dyingtree

Taking a break from my Sequencer, I decided to upgrade my Bliptronic 5000 I had nothing but problems with it since I bought it and it basically just sat collecting dust. I saw the Bliptronome when it was published earlier this year. For $73, I just couldn't warrant the cost. Luckily, Wil Lindsay published the pinout and thanks to the AVR Rescue Shield I had a few spare microcontrollers. So I took out the synthesis board and unsoldered the connector to the LED/switch matrix and put it on my own board.

mounting one of the spare microcontrollers and a few other components, I wired all the components together.

The code that I uploaded to the chip would look at potentiometers, so I wired those up as well.

Tucked the wires in and tossed on a few knobs I had lying around and voila, my own monome 64


Video will be posted as soon as I have the time to take one but for now I'm very happy with the results. More pics here

Still not sure what to call this thing yet. Maybe Arduinoseq or Sequino. Started out as each piece broken out on solderless board

over the last few weeks I've been transferring the sequencer part to a prototype perfboard.

More Pics here. More updates to follow.

My tale begins as any other tale begins, the need to do something really simple going horribly horribly wrong and wasting an entire weeks worth of evenings. It had been a while since La's computer was backed up and it started acting wonky a few months ago. Application crashes, slowdowns and other oddities got progressively worse. If it was a Windows system I'd swear it was suffering from WinRot. So I tried the only cure I know of. Backup, format, and re-install. Hey, works for Windows right? sigh...

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The moral here is back up you files people!!! Always and often!! The latest ReadyNAS firmware has a feature that makes it look like an Apple Time Capsule so the days of not backing up our files are pretty limited. Luckily we escaped with only a handful of files that are lost to eternity, I doubt we'll be so lucky the next time.

got tons of stuff done over the holiday, but not as much as i wanted to. put in a duct, replaced a GFI, made an oil lamp out of a vox sample bottle, and installed a rain barrel.

i would have liked to fix the heat upstairs, finish a bunch of Shadowpeople recordings, do a little watercolor painting, fix the hot water in the bathroom, or make some progress on my project list. at least we got to hang out with friends and relax away from work.

Update to the project list, now sorted by what I'll be working on next.

line in bounce down Yada Yada Yada sampler (in process) - on hold due to weird volume levels

Mr. Midi II - http://www.lehmayr.de/e_mrmidi.htm

eDrum - http://www.edrum.info/

APC 2 in orange cookie tin

Flickering tealight player

embroidery merit badge (think i figured this out)

Manual Tremolo (momentary switch with Attack/Release control)

Automatic Tremolo (gated off string attack)(Boss Slow Gear clone)

Double OD distortion pedal

finish phototheremin ring modulator

Coin buzzer from homemade music book

Drum Synth - http://www.lbelectronics.net/drumsynth.html

SX150 sequencer - http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/minisequencer_for_sx150.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890, http://www.synthtopia.com/content/tag/gakken-sx-150/, http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/07/how_to_control_a_gakken_s.html,

50W Push-Pull amp

frequency splitter

Telephone Mic - http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/11/how_to_make_a_t_2.html
Fabric Synth
Specter(Firefly) Amp

picked up a fuse on my way home last night, put in the last screws and fired up the specter last night. wow... really, just wow... perfect drive on the output, then you kick in the boost and the thing just sounds flat out amazing. we're likely recording for shadowpeople tonight so samples will follow for sure. i wouldn't have been able to resist a pick of glowing tubes for your enjoyment, but i couldn't stop playing the thing. well, not until we got the call to go play pub trivia. it was nice to go out, and we finally got to stop in at the highbury for a drink on the way to miller time pub on fifth and wisconsin. we lost the trivia, but you can't beat buy a pitcher, get a free pizza! i may have to duck out of work early to work on the amp a little more before recording tonight.

specter amp wiring complete. unfortunately i misplaced the fuse somewhere so i'll have to stop after work and get another one. it's pretty frustrating to be at the point where you can turn it on and see if it burns down your house and just be missing the fuse. :)

so the Firefly amp is now named Specter. loaded some pics up on a flickr photoset. it'll be nice to finish this up and plug it in. i can't wait to hear it since it's been on my project list for quite some time.

i have been struggling to figure out what to do with my lj account. i don't really post here very often. lately, i've been pretty good with just posting to my twitter account and having it automatically post to my facebook page. posting links to facebook is easier and gets more visibility there then here. so, i've decided that this will be my project log. anything i'm working on, status', and pics will be here along with a current project to-do list.

now i leave you with the current list:
line in bounce down Yada Yada Yada sampler (in process)

Manual Tremolo (momentary switch with Attack/Release control)

Automatic Tremolo (gated off string attack)(Boss Slow Gear clone)

Firefly Amp (80% complete)

embroidery merit badge

Double OD distortion pedal

finish phototheremin ring modulator

Mr. Midi II - http://www.lehmayr.de/e_mrmidi.htm

eDrum - http://www.edrum.info/

Flickering tealight player

Coin buzzer from homemade music book

Drum Synth - http://moads.100webspace.net/drumsynth.html

SX150 sequencer - http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/minisequencer_for_sx150.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890, http://www.synthtopia.com/content/tag/gakken-sx-150/, http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/07/how_to_control_a_gakken_s.html,

50W Push-Pull amp

frequency splitter

APC 2 in orange cookie tin

Telephone Mic - http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/11/how_to_make_a_t_2.html
Fabric Synth

not dead, just can't seem to find anything to say that 140 characters doesn't cover. this is 95

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