MIDI note out from Sequencer?

[HeWhoWantsJeans]

Good (late) evening,

I'd like to use my sammichSID to compliment my growing Eurorack setup and I was wondering if the MIDIBOX Sid V2 was capable of sending MIDI note data out of the MIDI Out port. The Eurorack MIDI interface I'm using (the Hex Inverter 'MIDI2CV') requires a Note-on to 'wake up' (including to begin outputting Clock) and while I seem to have the Sammich set to Clock Out, I can't seem to get the MIDI2CV to recognize any note data (thus, it will not 'wake up' and output  clock pulses). I'm wondering if it is possible for the Drum sequencers to output note data, or any of the sequencers - really.

Thanks,

Erik

[TK.]

Hi Erik,

unfortunately due to the way how the sequencers are implemented, it isn't possible to send MIDI data (for experts: the sequencers are handled in the interrupt service routine, but MIDI data can only be sent from the main thread. There isn't enough free memory for a FIFO from interrupt to main thread to decouple the data)

It seems to be an issue in the MIDI2CV firmware that clocks are ignored until a MIDI note has been received: according to the user manual, the first MIDI note is required to auto-learn the MIDI channel, but why isn't the clock handled regardless of the first note?
Did you already contact the author of the firmware?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[HeWhoWantsJeans]

Hi Erik,

unfortunately due to the way how the sequencers are implemented, it isn't possible to send MIDI data (for experts: the sequencers are handled in the interrupt service routine, but MIDI data can only be sent from the main thread. There isn't enough free memory for a FIFO from interrupt to main thread to decouple the data)

It seems to be an issue in the MIDI2CV firmware that clocks are ignored until a MIDI note has been received: according to the user manual, the first MIDI note is required to auto-learn the MIDI channel, but why isn't the clock handled regardless of the first note?
Did you already contact the author of the firmware?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

Thanks for the extremely quick and informative post, Thorsten.

As weird as it sounds, Clock isn't output until the unit receives a MIDI note. I've contacted Hex Inverter (who designed the module, not the MIDI2CV chip) about this a while ago and it's kind of an 'accepted quirk'. I haven't tried contacting the programmer of the MIDI2CV chip, yet. I might just drag up another MIDI device (like my DSI Evolver) and see if I can get that to work (as it should be able to pass MIDI Note data via the Modulation Matrix or a Sequencer Track).

Down the road I might consider using a Beatstep Pro to handle sequencing for the sammichSID, but I have to look more into how the Drums respond to MIDI.

Thanks,
Erik

[latigid on]

Have you considered another module specifically designed for MIDI-clock (dividing)? It would be better if clocks were recognised by the MIDI2CV but it seems like you're using it for an unintended purpose.

Here for example:
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33010

If there was a spare pin on the PIC, then maybe MBSID could output "DIN-SYNC" directly. Remember that digital IOs should be protected with at least a current limiting resistor.

[jaytee]

If the only reason you want this is to get that first note-on to wake up your module (ie you don't want to actually sequence with the sequencer), you could modify the sammichSID code to arbitrarily output a midi note at some desirable point in operation. I recall at one point, I had my sammichSID setup to use the out as a soft thru (or maybe merge?), so it wouldn't be impossible to figure something out that will wake your module, even if the sequencers won't work.

[TK.]

"Accepted quirk" is something that I should add to my reply templates ;-)

However, if it helps to send a dummy note, then you could add this workaround to src/main.inc:

search for

        movlw   0xfa
        call    MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut

and add following code before the "movlw"

        movlw   0x90            ; dummy note for MIDI2CV
        call    MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut
        movlw   0x3c
        call    MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut
        movlw   0x7f
        call    MIOS_MIDI_TxBufferPut

Best Regards, Thorsten.