http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/09/controlling_a_sega_mega_d.html http://little-scale.blogspot.com/search/label/sega%20mega%20drive%20%2F%20genesis The vid in the first link sounds Amazing. Midibox Genesis, anyone? ;D
Here are some interesting PIC-based ADSR and LFOs that would look GREAT in a MIDIBOX ;) Keep in mind the non-commercial, personal-use/educational license, but besides that, it looks great :) Nice documentation and everything.
*bump* Since this idea was last dug-into, there have been some interesting developments in the AY-3-8912 world. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Instruments_AY-3-8912#Uses about the Viterbi Search, It's really neat. Music sample played on a Philips VG-8020 demonstrating the Viterbi encoded AY sample player :o :o :o (The VG-8020 has the AY-3-8910 inside) I wonder what kind of processor we'd need to calculate Viterbi on-the-fly ??? Edit: I guess I should have wiki-searched 8912 instead of 8910... http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/midibox_ay_3_8912?s=3+8912.. Still leaves the Viterbi question open though.
I usually check out 411 Tech Systems first, They've got a 20x4 for $10.99, and ship to Canada. (Be ready to expect the usual $5 inspection fee at the border)
Hmm, as a new option, check out the (fully embeddable) Mibbit, it runs on AJAX. No Java, No Flash, just good ol' Javascript and XML ;D http://www.mibbit.com/