Bonome

So I was going through some old posts and decided to see what Julien Bayle of Julienbayle.net is doing and was looking at the monome clone called the Bonome. This project really excited me it was a meeting of the minds with so many different people, hardware, software, firmware, and of course we can not forget the creators the original monome team.

Now with my new project I have decided to switch to PIC32. Why because I want to learn another platform and there are a few other reasons such as the support for DSP with there new library. Less coding means more fun for me.



This board is something new a PIC32 development system designed for audio. I have some interesting needs for art installation ideas however, the realization of the works have been halted due in part to the extreme cost of audio synthesizers. Of course there is a large amount of intellectual property under the hood of a synth, but developing your own can be rewarding, and teaches you much about synthesis techniques. There is a forum post started here on Electro-Music. Inventor has designed a system called eChuck based on the Chuck programming language; essentially it is an audio programming language. The eChuck concept will allow people to port that idea onto hardware.

I expect to be in prototype soon, I just need to hear back from a board house on the cost of manufacture of a few prototypes. In the mean time a programming application framework is being developed to meat my needs, and additionally board for tactile input and visual output are in the works. Which brings me back the the bonome, I have designed the unit with a header to connect to the 8x8 keypad / led matrix. If I can port the code over I will but it is more likely that I will write the interface to suit my own uses internally for sequencing. But its a way to reuse some older equipment if you have it.

Stay tuned for additional info on the project either here or on the Electro-music forum.

Return to the Bronome

So I recently found a fellow artist working in France who is also working on an RGB Monome like project. He calls it the Trinome and his webpage is here. LiveInterface There you will find a complete resource for the code and a schematic. However I am currently working on a backpack to control the leds. I will be creating complete PCB's for this project once it is completed. I am unsure as to the direction Julien is taking with his project, however, I wish to push this device to its limits and even integrate even more functionality as a controller. I have always intended on this device being a stand alone controller. But Julien's use of the Monome Protocol (OSC) though USB is also interesting.

Bronome Schematic - Julien's schematic with a partially finished backpack and arduino.

Why Bronome?

The Bronome project has been designed to address some of my personal performance audio needs. I saw a need for something more than just a USB interface something which could also act as a hardware midi controller. In that respect the Bronome is a brother to many other projects such as the Monome, Tonori-on, and MidiBox. It borrows concepts and ideas from all to make a unique interface onto its own. Although the initial facade is very much like the minimalist Monome 40h, the differences are in its use of light to convey meaning. Through visual means the interface of the Bronome can mutate or transform into a multitude of utilities, keyboard, sequencer, or display. The configurations are endless.

If you would like to participate in this project either through coding, graphics, ideas or suggestions, send an email to Brian Durocher.