Futureman

And for those that want to read up on it.. http://www.reliablecapacitors.com/pickcap.htm

I might be talking out my arse, but I remember hearing a bit about the different sounds of capacitors etc.. (I used to work with audiophiles... ughhhhh....) Metal film caps are at the top of the list, sonically.. I think Polystyrene introduce the lowest THD (Total harmonic distortion) .. While Tantalums & Ceramics Introduce the Most. I have not built my Sid project yet.. but maybe some samples are in order? Who knows, even a rotary switch with a whole lot of different types of caps being switched in?

LABELS!!!! YAY! I would also prefer to keep it as a step sequencer... Maybe an MPC style sequencer could be a different project all together. I'd also like The BPM to be able to increment in 0.1 BPM too.. (Thats a pretty small feature) (1 BPM is too coarse when lineing up longer samples) Regards Mike

Cool, I actually understand that.. brings me back to my 6502 ASM days.. Could this possibly be implemented as a menu option in further software updates? Regards Mike

Is this possible to implement software wise? I've got a few bits of kit that use the "Short to ground" method to trigger a note (Early Yamaha & Korg Stuff etc) It would be cool to be able to change the polarity of the gate out, ie... normally it's low, but when a gate is sent out, the signal goes high.... On Early Korg gear, the signal is normally high, but during a gate, the signal goes low.. (A short to ground) I'm not 100% sure that this can be done via software, but if so it would be ideal.. Failing that, I might slap a few of these (V-trig to S-Trig converters) inside my sequencer.. Regards Mike

That should mean "Single Pole, Normally open + Momentary action" which is fine.. Expensive for those tact switches tho... (Farnell is pretty pricey generally) you should be able to find similar ones for about 15c each.. just search for "Tact Switch" or "Tact button" http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4-Sequential-Circuits-Momentary-Tact-Led-Switches-PB86_W0QQitemZ300259091805QQihZ020QQcategoryZ58166QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Ask them for more, they are good like that. Regards Mike

Easily.. http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,12092.0.html My Sequencer is a bit bigger than a C64, but it gives you an idea... Regards Mike

Just a small thought, but in your sequencer midi options, make sure that "midi clock" is not on for the IIc's... I don't think they can handle spitting out MIDI clock. (I have not verified that it will cause your issues tho) Regards Mike

HOT POTATOES! got my PCB's today! Looks sexy! kisses for Smash!

minimum spacing would be about 17mm (I had mine at a 18mm spacing to line up with the LCD) however, if you were really keen, you could squeeze it down to 16mm. No trouble soldering them by hand, just be careful.. as usual. wave soldering is more of an industrial process, not for us DIYers. Regards Mike

The body is bigger than smash's encoders... from memory, approx 16mm-18mm.. These do not have a push button in them, and as I use em for my sequencers, they are ideal with the dented motion. Regards Mike

As the buttons have a 5mm spacer behind them, I soldered about 6 x 5mm RED LED's aiming at them on an angle from behind.. I arranged them on a small piece of vero, and glued that to the switch pcb.. (If i thought ahead, I could have just soldered the LED's to the switch pcb, but I didn't think that far ahead. I only lit them from one side, but I guess you could do both sides, but after trying one side, it didn't look like it needed anymore. I powered them off a different tap on the transformer that powers the whole thing, just to leave the core alone. (But I'm pretty sure it could have powered another 12 LED's) Cheers Mike

Well, it's pretty much 99% finished, just gotta screw the front panel down.. in the end, I back lit the bottom buttons, and I can't believe how bitchin it looks... looks like lava! almost, like they are too hot to touch. I ended up staying with the black, but in a month or so, I might still go with creme. I also got the extra midi in's and out's working, and they rock.. takes care of all those pain in the arse Midi Omni things... arghhh.. The 8 Triggers are brilliant for Argeggios & Sequencers like 101's and Juno60's etc.. gold! Regards Mike IMG_0063.JPG

So does anyone know what the core is capable of with regards to making 10 square oscillators with a bit of software controlling the frequency + LFO's ? I'm guessing this is software dependent, but what ballpark figures are we looking at? 1Khz ? 10Khz ? 100Khz ? Regards Mike

My SCI Drumtraks has this.. it's a larger eeprom with a rotary switch to switch (What I guess) the MSB's for most of the sounds.. It's very handy. As for 707's and 'classic' in the same sentence.. thats funny.. But I feel for you.. If someone wanted to 'mod' my Prophet5, I'd Kill them. Just that I own about 5 TR-707's.. Most of them i picked up for $20 - $100.. Also, while they\ sounds are ok'ish, they sound 1000x better when you can at least de-tune them.. the clap sounds much better slightly lower, the cowbell too.. The kick is pretty boxy, but does sound better lower. Regards Mike

Hey all. I used to do a whole heap of mods on roland TR-707 (&727) drum machines.. mainly replace the clock frequency of each sound with a CMOS 555.. I can't remember what was the range of frequencies that they were driven up to, but at a guess 100hz - 20khz. I also used to circuit bend them for people.. www.myspace.com/mikesmodifications I was thinking about doing a special mod, which used a core to drive the 10 clocks. (For myself, not for sale) And have these driven by say, 10 rotary encoders.. Stick a few buttons on the side, to access diffferent options etc... THEN - and this is the big then.. Make some software controlled LFO's & Midi clocked Envelopes etc, use the buttons to access different options like LFO rate & LFO Depth etc.. Even make the pitch of the drums controllable by midi.. so even though they might not be able to be triggered by midi (Assuming the drum machine was running in pattern mode), the pitch could be dealt with in all sorts of fancy ways.. even maybe ring modulation. So my few questions are - If there is 10 clock signals being spat out by the core, and 10 rotary encoders + 4 buttons + 4 leds, what is the max frequency that the 10 clock signals could be? Could they be driven up to 20khz or more? How many of you out there own 707's or 727's or TR-505's (Which are very similar), or for that matter, LINNDRUM's or maybe even Oberheim DMX's & DX's? It might even be able to be applied to the EMU Drumulator. Then, out of that bunch, how many would like to embark on this sort of project? Not many I guess, but have a listen to the 707 samples on my myspace.. some of it is (obviously) from the circuit bends, but in combination with the pitch mod's really rocks. My knowledge of C is pretty limited, and i've just got a few books to help me along the way.. any takers? Much regards Mike Modded 707.JPG The 8 bits.JPG

80mm x 18mm floor boards.. most of the stuff left is low grade, but fine for small projects.. (I got linear 1.2km for my house, and obviously, used the best first)

It's def not blackbutt, I know, because I did my floor to my old place with blackbutt, and it's W A Y too hard to have any fun with... If anyone wants a 100 or so meters of it, I've got a bit spare.. ;) It was made from one old plank I found.. so the sides are the same timber as the front.. maybe it's a lighting thing. as for the centre knob, yea.. I got a few Fender ones from my old friend hongkongsuperseller... he's great for cheap parts. I'll leave it black for now... I was thinking cream, as it's gonna sit next to a White Arp Oddy & Akai S950 & TR-707 + TR-727.. all cream.. (Yea, my gear is sorted by colour... joke) Thanks for the kind words.. Thanks for your help too! Regards Mike

M.U.L.E ! That made me laugh my face off! Gold! Reminds me of recordings of our early jams in some twisted way! ps. was mule an old game for the ZX Spectrum? it's bringing back memories anyway.

This is my newest creation... The front panel is all DIY with a found bit of aluminium + Jigsaw + File. I'm not sure about the colour (Black) and I'm thinking of making it cream instead.. what do you recon? Me and my Dad made the case out of some found Aussie hard wood.. IMG_0074.JPG IMG_0075.JPG

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> This is so bad it's genius!

Ok, sooo..... whats next? The abortion debate? ;)

What! Were you playing with petrol again?? Looks like us southerners are gonna have to sort out our own group buy..

Possibly, but not likely. They often have a small break from selling for a week or so. Regards Mike

I terminated my first sequencer DIN/DOUT Chain, which made no difference.. (I had no flickering anyway) The second, I didn't bother with..