Bronome

Here is an update of the bronome with a simple animation of the LED lights.

Bromome Stage 2 (RGB Monome Derived Interface)

A few more parts arrived from my favorite supplier and I was able to wire everything up and get it working on a very basic level. The next stage will be switch/button implementation and LED reaction to button presses. I am not totally sure if i am going to use the Monome code base or just create my own assembler version. Regardless here is the video.

Crusing YouTube on a stormy Day

SID Music Video

Amtel 2560 PCB

My 2560 PCBs have arrived from BatchPCB they took about 3 weeks in total. It was fairly quick and cheap, so perfect for what I am doing. I ordered two and soldered one yesterday. However, I distroyed some of the pads on the board while putting the surface mount chip on. :( (Thats what happens when the iron gets too hot I suppose. No worries I am just going to use some 30 awg wire and replace the broken traces with that.


To save on time I am probably going to order this next time.

Monomachine sans BOX

So it finally arrived the long awaited Monomachine from Elektron. After opening the box I was immidiatly impressed with the build quality, rugged brushed aluminum face, sturdy rotary encoders, and nice feeling buttons. This however, is such a small attribute in a much larger sonic arena.

After experimenting with the Monomachine for a few hours I was able to modify kits, navigate the menus smoothly and make rhythm tracks, with basslines sounding like old school MC303's to Dark gritty D'n'B / dub sub-bass. Given some more time with this machine and a good sequencer I should have almost everything I need to make music in this one box.

Ok perhaps thats a little exaggerated but this thing has some awesome power, it does everything from Voice synthesis to percussion sounds, has so many effects and filters up to 64 steps per pattern, 6 internal tracks per pattern with an additional 6 tracks for triggering external midi equipment. Seriously this tiny box has some major staying power.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is only a day away!

Here is a cool link to check out in the mean while.

TONORI-ONhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

The wait

For the past 4 days I have been eagerly awaiting my Elektron Monomachine order. It sits at an import facility somewhere in Ontario. They tell me it will ship out next day after it is released. I cannot imaging what the holdup is. Perhaps the Canadian government is afraid of the awesome sonic powers of the Monomachine. Perhaps I could create music capable of destabilizing the world economy. Maybe I should have ordered two.

However once this synthesizer arrives I will have more reasons to finish the BrOnome (pronounced bro-nome). However with a deadline of Feb 2008 it is unlikelly I will have the project completed for the art show this April.

Check this out

Cardboard ADSR and RGB 40h brOnome

Two new projects are in the works, the first is the ADSR (Attack Decay Sustain Release) module for the modular synth I am building to use in performance art. This project was a build from the ADSR on the Music From Outer Space Webpage, by Ray Wilson. If you have not seen this webpage you really do need to check it out.

The second project which has just started as of today is the RGB monome 40h. I am temporarily calling it the brOnome. Some more research needs to be done to determine the correct way to implement the RGB Leds with PWM functionality. Its just a matter of time before this one comes together. My plans are to loosely base this project on the monome 40h. In essence I want to make something that not only functions as a monome but also does a lot more. Something like a [Tonorion / Monome]-megasord.

Important Sites

Here is a link I stumbled across a few weeks back. MIT Open Courseware
Its a link to MIT's open course ware. They have some really interesting open courses. I downloaded a tone of them. Finding the time to do them however remains to be found.

Pure Data

As part of my degree I have opted to explore the Program Pure Data. My first patch is nothing special it makes laser sounds and the "Wheel of Fortune" wheel blip sound. Oh that Bob Barker. Of course you have to adjust the sliders and number boxs to get the sound just right.

The MEGA OSC.

So I have spent some more time completing the VCO for my synth. The main problem was finding a replacement for a chip which was poorly labeled in the schematic. TSM101 to be exact. I will post the final circuit once I am sure this whole thing is going to work. It would be a shame to see all that hard work waist away, but until i make a power supply for this board I am unable to test it out. Here are the updated pictures with 100% population of the board. The next stage is to add the mixer for complex wave shapes. I am not overly concerned about that at this point in time. My focus is going to be the power supply however until I find voltage regulators for + / - in all required voltages I am putting that on hold.