Midification of Yamaha E5AR

[greenfox]

Hello all

I have been reading posts with great interest.  I must admit that Miditzer got me totally facinated with all this stuff.  I started surfing the web looking for information about organs towards the end of last year and am overwhelmed with the volume of information and interest there is on this topic.

Christmas brought me a Casio CTK900 and a MIDI to USB adaptor and some initial experimentation, but I desperately need pedals.  I started monitoring ebay and the like as well as my local weekend newspapers.  Last weekend I scored a Yamaha E5AR in lovely physical condition but with some serious electronic faults.  This will at least be my pedal board if not a complete 2 keyboard console.

(does anyone know where I can get a service manual for the E5AR? the only place I found www.Manuals-In-PDF.com have a glitch in their credit card system and want to charge me in Polish currency)

(also any tips on amplifiers blowing fuses and loud hum and crackle as well as a pedal stuck on and any above play alternately with it and any below play as the stuck one.  Thanks)

I am just looking for confirmation I am heading in the right direction with my MIDIbox plans.  I propose 1x CORE with 4x DIN (part of a MIDO128) for the 2x keyboards, and 1x CORE with 1x DIN for the pedals and 1x AIN (part of a MIDIBOX64) to experiment with swell.

Am I heading in the right direction? (pardon the musical pun)  or missing any bits?

The PIC ID headers seem like a trap for new players.  Any tips would be appreciated.

[jimhenry]

Yes, you are headed in the right direction as far as MIDIbox goes.  As to trying to repair the Yamaha, you may be better off just biting the bullet and scrapping all the electronics.  MIDIbox wants simple switch inputs.  Trying to uses the console switches (keys) to control both the existing tone generators and the MIDIbox adds a layer of complexity.

You probably would be better off using 2 DINs on one core for one manual and 3 DINS on the other for the other manual plus pedals to balance the processing load.  For 1 expression input you will not need the AIN.  You can go directly into the core.  When you get to that point, we can dig up the particulars.

[greenfox]

Thank you for your response Jim.  I feel privileged to hear from the guru himself.  Your suggestion simplifies my requirements and reduces the number of boards I need to purchase.  Thank you.

Does anyone know when Smash TV will have kits available for sale again or another option?  They have not responded to my email yet.  Mike’s MIDI Shop seems to work out somewhat more expensive for my Australian exchange rate and I am not registered for PayPal but obviously could do if needed.

In my experimenting with Miditzer using the Casio in split mode as Solo & Pedals, I have found delay which I have read is to do with MS GS Wavetable SW synth on my laptop.  I am considering where to head with a USB sound card or setting up a dedicated desk computer.  Any thoughts or experiences?

I have also suffered limitations in the number of notes I can play in a chord (polyphony), particularly with a number of stops on.  I only have 10 fingers and am probably only playing 7 or 8 notes at one time.  Would the better sound card using sound fonts solve this or is it worth considering a separate sound card for each MIDI device (in my case 2x)

[jimhenry]

SmashTV is doing a design upgrade to all the boards used in the various MIDIbox projects, primarily to ease construction and to provide more connector options.  I've seen a sneak preview of some of these improvements.  It will be well worth the wait for the new design.  I'm told it will be "a couple of weeks."  It's a major effort, so I counsel patience.

For MIDIbox, I'm far from being a guru.  The Miditzer question should be reposted on the Miditzer Forum, www.VirtualOrgan.com/forum/.

[greenfox]

I have received my kits from smash, 2x CORE, 6x DIN.

I have built up 1x CORE and 1x DIN and tested with multimeter ok.

Connected USB to MIDI converter (Edirol UM-1X)

Opened MIOSSTUDIO Beta4_4.jar and set as per instructions

Had the upload request showing every 2 seconds

Uploaded MIOS_V1_9_PIC18F452.hex messages all looked ok

Now get Sysex Message only on power up of the Core (as per documentation)

Opened SysexBox18F_V1_1c

Uploaded Midio128.syx from mk_midio128 / pic18f

(Now was hoping I could test the unit)

Connect J3 D0 with J3 VS, no output.  (Smash TV’s latest PCB’s)

(also tried J4, J5 & J6 same contacts, no output)

Is this a valid test?

Have I missed something?

Do I need to load PEARL to get a default setup running?

Is there any other way to edit the .ini files?

(Midibox syx editor download links don’t work)  Only the 16F version seems to be available which just looks like an old version of Sysexbox.

The instructions say to terminate the last shift register to ground to stop invalid values.  Is this done by connecting J2 S1 with J2 VS?    (again Smash TV’s latest PCB’s)

Is this necessary at this initial stage of testing?  (I have tried it either way without any change in my results)

I am feeling a bit useless at this point.  I have gone over all the documentation I can find and searched the forum for clues.  (that helped me get MiosStudio going)  MIDI Troubleshooting deals with earlier stages which were ok for me.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

???

[greenfox]

I recieved an answer on the Miditzer Forum.

"From the above it looks like the actual MIDIO128 application is missing (http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midio128_v2_1c.zip). Unzip and upload the "main.hex" using the same procedure to upload the MIOS. After that it should run, no INI or SYX file is needed for testing. Grounding DIN input pin should now produce Note on/off messages."

That has got me going.

[stryd_one]

Didn't you say that you'd already done that?

[greenfox]

Thank you

I had "Opened SysexBox18F_V1_1c and Uploaded Midio128.syx from mk_midio128 / pic18f"

What I had not done was use MIOSSTUDIO Beta4_4.jar to upload Midio128.hex from http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midio128_v2_1c.zip.

There is not much difference in it and thats why I was confused.

Hopefully this thread in the forum can help someone else.

[greenfox]

I have my 25 note pedal board running tonight.  ;D

I am a very happy Midibox builder.

Thank you to those who helped, and yes it works for those who are contemplating Midibox or have started on their projects.

I have more building to do but now have stage 1 under my belt.

[greenfox]

Next stage completed.  ;D

I now have the 2x 61 note keyboards wired in through Midibox (4x DIN's and 1x Core) and using merger function to bring the output of my other Core and 1x DIN card (connected to the 25 note pedal board) through the Midi In port and have the combined Midi messages go through a single Midi to USB adaptor to my computer.

(I have pictures I would like to show you all, however I can't work out how to upload them. ???)

My project will continue.  I have 13 spare DIN contacts plus another DIN card (32) which I intend to set up as combination pistons (5x I think I will set up as tremulant switches).  I am also aware that with custom modification to the MIDI128.hex, it is possible to set up some analogue inputs direct to the Core.  I will experiment to set up 3x analogue inputs to give me 2x swell control and crescendo.

This is all to gain the best I can from Miditzer.

I would also like to say that the kits from Smash were great.  The quality of the PCB's is excellent and all the components are good.  The new DIL header layout for connections is very good and makes the task of connecting literally hundreds of connections as painless as is possible.

[stryd_one]

(I have pictures I would like to show you all, however I can't work out how to upload them. ???)

Hi Greenfox. I'd love to see the pics too. If you want to, you can attach them to a forum post.

Start a new reply to the thread, and below the textbox you type the message into, there is a link that says "Additional Options". Click the text (or the + sign next to it), then click the browse button and select the file stored on your loal hard drive. Note that a maximum of four (4) attachment is possible, and that each attachment is limited to 1MB, so it might pay to compress the images (IE make it a JPG or GIF) before uploading.

Hope this helps.

[greenfox]

Pictures of my system

First there is all the old circuitry and wireing I removed.

Then there is wireing up the upper keyboard (lower already done)

Next shows the 4x DIN and1x Core for the keyboards.  I do intend to screw them down even though they are unlikely to go anywhere.  The Core will be mounted out of sight under the upper keyboard so the power and Midi cables are easily connected under the front of the console.

The Midibox gear for the pedals needs to go in a box to tidy it up.

[greenfox]

Thank you, the pictures are up now.  I still didn't workout how to get them placed in with the test.  If you click on them you will see the larger.

[stryd_one]

Nice one :)

It sure is a lot neater in the third pic than the 1st one  ;D

[greenfox]

Thanks Stryd

A lot simpler and neater and sounds much better. ;)

[Sinnsyk]

omg

that first pic

it's gonna give me nightmares about cables..  :P

nice job..

[greenfox]

Thanks Sinnsyk.

I have found it a facinating and rewarding project.  It will still be ongoing.