MIDIbox of the Week (monodeck II)

[Melonenmonster]

Hello TK, hello midibox community,

the monodeck II designed by monolake aka. Robert Henke

is finally done. Control software development (which is done by

Robert and is runnning on the host computer) will continue and

for sure see refinement after the experience from the first gigs,

but the device itself is finished.

Thank you very much for your hard and nice work.

MIOS and MIDIBOX are a great platform.

Have a nice life, you deserve it!

 

http://www.monolake.de/monodeck2.html

Ralf

[stryd_one]

Holy crap dude that's a monster!!  :D

I'm really interested in your RGB LED driver, is there any chance of you sharing that? I've got 150 of those things here and I was planning on writing a driver later on when I get to the CS....

[docbrown]

Wow, that is awesome look'n!! Very pretty lights!! 8)

[stryd_one]

*slaps himself*

I should've searched your previous posts :) http://www.suckow.de/ralf/ledmatrix4x20/index.html

Thanks!!

[ilmenator]

I wonder if those lights aren't too bright? At least on the fotos it looks like they might blind your eyes in such a way that it's hard to see the buttons / read the panel any more, at least in dim light.

It does look very cool, though!

Best regards, ilmenator

[stryd_one]

True, but those LED's have software controlled dimming!

[TK.]

Hi Ralf/Robert,

this is one of the most beautiful controllers I've ever seen - I'm impressed!

The design demonstrates your full passion for this baby :)

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[SLP]

wow. thats really beautiful!

isn't it a bit hard to carry? hey I've got a really light MB16 lying next to me.

I think you've got a better overview with only 6 sliders, 6 pots and 8 buttons...

.....wanna trade ?  ;D ;D

[MTE]

:o Amazing work

Very nice !!!!!

Regards

MTE

[Melonenmonster]

*slaps himself*

I should've searched your previous posts :) http://www.suckow.de/ralf/ledmatrix4x20/index.html

Thanks!!

The software has been rewritten for the monodeck:

- based on midibox64 (not ...e) since we need no encoders but lots of pots

- the color of one, four, or all LEDS are set using MIDI notes

- there is a mapping which lets the buttons and LEDs be related to the same

  note number, with a nice numbering scheme over the whole device,

  which compensates for the anarchistic wiring

- the bitmap calculation is done when the note arrives,

  so that the multiplexing routine is simpler and faster

- software dimming (1:1 ... 1:4, more is not possible since it flickers)

- two cores are linked, the software is modified so that one core

  is responsible for LEDs/Buttons 0..63, the other for 64..127

- the schematic is a bit different, because the LEDs are RGB, not RGBB

- I disabled the button debouncing, else the LEDs would flicker

In general we would publish the info, IMHO, if somebody is

interested, there's just no time at the moment, Live6 is in the

beta phase, and then I'm on vacation until End of September

- lucky me 8)

Ralf

[Melonenmonster]

I wonder if those lights aren't too bright? At least on the fotos it looks like they might blind your eyes in such a way that it's hard to see the buttons / read the panel any more, at least in dim light.

Best regards, ilmenator

Yes, on the photos they appear a bit lighter than in reality.

And you are right, a 1:4 software dimming is not enough.

The maximum setting allows playing in direct sun, 1/4 of that

is still too bright for the night. So, Robert invented and added a

hardware dimming which is a separate circuit for each color:

a square signal generator with adjustable busy cycle, which

turns the enable inputs of each of the shift registers on and off,

with a relatively high frequency, to avoid flicker. This not only

allows to setup the monodeck for performances at night, it also

allows to ajust the relative color brightness, which is important

for nice clean colors and the white balance.

Based on this setting, Robert can now fine-tune the brightness,

depending on the situation, with the software, quickly.

Ralf

[TK.]

I disabled the button debouncing, else the LEDs would flicker

This is something what I'm planning to solve in one of the next MIOS versions - currently the same SR scanning routine is used for DIN and DOUT registers, which means, when the DINs are temporary disabled due to the cheap debouncing method, the DOUT registers won't be updated.

The solution is to add a second scan routine which only services the DOUTs so long the debouncing delay is active.

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[monolake]

Hello !!!

Yes, it is done. After almost one year of hard (brain) work. I will spend all september with the preparation of a new Monolake live set which is to be performed using the Monodeck. The plan is to get rid of the computer on stage and to run the show entirely from the hardware controler, even without the need to watch a computer screen. I might contribute / answer questions here at the forum but I am not sure how much time I will find for this. We will see....

Thorsten, thank you for all your work & knowledge - much appreciated.

Robert

[stryd_one]

Thanks for the extra info guys!

I understand that you're a bit busy to document your findings, but if you could just make the code available, it could serve as a starting point for others... I'm not the only one working on a LED matrix at the moment :)

I hope you'll record the show for us too!

[mess]

This is something what I'm planning to solve in one of the next MIOS versions - currently the same SR scanning routine is used for DIN and DOUT registers, which means, when the DINs are temporary disabled due to the cheap debouncing method, the DOUT registers won't be updated.

The solution is to add a second scan routine which only services the DOUTs so long the debouncing delay is active.

Best Regards, Thorsten.

Aah, this would explain why my ledmatrix keeps flickering  :)

I thought I made some kind of wiring error

very interesting topic  :)

[pappajackson]

Ye gods man! What a badboy...

Good work on the Led Matrix, I'm currently planning a 7x8 button grid for triggering clips in ableton (6 channels and one coloumn for the scene triggers) so yours will be an invaluable resource!

[pappajackson]

I don't suppose we could get a video of you jamming with it could we?  :-* pretty please?

[docbrown]

I don't suppose we could get a video of you jamming with it could we?  :-* pretty please?

I too, would like to see that thing in action!! ;D thanks

[tel3]

Sick man, Very sick!! That's one of the baddest MIDIbox controllers I have seen yet. Killer job on the layout too!

Good job

-tel3

[intellijel]

Looks great and I like the fact that it was built to his specific needs and way he plays (or will learn to play) live.

One thing that is missing (if he does intend to use this without looking at his computer screen) is the LCD display!?  Especially now with features such as Automap (by novation) it would have been really useful to have a display setup that would tell you the name of tracks, name of clips playing...maybe even a sample/preset browser for loading up your step sequencer or programming synths/fx?

I guess I need to build my onw ;)

[monolake]

One thing that is missing (if he does intend to use this without looking at his computer screen) is the LCD display!?  Especially now with features such as Automap (by novation) it would have been really useful to have a display setup that would tell you the name of tracks, name of clips playing...maybe even a sample/preset browser for loading up your step sequencer or programming synths/fx?

I thought about this but realised that then again I would end up staring at some kind of display. And this is what i want to avoid. I figured out that I do not need so much different sounds on stage and that it is more important for me to spend a lot of time designing each single sound well enough and to work on the grooves and effects. In the stage situation I am fine with a limited amount of sounds and limited access to parameters because I do not want to end up with endless varitions of a sound but more focus on structure. For this task I do not need the display.

The main element is the 8 channel / 5 slot matrix which is my playground for each single piece. I have enough to do on stage playing with the possibilites of this matrix.

The control over some sound parameters is secondary.

Currently I work on the assignement of the three knobs and the toggle button I have on each channel. I made lots of efforts to create interesting morphing sounds but finally figured out it does not help me so much musically. I was able to morph from some sine wave plonc! sound to variuos hihats on one channel, but then I realised all I really need musically in this channel is a hihat. So i dismissed that complex morph in favour of simple hihat parameters ( fitering, decay, hold time ) and the result is much better.

There is always this impulse to add more and more features, but I am quit happy that Monodeck II forces me to really think about the structure instead of getting lost in possibilites.

Robert

[kokoon]

fantastic work, guys, robert i love your work - can't wait to hear what you make with this badboy :D

so actually it's more a sequencer interface than anything else?

[midgetfidget]

Certainly looks more professional than monodeck 1 ;D (no offence)

or my half-built hunk of junk.

[Sinnsyk]

I can say only a few things:

Keep up the good work on Ableton (big fan of the program!)

Keep using your monodeck, and build many more midiboxes ;)

[LX]

Hi Robert

Great work!!!

I've question about python script. I can't debug python file from Ableton Live. I want write (exactly rewite) their python file (MIDI remote Scripts), because I want better midi feedback from all buttons (and mostly clips) of Ableton Live program. Do you knew how to break this phyton file for editing?

Thanks for reply

LX