#MIDISID Monday - the sound of goblins and first look at the form factor

I've started to realise that the quality of the sounds that I build into MIDISID will have a large effect on its appeal.

It will be fun to implement some of these:


What should 'Goblin' sound like??

These aren't my names, they're part of the General MIDI specification, anything that implements GM should implement all 127 of these sounds in some way. 

I've been away for most of this week but while away, the board I designed last week has arrived! As with the main board, this is a very quick and dirty iteration, just to get components off the breadboard and securely soldered together while I work on the firmware.

This little demo of the menu system is the same as the one I made last week, but here we can see the 2-board system I now have planned. There will be a third layer which is a face plate just below the knobs with a cut-out for the screen. Those three boards could be sandwiched for a nice-looking unit, or separated to fit into any box you like. Alternatively the bottom board will function standalone in general midi mode.



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building a Brachiograph

Image
 At Liverpool earlier this year, Andy Piper was demonstrating his brachiograph, or lolly-stick drawing robot arm. Ever since I first had my ZX81 I've been mildly curious about robotics but have never taken the plunge. More recently I've been looking at various plotter projects, even bookmarked a few. Seeing this one in real life and seeing how cheap and easy it was to build (and my boyfriend chucking some servos in my direction) finally tipped me over the edge.  This project turned out to be, as billed, the perfect gateway into robotics. It really is very simple to build and there are tutorials online, including from Andy himself . Thanks for all this Andy! Lots of hotglueing ensued. So far this has all been very robust.  To make the wiring neater, I made this little distribution board. First I screwed the Pi Zero down and found that I couldn't plug anything into it, so had to cut a little plinth for it. I'm not going to pretend that installing the software went without...
Read more

e-ther 2 - Announcement and full rundown of features

Image
I'd like to announce the new and improved e-ther 2. This information is available in video form here . If you're not familiar with e-ther, then it's a small theremin-like instrument with MIDI and audio out . At first glance the differences aren't obvious and indeed the big changes to the hardware are internal.  However, I hope you'll find the list of new features as exciting as I do.  Hardware-wise, I've put the microcontroller and DAC onto the main board.  Although this increases costs (for me, not for you), there are some big advantages. Besides looking more professional, the audio module is no longer a 'buy separately' optional extra. It's incorporated and the audio jack is just there if you want it.  The audio module used to fit below the board but with the audio capability now built-in, the profile is more compact. Most of the new features are down to firmware which means that a large proportion of what I'm calling 'e-ther 2' will be...
Read more

Enclosures for MIDISID

Image
 The default configuration for MIDISID  looks fine and is functional. I have fitted wooden cheeks to my own, which gives it a look and tilts the top forward, making it a little easier to use when you're sitting back from it. MIDISID was designed from the start with 'bring your own box' in mind. It's a modular design, the top and bottom parts are easily separated and connect with a 4-way jst-sh cable. In my head I saw it being used in a sloping-top case. Paul of Bad Dog Designs has come up with a different solution. It achieves the same goal - tipping the controls and screen forward. It's a 3D print in two parts. It takes zero effort to fit - MIDISID just drops in. I don't know whether he has made the design files public but  please contact him  if you're interested. Update Nov '23 The current version of MIDISID is now larger, has a tilted front and custom side supports: Owners are still being creative with enclosures. Here's a beautiful one from  @k...
Read more