Full switch test

Ok, so I needed to check every switch and input to MakeyMakey in one go, bit of a mess but everything went ok. Using a lot of temporary clips and hastily crimped cables, but it is still a prototype of course.

Close up of the mess, I may not end up with these switches in the end but they are serving well at the moment.

Common ground, thanks to a bit of foil and some clips, does the job for now. I ran out of clips so part of the test I had to hold the bare wire to the foil, something else to solve down the line.

Here is the MakeyMakey with every available input in use, as far as I know, total of 18. The empty block at the top are the slightly mysterious outputs, the only use I think I may have for that in this project is another flashing led when input is detected but that's not important for now.

Prototype box

Well, while I figure out the layout and discover other things along the way (gonna need a bigger box), I used the plastic delivery box some of the bits came in to get things going.

Holes quickly measured and pushed through with screw driver and scissors, hmm should invest in a hobby drill, but for now...

Buttons quickly pressed through, couple of them wired up. Starting to take shape, remember this is just for me to explore the layout and if things work out I'll use this experience to improve the next version.

I also crimped a load of the wires and tested all the switches, more on that next time, but yeah not sure I'm going to be able to cram everything into this size, I know it looks fairly empty above but with the Pi, LCD, MakeyMakey, cables etc...

Switches and wires

Well, some bits arrived in the post - wires and switches. This is basically everything I need, I think, to take human input and map that via MakeyMakey to functions in Acid-Py on the, erm, Pi.

I quickly hooked at some of the 'push to make' switches to MakeyMakey, using the clips. Once I have a prototype I need to worry about soldering but for now I need to be able to connect/move things about freely.

So with the basics proved, I've updated the software on-board MakeyMakey to map every available input (18 in total, afaik) to the keys I've laid out in a spreadsheet which shows what they are going to do in the software that will be running on the Raspberry Pi.

I tested each input quickly on the PC, so far so good. I didn't test every switch though, yet! The process of having the PC correctly recognize the MakeyMakey, get the Arduino software working, then patch/upload updated software was a little interesting; something for a dedicated post sometime.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics!

Acid-Py

Ok, 10 minutes in MSPAINT and the project has a name and logo to be going on with :)

Is this too short for a blog entry? Probably! sudo halt

Building a mini sequencer/groovebox

Long time no post. So, I got a Raspberry Pi --- the first thing I did? Get some emulators running to play some old games, cool! But, next thing, of course I need to make it play some beats. So, "project with no name" was conceived, the goal - to build a basic sequencer with the Pi.

I decided to use Python, never used it before so a chance to learn, and I needed to know if it could keep in time, before going lower level. Turns out the PyGame timer is accurate enough for me, so far, and I got it playing a 4/4 kick drum easily enough.

Then I figured I would like to run with a custom display, no screen to cart about, so I got hold of a 16x2 LCD with basic controls, from the helpful guys at Proto-PIC. In not alot of time at all I had a basic drum machine, using the built in controls on the LCD board to navigate and insert/delete kick notes along a 16 step timeline.

Being a fan of the TB-303 and 909 acid combo and having some great sample packs of individual hits, I decided the project would be based around those samples. The 16x2 LCD drove the decision to have 16 steps, and I've decided on 4 tracks, 1 = kicks, 2 = snare/clap, 3 = hats/cymbals, 4 = acid.

But, the clicky cursors on the LCD board while neat, and possibly useful for a future project, made entering notes a bit of a chore and so I expanded the project to include a custom panel using my makeymakey. This can have up to 18 inputs, so my restrictions (which help me creatively, to actually get stuff done) are set.

"Insert project name here"

• 4 track, 16 step, acid/303/909 sample sequencer.
• Software written in Python running on Raspbian.
• 16x2 LCD display.
• 18 key inputs (12 will be each note of an octave, leaving 6 to play with for functions)

I have a couple of other ways to extend that with FX but for now I need a prototype before getting too carried away. Ordered about 20 switches and 40 cables online, on their way here now. Meanwhile, back to the software...