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MIDIBOXi-ON


e-toy
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I had a try on one of these a few minutes ago. It is a really amazing instrument. The sounds are really cheap but you can use it as a MIDI "sequencer".

Tenori-on is a mix between a step sequencer and a real instrument. You have to practice a lot to master it but it is really intuitive. I wonder what effort it would take to do MB based one. Except we would never reach the (small) size of a real one everything else should be handleable by MIOS. We need a 16x16 button matrix so ...

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. Except we would never reach the (small) size of a real one everything else should be handleable by MIOS. We need a 16x16 button matrix so ...

uh? i know here somebody s designed a 11x10x2.5 cm box with 8 backlitbuttons and 4 encoders with ledrings... and NO smd...

now a bit offtopic but can anybody remember me the name of this other one?

(of course i am talking about the weird MIDI controller in Uwe s hands)

SCL.jpg

Simone

EDIT: one more things, the Tenori-on is a cool little MIDI controller but calling a 16x16 button/led matrix with an advanced fancy software "The instrument of the XXI century" a bit over...

A modular hardware/software system that let you build almost any kind of MIDI application is "The instrument of the XXI century", oh well!

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It is nothing about the hardware or cool looking thing (I personnaly think it looks ugly). It is all about the way it let you handle music. You can play your music on it like you would play on a guitar except it opens a lot of possibilities like playing over yourself & more. The technical part of a step sequencer is totally absent from the creation process.

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now a bit offtopic but can anybody remember me the name of this other one?

(of course i am talking about the weird MIDI controller in Uwe s hands)

<picture from above>

The guy is holding Future Retro Revolution, not controller. ;)

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.future-retro.com%2FREVOLUTION.html&ei=1cJXSNX5LITY7QWgidzoBw&usg=AFQjCNE0yXNmbw6bMebZ7lE0BN5JJMlw6g&sig2=0DAzXundVbBZjV_XxbfRtA

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I've been keeping this is the background (to avoid impatient people accusing me of taking too long) but here' a bit of info:

Scanning the matrix can put a hefty time load on the core. This can cause problems with timing-sensitive apps like a sequencer. With a fast processor (IE, not arduino or midibox) this is not such an issue, but for us, it means either having a very simple sequencer, or having timing issues. I've been working on a sequencer forever now, and am fast approaching the first working build with a CS. It uses two cores, one as the CS and one as the engine, which share external memory for the song data, which allows my UI concept of a 12x16 matrix, and a complex sequencer, in the same box. This is several months away at least, but I'll post some pix once the prototype boards are here in a month or so.

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Stryd-one sounds like you have way more experience than I do developing these things.

I'm a few years in... uhm... 6 to be exact. damn. My experience is mostly comprised of f*ckups though :D My initial hardware experience was limited to soldering other peoples designs and software was all windows-based... Not a great starting point in the midibox world :)

I think you just saved me hours of painstaking labor to find out I am using the wrong micro-pro.

Well, that really depends on what exactly you're trying to do with it. The arduinos aren't too hefty, I think the idea with them is more to bring data to the PC and do the processing there... But you can see from the MBseq v2 that the PIC in a MBHP core is quite capable indeed....

But there's a definite balancing act to be done. In fact, learning that balance is probably where 90% of the experiences I've gained have been. If you've got a really clear idea of what you want then I could maybe give you some tips to get started on your own sequencer app. Careful layout of data in ram, and preemptive processing, can give you a lot of power, but it needs to be tailored to the specific requirements you have.

A good example from the mbseq is it's matrix. A lot of people ask about having a larger matrix on the mbseq, as it's limited to 4 tracks. That's because of the way it caches the song data, 4 tracks at a time. Having a larger matrix means caching more tracks for editing, but there's not enough ram for that, with the mbseq's design. There have also been hints that, if such amounts of data were cached ahead, then the time taken to refresh the matrix could cause timing issues. Essentially, it has the matrix it does, because that's how it was designed from the beginning -  so that's why I said "If you've got a really clear idea of what you want" :)

Is this the mythical vX?

It's the bastard child of the vX ... I had to put that to bed until we get a more powerful core. The thing works great with just 4 tracks, but many more than that, and it went to poo. Timing slop, corrupt midi, dropped notes, core reboots, you name it.... and 4-6 tracks is of little use when you're doing algorithmic sequencing. Not to mention, that was using internal memory and no CS (i drove it by sysex and CC's and preset sequences)

I learned a lot from doing the alpha though, specifically, what not to do... and learned a few more things watching the MBSeq in the meantime as a comparison (the track handling in mine is different but seeing what works for mbseq shows me what works 'under the hood', and why, which teaches me what I need to do in my own case)....

So the new one does things a bit differently under the hood, but with a lot of functional similarities (and borrowed code).

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It's the bastard child of the vX ... I had to put that to bed until we get a more powerful core. The thing works great with just 4 tracks, but many more than that, and it went to poo. Timing slop, corrupt midi, dropped notes, core reboots, you name it.... and 4-6 tracks is of little use when you're doing algorithmic sequencing. Not to mention, that was using internal memory and no CS (i drove it by sysex and CC's and preset sequences)

I learned a lot from doing the alpha though, specifically, what not to do... and learned a few more things watching the MBSeq in the meantime as a comparison (the track handling in mine is different but seeing what works for mbseq shows me what works 'under the hood', and why, which teaches me what I need to do in my own case)....

So the new one does things a bit differently under the hood, but with a lot of functional similarities (and borrowed code).

If it ends up anything like what I read about the vX a while back, it's gonna rule. I'm not one for hardware sequencing, but I'd build one just due to the sheer weirdness you've got going on there.

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