jjonas

MBSID has an absolutely wonderful randomizer function that can be limited to a subsection of all parameters (as opposed to all-or-nothing randomizing everything, like in certain commercially available synthesizers ;-). I strongly recommend you play around with that and then adjust the resulting sounds according to your taste. You get much better and more interesting results this way than if you started from scratch every time, because at least for myself I've noticed that the "patch from scratch" approach too often leads into dialing in the same old stuff. See 'Randomizer Generator Menu' on this page (bottom of page).

There was an update about a month ago about the first production lot. At this statege cost is 74,95€ per chip, i.e. not cheap. Also, the installation into a C64 is strictly speaking not what I'd call "drop in replacement" in the sense that several extra wires are needed to make connections to CPU etc. How that will translate into MB6582 use, I can't say. But anyway probably SEQv4+ will be the main priority for some time still, so we'll just have to wait... Some more audio samples are available.

As to where there exactly, I think the MBSEQv4 documentation page would be the logical place to put the link to a "MBSEQ v4 Workflow" wiki page. A workflow page doesn't exist there yet, you have to make it. And if you are in the business of making a new wiki page with your workflow info there, I guess it could just as well be a general "MBSEQ v4 Workflow" page; even if has only your workflow there, others can add their later. http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=mididocs:midibox_seq_v4 UPDATE: Oh and about the LCD generator, I remember using something that I think was a perl script to generate them, I think I got it from TK when I was making similar shots for the MBSEQv4 Beginner's Guide a couple of years ago. I can't find it right now though, it's been too long, I don't remember anymore.

Yeah I saw that one when I searched the V4L thread for answers earlier, that wasn't the issue I'm having. The problem is that I'm not able to switch between record/forward and transpose (I can just have one or the other) without changing the settings on the SD card. If someone has their V4L functioning the way I describe (i.e. record and transpose work with the same settings), I'd be interested in the config file (SESSIONS/DEF_V4L/MBSEQ_C.V4).

Hi, I'm unable to get both keyboard transpose and recording working at the same time. I can make only one or the other work, they won't work with the same settings. I'm using the Mk.ii panel, and have tried this with both LPC1769 and STM32F4 cores with firmware version 092pre1 (the newest available on the MIOS32 download page is 086, the newer one was probably available in some forum post in the V4L thread). What I'm trying to do: record some phrase using step (or live) recording stop recording and use the keyboard to transpose the phrase But I haven't managed to get these working like this. It would make sense it would work like this (first record something, then use the keyboard to transpose it every now and then and jam away over it using another keyboard), but I guess the first question is, is this really the case? Is this how it's supposed to work? What I've managed to do is: either record some sequence, which then plays back. I can play over the sequence if I want, but the sequence will be the same, no keyboard transpose is possible (whether or not Transpose is active or not); or, on the Trigger page, turn on some triggers and hear the C-4 notes play the synth. You can transpose the C-4 based rhythm to the key you play on the keyboard, but you cannot record your own sequences that you could then transpose. The Mk.ii panel wiki page says, If the setting is 0x00, I can transpose with the keyboard but not record (or forward notes played on the keyboard even if I->O is on), and if the setting is 0x01, I can record with the keyboard (and notes get forwarded when I->O is on) but not transpose (even if Transpose is on). Apart from this setting, I have not edited other parameters in any other files. What am I not getting?

I've understood it like latigid on says, i.e. SEQV4+ will be compatible with the old Wilba front panel, as well as the "standard" setup (there are firmwares for several variants in the latest zip file). And I think we're already in the SEQV4+ era, because that's what the latest firmware is named (if I recall correctly), even if you use it with a Wilba frontpanel. From that point of view to talk about "SEQV4" and "SEQV4+" as if they were separate things makes sense only if we're talking about old firmware versions.

Ok, I tried the attached firmware on STM32F4 as well as LPC1769 (also the matrix). They both work! Thanks! :-)

Hi, I'm trying to get my MBSEQv4L mkII working. The MkII page says (at the start) that it is for use with both LPC17 and STM32F4 boards. Has it been certified that it works also on an LPC17? I'm asking because while the MkII board works ok with my STM32F4 (firmware 088), it doesn't work ok with the LPC17 (firmware 086) I have. The firmware 088 available on the MkII page (end of page) is only for STM32F4, while the MIOS32 download page offers firmware only for LPC17, and its version is 086. At first I tried to use the MkII board with a STM32F4. Everything was working except for midi in. Midi out was ok, as well as MIDI in via USB. The MkII page says that if there's problems with midi in, make a change in a session file. I did, but it didn't help. What is the midi in problem that requires changing the default session settings? Anyway, because I couldn't get the midi in working, I tried the MkII board with an LPC17 (firmware 086, the latest one available). However, now the MkII board worked only partly. The cursor LEDs (the red ones) were not lit at any point even though the seq was running, nor could I switch gates on. But it seemed like I could select bar, sequence etc., only that I couldn't switch gates on. Whether that was a problem with just the LEDs (so that a gate gets switched on/off, the LED just doesn't incidate it), or with the buttons as well, I couldn't tell because midi in/out were not working.

I'm not sure, but if you look at the SEQ's CC implementation chart (found e.g. in the Beginner's Guide, search for "loopback"), only Bus1 is marked with "Loopback". However, the user manual section on the loopback function (search for "the loopback ports") seems to imply that any bus, not just bus1, could be selected for loopback.

My understanding is that what you'd like to do is not possible at the moment, i.e. there's no way to avoid quantized notes from being cut off. Have a look at this message from some years ago when the matter was discussed previously. Apparently it's fixable in principle, but it's all about TK's time. (A kind of workaround is to set quantize to 0% and play very accurately ;-)

Not sure at all if it's the same problem, but I might have had something similar a while ago. It had to do with Midi Clock master/slave settings.

See section 4.2.1. (Copy, paste, duplicate, quick-export/import) of the Beginner's Guide: One or several tracks can also be quick-exported and imported. Multiple tracks within a single group can be selected with the track selection buttons, or any combination of tracks on the Track Selection page (available only as an F1–F4 button or as a saved bookmarks; see Appendices 1 and 2), and then exported with MENU + COPY. This will copy all data in the track(s), including settings, into the PRESETS folder, i.e. they're not session dependent. This means that you can have a maximum of sixteen tracks exported this way at any given time for all your sessions. The file names are of the form COPYx(.V4T), where x is the relative number of the quick-exported track (1–16). Relative means that if, for example, you have selected tracks G2T2, G2T3 and G2T4 and then quick-export them with MENU + COPY, they will be called COPY1, COPY2 and COPY3, even though their “absolute” track numbers are 6, 7 and 8.

Thanks for the info! I've now found out what the problem was. I have a keyboard synth with "local control off" that was controlling a number synths via the MIDI router, including itself. It was set to send and receive MIDI clock. With my "basic setup session" the MIDI clock setting was "Master", so this didn't matter, but in a default new session the setting is "Auto", and the combination locked up the seq. Now I don't send MIDI clock anymore from the controlling synth, and all is well.

Hi, I was using MBSEQ (4.94, 4.95pre10) with my MBSID so that I was using the seq's Track Event menu's function to send a Program Change and Bank Change message at start of the pattern. I have two tracks, the first one to MBSID core1 on channel 1, and the second one to MBSID core2 on channel two. It would seem MBSID gets confused with these "simultaneous" PC and bank select messages, as with my other multitimbral synth (Waldorf Blofeld) there's no comparable problem in the same situation. Here's what happens. If I send a PC and Bank Select message on Ch1 but not on Ch2, Ch1 selects program and bank as expected. If I send a PC and Bank Select message on Ch2 but not on Ch1, Ch2 selects program and bank as expected. If I send one PC and Bank Select message on Ch1 and another one Ch2, Ch1 one selects program and bank as expected, but Ch2 switches as expected only when it's on some other program and bank than the one the message orders it to select; if it's on a different program and bank, the selection works. But if it's on the same program and bank, the program/bank selection is as expected on the screen, but the actual sound is the basic "Lead Patch" (I've tested only on the lead engine). If you now turn the MBSID's main encoder to select the next patch, and then turn it back to select the original one, it is the patch that the PC and bank select message was supposed to select. So somehow the messages select the right patch and bank, but MBSID nevertheless plays a "Lead Patch" (or something that sounds very much like it). So, it would seem that receiving two "simultaneous" PC and Bank Select messages works ok for the first target core, but not for the second. At the moment I cannot test whether it is like this for all cores (2-4) after the first. Can someone else replicate this? JL

Hi, it's been years since I created a new session, as normally I've just loaded a "basic setup" session and saved that under a new name. However, today I was about to do some troubleshooting with SEQv4 and MBSID, and thought to create a new session just to make sure that I have a blank slate. But when I created the new session, I found that even though the session itself is created normally, and you can navigate any menus, add notes to steps etc., when you press play, the seq "hangs" in the first step. You can still navigate normally, add notes to steps, but the seq just won't move forward from the first step. MIOS Studio shows a continuing stream of "fa" messages. If you open another session (one of my old sessions, all of which are copies of a basic session I've created many years ago) and press play, playback works normally. So it's not "real hang" or a crash, as you can still navigate normally, open another session etc. But it would appear to be a problem with newly created sessions. I tried different versions of the firmware that I had on my computer (4.90, 4.91pre8, 4.92, 4.93, 4.94pre2, 4.95pre10), but all gave the results described above. Can someone else replicate this? JL

I don't know if this is the problem, but live forwarding 'on' can cause confusion with simultaneous MIDI router settings. If you have Live Fwd on, the Fwd function will forward the notes to the synth, but at the same time you might be using the MIDI Router to forward those same notes to the synth as well. A further cause of double triggering of notes might be that your controller is a synth which has its 'Local' setting on; in this case notes are triggered by the synth itself as well as the SEQ (if Fwd and/or MIDI Router is set to do it). My personal opinion is that Live Fwd 'on' is good for certain setups (e.g. one non-synth controller with one or more module/desktop synths), but if you have a few controllers and a few synths, I think MIDI Router is more useful (and Live Fwd is 'off'). For example, I have four controllers, two of which are synths, and the synths' 'Local' setting is off. So if I want to play synth 1 with its own keyboard, I will have to choose the right track on the SEQ (the Router setting 'Sel. Trk' is very useful). See the relevant section in the Beginner's Guide for details.

@tago Just to clarify, I was talking about the Wilba frontpanel; I don't know if buttons that could be removed on WFP can be removed in the new design as well. As to your question, see this page for the function of the up/down buttons (the buttons are on the right side of the jog wheel on the WFP). http://ucapps.de/midibox_seq_manual_fp.html

Re pomics's idea: One display will not really work, because even if one plans using just 8 step sequences (and from that point of view one display would be enough), most menus will have selectable items in both displays, regardless of track length. Buttons on the Wilba frontpanel that I use rarely or never: scrub, metronome, solo, forward (>>), back (<<), pause, up, down. Copy, paste and clear could be left out as they're available in the UTILITY menu. Trigger and parameter layer selection buttons could be cut down to just one each. Group/Track quick select buttons could be cut completely (tracks can be selected e.g. on the EDIT page with a GP knob). However, given that both displays are necessary in practice, a minimised button setup is probably not that useful (just my opinion). My reasoning: if one display could be cut, then the minimal design would be very compact, but I'd say you really do need both displays. Memorising the "invisible" menu items by heart in several menus on the "missing display" is not a good option in my opinion. So the two displays set the minimum width of the front panel. If the intention is to make the front panel height smaller by getting rid of buttons, you'd need to eliminate a whole bottom row worth of buttons, and would gain a few centimeters by doing so, i.e. not that much (though sometimes a few cm can be crucial). If you're using separate DIN boards for your design, getting rid of a row of buttons saves 1-2 serial registers (+ wiring).

No crashes here either, but I too did notice the slow start of the 'Save as' process. I don't remember whether the seq was running at the time or not.

I tried the PATTERN page copy/paste in pre094. It seems that currently pressing COPY or PASTE copies or pastes all four patterns, instead of just the currently selected one. I'm not sure what the COPY+PASTE (pressing & holding COPY and then pressing PASTE) operation is doing. On the EDIT page the COPY+PASTE operation duplicates the content and length of the track (e.g. 16/128 to 32/128), but how does this translate into a pattern operation? One of the alternatives that would make sense is if pressing and releasing COPY or PASTE copies and pastes all patterns, and COPY+PASTE copies and pastes only the selected pattern. But when I press and hold COPY on the PATTERN page, the seq copies all patterns immediately. I would have expected that pressing and holding COPY doesn't do anything until I release the button, so that while pressing and holding COPY I can press PASTE as well if I want to activate the COPY+PASTE function. Or did I misunderstand something?

Your offer is quite a jumble of all sorts of things, and most people probably won't have use for all of it. Indeed, it's not self-evident what some of the veroboard stuff is for in the first place; I can make an informed guess, but if I was a potential buyer (which I'm not), I'd want to be sure. Usually the attraction of mixed lots like this, where it's unclear what is working and what is not, is a very cheap price. You will perhaps get more interest if you're willing to break what you have into bits and describe the contents of the offer in more detail. Other things that might explain the lack of interest is that even though you say the lot includes a "fully built MB6582", based on the pictures it's not fully built in the sense that there is no control surface; apparently only the base PCB is fully built. But even on the base PCB you don't say if it is, or has ever been, in working order. Note also that the base PCB and the control surface PCB are again available (on modularaddict.com). Starting one's build from scratch is an attractive option compared to a "fully built" PCB on which the seller gives no guarantees. The SIDs are worth some money in all likelihood, but I'm not sure if I was willing pay 40€ for a 6581 even if it was fully working, and absolutely not if the seller doesn't say explicitly that everything does work. Just my thoughts.

If you're looking for a seller with a good track record, I can't help you (not that I know of anyone with a bad record either!), but if you're also looking for a better price for 8580s than what you mention, I doubt you will find it.

What latigid on said, and as to delay per channel, it's on the wishlist. "allow to define delays based on ports & channels instead of only the port". (The wishlist is at the bottom of the changelog file that comes with the firmware zip.)

fallenturtle, I started my MIDIbox career by making a stereo SID modular and then I made it bigger with complete control surface. My opinion on a large modular is that potentially it's a maintenance nightmare unless it's done right. I suppose you want to build it and then concentrate on making music with it rather than on maintaining it. Of course with most DIY some maintenance will be required at some point or another, but I'm sure every DIY'er knows what I mean. A large modular can be done in various ways, and for example if you make DIN/DOUT connectios to encoders, buttons and LEDs with headers and crimp connectors (Dupont, JST etc.), that's closer to "doing it right" rather than soldering wires straight to buttons etc.; these are connections that might break if the wires move around over time when the synth is sometimes moved etc., or when you have to open the case and fix something else you are likely move the wires, and cause another problem when a soldered connection breaks somewhere. (The latter solution is what I did with my "big modular", and in my opinion that was a mistake.) My solution was to give up the modular and build an MB6582 in a PacTec case. I think that was the right solution (for me at least). Certainly it's more boring than a DIY case and the DIY control surface that goes with it, but in my opinion it's less trouble. And of course the MB6582 CS board is not available at the moment, even though Modular Addict does say that it will be "available soon". You choose to do what you want, but I'm just saying that you should consider if the looks of the synth (i.e. the C64 case) are worth the potential maintenance trouble. I stress "potential", as it all depends on your skills and other factors which I'm not familiar with. I'm not saying anything bad will happen, but this was certainly my experience with modular+DIY CS vs.PacTec+MB6582.

Thanks for this Peter!