/tilted/ Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've been thinking in the back of my mind somewhere about a networkable MIDI router, probably using OSC. I have several racks of commercial synths, am (very slowly) putting together other racks of DIY MIDI and analogue synths. I am imagining a networkable MIDI router system where each rack could have its own router, and the racks themselves connected via ethernet. Such a system would probably need a hub/switch somewhere too, and ideally it should be able to work with or without a computer (especially since there will be a MBSEQ anyway... Perhaps a computer could be used early on, to expedite the setup process, and of course would still be able to individually address synths within their respective racks. I think I might be way over my head... Does any part of this make sense, and in fact is there already such a device on the market, that I could save many hours and dollars by simply purchasing...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00dawg Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) It might be helpful to know your goal for doing that? If it's to have access to all those MIDI ports, you could just look a the GM5 or GM5x5x5 projects. The GM5 is basically a USB to MIDI bridge (with up to 5 MIDI In/Outs) that has pretty kick-ass support for OS X and Windows (haven't tried Linux but it supposedly works well there too). So each rack could have one of these guys (or two, whatever you need) and you can just run them back to a USB hub to your computer or whatever device you might be using to control all that. I like the GM5 especially because it's easy to name ports (on Windows anyway - haven't quite figured it out in OS X) to make it easy to find your synths. I find it hugely helpful since Ableton Live doesn't let you name ports (it uses the drive name). Plus, it's fairly extensible. You can make a 1U rack pretty easily with the GM5x5x5. The only catch is you may have to wait on the bulk order - not sure what stage it's in but last I checked it was getting pretty close to having enough people to go ahead and do an run of these guys. They rock and, unlike most DIY projects, this one actually seems to be cheaper than commercial variants, but either way, is much better in my opinion by way of configurability. Edited June 23, 2011 by m00dawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/tilted/ Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Basically my goal is to be able to just drop in there and noodle around, without necessarily needing to plug in the computer to get routing going. It's always sort of felt like a bit of a distraction having to do all that, but then I suppose once it is done, it's easy enough to hit record if I'm happy with the noodling... I also thought it might be an interesting way of viewing a MIDI setup, and could have potential for interesting live collaborations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK. Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 MBSEQ has already an integrated MIDI router, which supports USB, MIDI and OSC. :) I've also prepared a mini application for the new MBHP_CORE_LPC17 module to process USB/MIDI/OSC and CV: http://svnmios.midibox.org/listing.php?repname=svn.mios32&path=%2Ftrunk%2Fapps%2Fmisc%2Fusb_osc_midi_cv_proxy%2F Using the LPC1768 (on a LPCXPRESSO) is the cheapest solution for such a purpose. It will get some more extensions for configuration and a proper documentation before the release. :) Best Regards, Thorsten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) Yes, the SEQ is a very fine basis for a router... We had a discussion going on a little earlier regarding this, see here... If necessary you can strip the CS and the software down to "only" have MIDI-routing functionality. It would still my dream for the SEQ to have a total of 16 "routing slots" which can be turned on and off by pressing a "router key" and then one of the 16 general purpose buttons. Like this you would have total routing control at two button presses, and also see which routings are active when the "router key" is depressed (visualized using the step LEDs). This approach would even help building a dedicated "SEQ-style router" Control Surface, as only the 16 GP buttons and 16 indicator LEDs would be necessary (general routing configuration e.g. via config file). Edited June 23, 2011 by Hawkeye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) The old Emagic AMT-8 and Unitor 8 are very capable, stable, low-latency 1U MIDI interfaces with 8 ins and 8 outs. They are discontinued, but they are always available on eBay. You can cascade up to 4 of them with serial cables. I have 2 cascaded and my Mac sees them as a 16x16 interface. I have another that I never tried to cascade, because it runs from a separate computer, but I'm confident it would work fine). They can be configured using a graphical tool to patch any input to any output. And they have a front panel button that puts them into a default patch when there is no computer connected. They are rock-solid on the Mac - the drivers are installed with the OS. I have never checked whether they are working with 64-bit Windows. They originally sold with Windows drivers (Emagic is the innovative German company that made the cross-platform "Logic" software before they were absorbed by Apple, who killed the Windows version). There are two different flavours of the Unitor 8: the "mkII" with USB, and the original, without USB. The pre-USB version can sometimes be found for under 50 bucks, just because they're apparently obsolete, but for guys like us they are great for adding another 8 ports to the newer Unitor or to an AMT-8. (The AMT-8 is a less epensive version with USB, but no SMPTE i/o, which few people care about these days) I have been using these things for the last 13 years. I have 3 of them, and one started acting up on me so I replaced it (pre-USB, for $39 with no power supply - found on Craigslist). I'm not sure how easy they are to find in Australia. They are plentiful on the used market in Canada/USA. I just searched on ebay.com for "emagic" and found about a dozen listings for these great units. Edited June 23, 2011 by nebula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00dawg Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Ah that's good to know! I myself don't (yet) need more than 5 ports, but they are slowly starting to get filled up :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narwhal Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 The old Emagic AMT-8 and Unitor 8 are very capable, stable, low-latency 1U MIDI interfaces with 8 ins and 8 outs. And *plug* I'm the author of a free system preference panel for Unitor's and AMT8's on OS X. To some extent, the Unitors and AMT8's already allow you to do the internal routing configuration you want to do. GM5x5's are great as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Narwhal: that is AWESOME. I will download it today. Thanks for creating such a useful pref pane. If you haven't, you should post the link on logicprohelp.com as well as email it to Gerhard Lengeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.