...and a pic of the lot to muse over and try to guess what's going on in the UI...
Showing posts with label 909. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 909. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
See it, hear it
Right, well I've delayed long enough, and I am always guilty with these projects of not actually sharing what things sound like. So, here is a quick lo-res video of the thing in action at this point in time.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
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.
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...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)