How many more orders are needed before pre-order of the second batch is closed?
I'm dying to get my hands on one of these!
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Milwaukee, WI
I received mine weeks ago. I haven't used it yet and might be putting it up for sale in the very near future.
Any chance of a manual? Any way to save "patches" without the use of Live? I'm completely lost with this thing!
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TSC,
I will pay a premium for it when you are ready to sell.
Let me know.
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Jelly Stone park, MD USA
SAMWAVE wrote:
How many more orders are needed before pre-order of the second batch is closed?
I'm dying to get my hands on one of these!
Yea, can't wait either! If I had the extra cash, would order a second to help push the count up 
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IL, US
i'm listing mine for sale with nomad & genesis 2 (and all my genesis stuff) on here later today/early tomorrow...
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I'm UK based and its not arrived here yet. Once you think about xmas shipping increase, xmas/new year public holidays its not unreasonable for it to take 2 months. I got my email around 15th November so I'll be worrying on the 22nd.
TSC, what are you stuck on? There isnt really a need for a manual. Have you installed the max4live devices? Have you seen the basic hardware and software setup video on his blog/YouTube? Beyond that setup the rest is all down to you. If you are struggling to use it then perhaps you need to do some research into FM synthesis. Even if you watched some videos on for example Roland DX7 programming or Native instruments FM8 techniques the principles are the same. As for saving presets, this is down to you capturing the MIDI CCs you have edited. One way to do this so you no longer need to be running Ableton would be to record the MIDI coming from the channel with M4L on it, and export this MIDI file to another DAW.
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As it stands now you will NEED something like M4l to make it truly functional, and you will definitely need a computer. Building a controller using something like Blue Cat's Remote Control would allow you similar functionality with other DAWs. Either that or you will need to keep a list of all the parameters to refer to and enter MIDI CCs manually. Please note this is not a littlescale criticism, this is about how each DAW deals with external synth's MIDI CCs - being able to create controllers with max4live has changed the way I produce music. I have built controllers that allow me to use most of my external synths in just the same way as I use my Access Virus TI, and I barely use VSTis these days.
Another option, if/when standard DIN MIDI in be implemented is the possibility of a dedicated hardware controller. It would be very easy to do with a few 4051 analog multiplexers, pots/switches, LCD screen, MIDI in/out ports and an Arduino. Niche I know, for an already pretty niche product but I will probably end up building one and making the design/code/board layout available to others if we get a standard DIN MIDI in, its just a modification of other controllers I've built
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Jelly Stone park, MD USA
analog monster wrote:
Another option, if/when standard DIN MIDI in be implemented is the possibility of a dedicated hardware controller...
I'm leaning towards a MIDIBox.org setup. Thinking of using a 32bit LPC Core Seq/Control surface. There already is a 8bit code base for Yamaha OPL3 FM, so seems like 80% of the control logic is there.
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Not wanting to shoot you down but the midibox control logic for the midibox yamaha opl3 is the equivalent of what Seb has done with GenMDM but with a later generation FM chip. Id recommend that project (provided youre brave enough to attempt soldering/desoldering a surface mount OPL3) if you want a DIY FM synth, but I dont think any code would be transferable to GenMDM. Seb wants control over his code anyway.
What I had in mind was simply a dedicated MIDI controller that sits between your sequencer and the GenMDM - pretty much the MIDIbox64. I had an Arduino in mind simply because it seems to be the most popular in DIY microcontrollers, but the supporting circuitry and pseudo code would be applicable to pretty much any microcontroller. In fact MIDIbox projects use the same technique to scan pot values, the analog in AIN boards have 4 4051 analog multiplexers on a board.
A 4051 multiplexer/demultiplexer allows you to route 8 analog signals down a single line, by giving each of these 8 data lines an address. You can only read one line at a time, but you switch between each address faster than a human will perceive, so we see it as all being read at the same time. The output of the 4051 would be connected to an analog input on the microcontroller, as well as the address lines.
The pseudo code would be:
select address 0, read analog input. scale analog value range to parameter value range.
If parameter value is not previous parameter value, change to new value and print to MIDI output and LCD.
Select address 1, read, etc.
MIDIbox is lovely in many ways, I'm working on my second MIDIbox SID now. I'm not sure a MIDIbox64 device would actually be able to provide control over every function, but i've not built a MIDIbox64 so I'm not certain. It certainly will get close to the 64 analog inputs limit, I'd have to look carefully at all the parameters first to be sure. There are over 100 CCs to change so probably wouldnt be feasible to have 1 knob/button per function, and so I was thinking of having separate pages for each operator (eg. cutting the operator control knob requirements from 36 to 9). I dont know if you can get MIDIbox to allow one knob to have different functions, depending on the state of digital inputs.
The best advice I an offer is to get talking to people over on the MIDIbox forums, they will be best able to help and are very active and friendly. I suspect the LPC core will be the wrong thing for this for this project, I think you need to go with a PIC18F.
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Jelly Stone park, MD USA
analog monster wrote:
Not wanting to shoot you down but the midibox control logic for the midibox yamaha opl3 is the equivalent of what Seb has done with GenMDM
I was thinking of it as a good UI starting point, but yes the MB64 would be the better choice in some ways.
And yes an MBFM is on the 'list' (I've got parts for the FM from one of Wilba's group orders awhile back, waiting for a front panel fab, but 'OH LOOK something SHINY!' kicks in every now and then.)
analog monster wrote:
What I had in mind was simply a dedicated MIDI controller that sits between your sequencer and the GenMDM - pretty much the MIDIbox64.
Yea, for stand alone: that's where I'm going, but tailoring the app to the GenMDM 
Not sure how an Adruino would fit compared to the PIC cores, the F4685's Flash/SRAM is at 96K/3.3K., don't know the AVRs that well but I think you would have to go with at least an ArduinoMEGA.
analog monster wrote:
It certainly will get close to the 64 analog inputs limit,
The MB64E uses encoders; minor point but very superior to pots in this app. But really the total count of controls is not the limit. You can have multi-pages per each control. So depending on the size of the Control surface layout, you can 'configure ' knobs and switches to context sensitive functions for each layer, so to speak. Not sure I'm explaining this well, but in essences, if you have 40 switches and 16 encoders you can multiply each control by 2 or 3. BUT the downside can be having too many page to scroll through to get to the Layer/Pram you want to adjust.
analog monster wrote:
I suspect the LPC core will be the wrong thing for this for this project, I think you need to go with a PIC18F.
Yes the PIC would be a bit more cost effective, but not too much. The cost on a LPC core build runs about $50 US, compared to about $20 US for a PIC core (buying retail parts, but Microchip samples spoil me). So the LPC is in line with a Arduino MEGA cost wise.The LPC seems to be the 'new' direction for MB, and I can't argue with the performance increase. To me, the extra horsepower in the LPC will be worth it. But yea, it would add $50 more to the build then my cost for a PIC core (everything on hand).
Bottom line, can't wait to get the GenMDM in my hands!!
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I think renoise does all the patch stuff you guys need in its instrument settings, and is loads cheaper than m4l. You should be able to create a device to run each of the genmdm settings pretty nicely.
http://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Meta_ … DI_Control
http://www.renoise.com/tools/guru
Last edited by herr_prof (Jan 2, 2013 5:52 am)
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Was worried you were going to be spending money on incorrect gear as the current firmware on the ucapps build pages are PIC only. Didnt realise the LPC firmware is now in beta for the next generation of MIDIboxes - until only a few weeks ago they were only using LPCs for the seqv4 lite project (seriously recommend that project too). Now I've seen the MIDIboxNG I would definitely splash out on an LPC core - higher I/O count, motorized fader and multiple screen support. I want! Gah, yet more projects to eat my money and time.
GURU is nice - I love the user tools that are coming out for renoise since they added user scripting. I have M4L so thats not an issue for me, but I do think it would be nice to have alternatives. The main thing I'm fishing for though is to be PC free, I've been enjoying being 100% hardware when playing out live but I really want to use my genMDM in my set and seems a little overkill to bring my laptop just to drive a single instrument
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Milwaukee, WI
Never mind me. I'm busy and want instant gratification for the first time in my life, therefore I suck.
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Jelly Stone park, MD USA
>Analog Monster< Well I don't know that anyone is ACTIVELY working on an MB64/LPC, but the MBSeq was a fork from the MB64 in the first place. MBSeq V4 & V4 lite are 32 bit only. Just noticed that MB128 V3 is also LPC. So an LPC based '64' isn't out of the question, plenty of code to start with. EDIT-Took a closer look at MBNG, Duh!
Just seems the direction new projects are going, bet within a year there will be work on a MBSid V3 on LPC. There are so many added features with the Cortex M3; SD card patch storage, OSC, USB Midi, stereo DACs....
analog monster wrote:
Gah, yet more projects to eat my money and time.
hahaha, aint that the truth!! So many projects,So little time.
>TSC< Really the only way to use the GenMDM interface is either with a DAW or a hardware control surface of some sort. Almost all keyboards come with a built in MIDI CS, some better then others, and there are stand alone CS products out there. Perhaps you could look into something like that.
Or as Herr Prof suggested, Renoise, demo ver. to get started. The full lic isn't too bad at $75 too. I'm sure much of what's on Little Scale's blog could help in mapping the CCs for another platform. Plus, it looks like Aly James is working towards a very slick control also.
Last edited by yogi (Jan 3, 2013 3:01 am)
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Milwaukee, WI
Never mind this post.
Last edited by TSC (Jan 4, 2013 7:16 am)