I hope it will go well. I'll probably use it to trigger sample-clips in ableton live, but I need to think it through a bit first. I've got another joystick which I don't need. I wonder if there is some way to combine both into one device, with one cable, so the computer will recognize them as a single joystick? I doubt it though. Thanks for the helpful replies.

The cables wouldn't be a problem for me. I want to use it together with some other people for live performance, so we'd each need a seperate box, each his own instrument so to speak. So the best way of doing this would probably be just creating different midiboxes, and connecting them with a usb hub (or several midi in's), right? This is probably a bit more expensive I guess.

Thanks for your replies. I don't really want a joystick midi controller, I'm personally more interested in the iowarrior, which comes with an sdk for writing software for it. But for a simple controller, I think the joywarrior would be a nice solution. I'm not good at C, but I think I'd be able to manage writing the software. I'm not worried about that. I'm just looking for the easiest solution for building the controller, and having an USB controller would be a plus for me (which I could also do with a midibox, with a midi-usb interface). This just seemed like a reasonable priced alternative, but since I'm new to all this, I'm not quite sure if it would be any good.

Does anyone know anything about the IOWarrior/JoyWarrior products on http://www.codemercs.com/ ? I'm a newbie to all of this, but if I'm not mistaking, you could create your own usb controllers with these, and then write some software that generates the MIDI messages (there's plenty of software translating joystick messages to midi available, and writing something like this for your custom needs isn't very difficult, I've done it in the past). What do you guys think? Would this be an easier solution than creating a midibox? Thanks.

Hi, So, I decided to build a custom controller. I don't know anything about electronics or soldering, so I hope I'll succeed :) I want to go for a modular approach. So I want one core Midibox63 box, which will have maybe 2 to 4 knobs or sliders and the LCD screen, and some inputs to which I can connect other boxes, which will have the controls. Is this achieveable? Is there any information available on how to do this? What kind of cables will I need for this, and what do I need for the inputs/outputs? I will also add a small midi to usb convertor in my core box, and a midi hub (both of which I probably won't build, I'll buy them), so I can attach other usb devices to it directly (ie mouse, keyboard) and route this to the computer with one cable (which will also send the midi data). I don't think this should be a problem, but maybe I'm missing something? How much do you guys think this core box will cost me, without the case? So it will house a midi2usb convertor, a midi hub, 4 knobs/sliders, the Midibox32 system, and two/three inputs for the external boxes, and the cables etc. Also, how much time do you think it will take to build this (again without the case)? I'll deal with the seperate boxes later, once I get this working. Thanks for your help.