Zap

Just thought I'd peek in here since its been a while with an update. I have not forgotten about MIDIbox, but am getting closer to the purchasing phase of this project. In the meantime, before I make a purchase, I was curious if the PIC based Core is still the standard or if I should consider using the newer STM based 32-bit Core (is it supported yet by the existing platforms?). I would be using MIDIO128 if that makes any difference. Once I get this figured out, I'm going to be placing an order for all the PCBs so that I can get started with their assembly.

Thanks! It looks like I misunderstood as I glossed over some documents, as I thought they had to be on the physical inputs to the DIN board. It makes more sense now, thinking about it.

One other lingering question I have is that it doesn't appear that MIDIbox has built in optocouplers for the inputs, per MIDI standards. Is this correct, or is there a board for this purpose? I'm tallying boards required for the first phase of my MIDI implementation and hope to order them soon. Additionally, does everyone use ribbon cable to connect things, or can something else like CAT5e/6 cable be used? Thanks!

I'm doing further investigation to see which modules I will need. The console has 3 expression pedals that appear to be large potentiometers. They were hooked to coax which ran all the way to the cabinet and into a box. The box has three connections for each audio channel - Input, Output, and Pedal. This leads me to believe they are just simply potentiometers. I know I've read about expression pedals being accomplished using MIDIbox - can anyone elaborate further how this is done? I am gathering I may have to rig up something custom on the audio side to get the same or better effect. However, I would be thrilled if I can eliminate all the extra cables. Then, it may be time to start dreaming up a way to have a wireless MIDI link.... the possibilities! :D

Strangely enough I grew up in Milwaukee, and my family moved away... now I'm back here again.. though somewhere warmer occasionally crosses my thoughts, LOL. The different voices have different coils and I will have to check again. I know the striker voltage is in the 12-15V range, but I don't remember the coil impedance offhand and the others I will likely need to measure. The coils are not very big on the Harp/Celesta/Quadra voices. The Flemish bells have slightly bigger striker coils since they took two rods for each note and the same striker hits both rods.

Hi! I'm located in Wisconsin, between Madison and Milwaukee (slightly closer to Milwaukee). It sounds like you've got quite a lot of good information. Does this driver board interface with MIDIbox, or is it a separate solution? I'm still trying to figure out how everything fits together to make a functional system. I am curious to find out more about the carillon with the MIDI interface - that would definitely be of interest. There is a rather small interest list for these carillon systems and its always nice to find others who are interested in them! I'm gathering that the most logical path to take is going to be to first get the console functional with MIDI inputs and convert from MIDI back to single wires (outputs) at the junction box where the massive cable normally comes in. Then, the next step would be to MIDIfy the roll player and clock circuit (inputs) to the junction board. I would effectively keep the system functional by replacing one set of cables at a time by MIDI boards. The final step would be to convert the outputs to MIDI and completely remove the main wiring panel from the equation. I may have a few extra boards, but when I eventually find a pipe organ....I'll be ready! The only thing I probably need to verify is what the output boards are rated for. I'm guessing a pipe organ magnet draws significantly higher current than one of the small bell striker coils. So, hopefully I won't need a high power driver board.

Holy cow!! :o You're not kidding... that describes some of what I'm interested in exactly. And the rolls are even multiplexed, with a very clever solution for keeping the MIDI data note-to-note accurate. I'm gathering I could attach the roll player as another single manual console of sorts - either with two stops for each voice to preserve the original formatting, or with a single stop based on the octave switching to keep musically accurate. A way to switch these (or a second roll player equipped for archival) would be ultimately cool for eventual roll replication!! Well this is exciting... thanks a ton for that link! And I would still appreciate any comments on the non-roll related issues from organ minded folks.

Hi, I recently stumbled upon MIDIbox when reading up on some theatre and classical organs that were MIDI enabled. I have been looking for a solution for some time that would allow me to improve functionality and eliminate unsightly (and ridiculously heavy) cabling on my electro-mechanical carillon instrument. For the uninitiated, this is a Schulmerich Americana Bells instrument that uses small metal rods to generate sounds similar to those of cast bells. Since it was built in 1962, it has thick "one wire per note" cables. It contains many metal rods, capable of generating 61 notes of Flemish (carillon) Bells as well as 61 notes each of Harp, Celesta, and Quadra voices. The factory's crowning achievement was the "Carillon Americana" which had a full sized organ console with pedalboard and a multitude of stop tabs at various pitches. I was curious if I would be able to use MIDIbox (along with some stop tabs or buttons) to free me of the cable problem AND to allow me to have the flexibility of playing the various bell voices at different pitches. I presume this should be possible, as this same technique is used all the time in unified organs for using one set of pipes to play multiple pitches and on multiple keyboards. Automatically speaking, a mechanical clock controls the playing of Westminster chimes and hour strike. It also triggers a continuous loop roll-player, which plays selections. Ultimately, I would love to be able to record rolls FROM the roll player to archive them in MIDI format. Implementing a MIDI-based "roll" player would then be possible with memory cards, which would be more reliable than the mechanical player and aging rolls. It would also be possible to arrange new music for the instrument as well. It would be cool to rig up a system to punch new rolls, however it would present some difficulty as the players were restricted to 25 notes of a single voice at a time. Thus, they switched between an upper and lower compass of 25 notes (for a total of a 49 note range on rolls). They also could be switched between voices. That would require some custom arrangements coming from MIDI files, but nothing an editor and some creativity couldn't fix! At any rate, I know this sounds like quite an involved project, but I am curious what the pipe organ folks have to comment on this, since pretty much all of this functionality is found in pipe organs somewhere. The only thing I wonder is if I could convert the roll player to MIDI so that it could still operate for playing as well as archival purposes. Any thoughts? :)