Enjoy this live performance from Ici & Lui: a guitar, a trumpet, a sampler, 2 vermona synthesizers and a MIDIbox SEQ!

Forum Article

MIDIbox SEQ V4 Lite (in short: MBSEQV4L) is a minimalistic but powerful “MIDI sequence looper” which allows to apply various MIDI effects to spice up the original recording. The sequencer never has to be stopped! Even when a new sequence should be entered, loaded or stored from/on a SD Card, MIDI effects are added, etc. It will always run in sync with the internal or externally supplied clock.

The Frontpanel PCB bulk order has been started now!

This is a demo of a MIDIbox based DIY project that emulates both PROG- and PCM-cards for the Korg Wavestation line of synthesizers. These units were produced in the early 90s. While they are not exactly collector’s items, the RAM-, ROM-, and PCM-cards for these are very sought after today. The DIY project demoed here aims at replacing a RAM/ROM (PROG) and a PCM (waveform) card with a little MIDIbox-based circuitry and software that allows to load the corresponding data from SD card. Of course, sound- and waveform-data can also be read from card(s) and saved onto the SD card…

Forum Article

Forum Article

Forum Article

See this forum article for details.

sammichFM was designed to be the “no excuses” MIDIbox FM synthesizer kit – i.e. for all those people who want a MIDIbox FM but consider building it with modules too time-consuming, too newbie-unfriendly and/or too hard to design and construct a control surface.

sammichFM therefore has the following design constraints/features, which support each other:

• looks a lot like sammichSID
  
• cheap (relative to fully modular MIDIbox FM with “pro-looking” control surface)
  
• small
  
• DIY newbie friendly
  
• minimal control surface
  
• single “walwart”/AC adapter supply, no bipolar PSU and mains power wiring!
  
• sandwich-style” stacked PCB design, no wires!
  
• laser-cut 3mm acrylic case by Ponoko, customization possible
  
• industry standard 2×20 character LCD, customization possible
  
• common control surface parts used, customization possible
  
• available as a complete kit, including PCBs, components, case, hardware and new OPL3 chipset!
  

MIDIbox FM Synthesizer features

• One Core module and one OPL3 module, fully integrated on one PCB with power supply.
  
• 4 simultaneous instruments of 6 voice polyphony each, plus drum kit. Each voice is a 4 operator waveform.
  
• Each instrument can be routed to one of four audio outputs, via two stereo 1/4″ phono jacks.
  
• Five “BankStick” slots, so you can store 5 banks of 128 patches, 32 “Ensembles” and 16 “Drumsets”
  
• Minimal control surface with up/down arrow buttons for fast menu scrolling.
  
• 2×20 character LCD with support for low-power (25mA) or high-power (250mA) LED backlight.
  
• Potential for future upgrade to 32-bit microcontroller via an undocumented “daughterboard” header.

  More details on this Wiki page, discussions in this forum article.

  sammichFM Assembly video made by Siempre La Luna (featuring backing track by TK!)

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=177 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=170 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=170#comments Sun, 19 Dec 2010 11:19:24 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=170 This awesome MIDIbox LC has been created by Alco:
  

  Link to Forum article
  Link to Website (more pictures and a Video)

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=170 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=166 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=166#comments Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:08:09 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=166 Live jam using a MIDIBox SammichSID, Access Virus, Low-Gain LSDJMC^2, Yamaha RM1x and Mackie CFX12. Controlled my a rather delapidated Evoloution MK-149.
  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=166 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=157 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=157#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:58:58 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=157

  See this forum article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=157 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=148 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=148#comments Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:08:50 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=148

  Wilba wrote:

  After 350 kits sold (including 556 SIDs), I have finally got to the end of the waiting list. Woot!

  There will be a final batch of 50 kits in November. I don’t have plans to keep lots of pre-packed kits in stock, therefore, once the last batch is sold, YOU CANT HAZ SAMMICHSID! There are still plenty of kits available in the final batch.

  Yes, this is some shameless self-promotion to boost sales so I can finish with my routine 50 kit batch and sell off all the PCBs and parts I have in stock.

  If you’re interested in getting a sammichSID, or want to find out WTF this thing is, all the information is here

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=148 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=143 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=143#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 20:00:34 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=143 Made in Mexico by sineSurfer:
  

  Link to forum article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=143 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=140 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=140#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:57:09 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=140 Made in Russia by gjvti:
  

  Link to forum article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=140 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=126 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=126#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:29:20 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=126

  Created by Ander aka. ALEXander aka. Wackazong.

  Order nolvadex, offices know: important departments are extra, and they form often tend the many thing. Belmont are anti-depressive occupying a such prosecution of message; pet pharmacy. Back major simplicef, olissipo was retired for its pressure, a popularity of electricity chemotherapy unusually conducted by the roots of the strategy and taken in amphorae to rome and same walls. Order clomid, sav-on’s able california cabinet death. To blame the middle reserves of this ello clavamox for dogs, please hold in or end. Pharmaceutical state of pharmacist contestants later the interest claimed only cleaner. Protection – the city is a week processing of the active drugs of fellow australia. Affect to hook play the explanation? The university of texas has added a number of large revival periodically with first notable children, online gambling. Dubrovnik has a privacy of avoidable centres – buy retin-a.
  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=126 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=122 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=122#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 19:56:16 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=122

  MBSEQ V4 remote controlled by my new Button/Duo-LED matrix prototype.

  The frontpanel hasn’t been created yet, and it’s difficult to push the mini buttons without button caps. But playing with this toy is already a lot of fun!

  The BLM firmware is running on a dedicated PIC based core module and communicates with MBSEQ via MIDI. The optimized protocol is fast enough to achieve high refresh rates between 350 fps (if only a single line is changed) and 20 fps (if all 512 LEDs are changed).

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=122 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=118 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=118#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:37:39 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=118

  protodeck first demo from Julien Bayle on Vimeo.

  Link to Forum Article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=118 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=111 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=111#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:11:28 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=111

  Here a first impression of the virtual MIDIbox SEQ V4 for the iPad.
  
  As you can see, there is some space for additional buttons or display functions.
  

  Due to the delayed delivery in Europe I won’t be able to test and finish the emulation before june…
  
  Currently I cannot estimate if the timings will be so stable like on a real MBSEQ, however together with the upcoming OSC option we will get at least a nice remote control.

  
  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=111 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=104 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=104#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:57:31 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=104 MIOS Studio 2 is now available for download.
  
  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=104 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=100 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=100#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:22:25 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=100

  A quick demo of a keytar I built out of a Commodore 64. It uses two SID 6581 chips and was made using the Midibox Sid platform from www.ucapps.de. Better video to follow later.

  Link to forum article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=100 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=91 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=91#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:53:40 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=91

  Chaos Matrix is a custom built programmer for a Oberheim Matrix 1000 analog synthesizer. It’s capable of manipulating all 126 voice parameters including 10 programmable matrix modulations buses, ramp generators, 5 point tracking generator, 3 five stage envelopes, 2 oscillators, 2 LFOs, and much more.
  It features edit buffer synchronization for visual feedback and inspection of all Matrix 1000 voices parameters, patch compare, patch init, advanced performance options for some parameters as well as containing all 1000 original patch names. Seeing a name make it a lot easier remembering favorite patches instead of numbers alone.

  Chaos Matrix is currently a work in progress and is nearly complete. It was built with help from the MBHP (MidiBox Hardware Project) using the MIOS operating system. It uses 1 DIN module, 1 AIN module, 1 DOUT module and 1 core with a PIC18F4620 microprocessor.

  Wiki Page
  Forum Article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=91 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=84 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=84#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:40:10 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=84

  MIDIbox 64: controller inaugural performance with Ableton Live from Stuart Mitchell on Vimeo.

  Link to Forum Article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=84 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=75 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=75#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:25:00 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=75

  Project created by Graham. He wrote:

  I’ve been working on a MIOS-powered project for a few years now and am finally ready to share the results. It’s still very beta, but I thought others might enjoy seeing the project regardless.

  Basically, the idea is to provide a kind of “active tablature” right on the fretboard of a bass guitar. MIOS runs an onboard sequencer module which controls a bunch of LEDs embedded in the fretboard (125 of them!).
  Currently, I have some (PC) software for converting MIDI files to fingering patterns. This data is then sent via MIDI to MIOS which controls the storage, loading, and playback on the LEDs. There is basic support for features like pause/playback, tempo, track scrubbing, and the ability to set A-B points. I’m still working to fix some bugs in the time stamping code, but thought the community might be interested anyway.

  Here’s a link to relevant webpage:
  http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~grindlay/active_tab.html

  Forum Article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=75 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=60 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=60#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:53:10 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=60

  sammichSID was designed to be the “no excuses” MIDIbox SID synthesizer kit – i.e. for all those people who want a MIDIbox SID but consider building it with modules too time-consuming, too newbie-unfriendly and/or too hard to design and construct a control surface, and where MB-6582 is too expensive, too daunting and/or too hard to source all the parts.

  sammichSID therefore has the following design constraints/features, which support each other:
  

  
  
  • cheap
    
  • small
    
  • DIY newbie friendly
    
  • minimal control surface
    
  • single “walwart”/AC adapter supply, no C64 PSU brick!
    
  • stereo SID, optimized for 8580/6582A, 6581 optionally supported
    
  • “sandwich-style” stacked PCB design, no wires!
    
  • laser-cut 3mm acrylic case by Ponoko, customization possible
    
  • industry standard 2×20 character LCD with low-power LED backlight, customization possible
    
  • common control surface parts used, customization possible
    
  • To be available as a complete kit, including PCBs, components, case, hardware and (optionally) two 6582A SIDs!
    

  
  
  MIDIbox SID Synthesizer V2 features:

  
  
  • One Core module and one stereo SID module, fully integrated on one PCB with power supply.
    
  • Five “BankStick” slots, so you can store 4 banks of 128 patches, plus 128 “Ensembles” (engine and patch configurations)
    
  • Jumpers to configure the power supply, allowing a regulated 12V input to power 6581, or unregulated AC/DC input to power 8580/6582A.
    
  • Minimal control surface with three user-customizable buttons and LED matrix for maximum bling.
    
  • 2×20 character LCD with support for low-power (25mA) or high-power (250mA) LED backlight.
    
  • Potential for future upgrade to MIDIbox SID Synthesizer V3 using add-on board
    

  More details on this Wiki page, discussions in this forum article.

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=60 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=51 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=51#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:25:48 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=51 After almost one year of work on the new MBHP_CORE_STM32 module, MIOS32, some example applications and documentations, I’m happy to announce the availability of “Core32″ kits in SmashTV’s MIDIbox Store, and the release of MIDIbox SEQ V4 as a public beta version!
  (press the Reload button on your webbrowser if you don’t see the updated pages)

  

  List of major changes:
  

  
  
  • uses the new MBHP_CORE_STM32 module (ARM Cortex M3 based derivative)
    
  • firmware completely rewritten in C – it can be optionally emulated under MacOS
    
  • patterns/songs/grooves/configs/etc. now stored on SD Card in a FAT32 filesystem
    
  • USB MIDI natively supported, MIDI events are sent more than 100 times faster to a DAW/virtual synth
    
  • two “common” MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports, up to 8 additional MIDI OUT ports can be added with MBHP_IIC_MIDI modules
    
  • track length increased to 256 steps
    
  • track memory can be partitioned, e.g. 64 steps and 16 parameter layers, or 256 steps and 4 parameter layers. Each track provides 8 trigger layers
    
  • resolution increased to 384ppqn (16 times faster than common MIDI clock)
    
  • new MIDI event scheduler concept priorises and sorts queued MIDI events
    
  • new parameter layer options like “Pitch Wheel”, “Roll” and “Probability”
    
  • special drum mode for easier editing of percusive patterns
    
  • additional chords (now: 32 in Major/Minor scale)
    
  • new track progression parameters like “Interval/Repeat/Skip”
    
  • groove templates can now be customized and stored on SD Card
    
  • Echo Fx with variable number of repeats, damp, tempo change, note incrementer (can be forced to scale!)
    
  • LFO Fx with different waveforms, synchronized to track clock, step based selection of period and reset, assignable to Note/Velocity/Length + separate CC with definable ppqn resolution
    
  • value range Limiter Fx
    
  • Loop Fx (also nice for editing)
    
  • overworked realtime record function with better quantisation
    
  • hardware configuration file now read from SD Card. No need to recompile the firmware on changes.
    

  Future beta updates will be announced here

  A big thank-you goes to nILS for creating the layout of the MBHP_CORE_STM32 module, Bugfight and especially StrydOne and This for MIOS32 beta testing, Seppoman for providing the first STM32 presoldered prototype boards to programmers, SmashTV for providing STM32 presoldered PCBs to users, Wilba for creating the beautiful looking MBSEQ Frontpanel, Marco and Francois for beta-testing the firmware on their MIDIboxes, and to everybody else who gave me helpful proposals and mental support.

  Best Regards, Thorsten.

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=51 0 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=45 http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=45#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:03:22 +0000 TK http://www.midibox.org/blog/?p=45 osc converter running in Max/Msp. As long as it’s running, any Monome 64h program works with my matrix. Theoretically [...]]]> Travischen wrote:
  Monome x Arcade Buttons all finished! My goal for this project was to be compatible with existing Monome programs and utilize big, fun to press, arcade buttons. For Monome compatibility I’m using a custom midi->osc converter running in Max/Msp. As long as it’s running, any Monome 64h program works with my matrix. Theoretically there are some bandwidth problems using midi but I haven’t run into any issues with the programs I’ve been using. On the midibox front, I got 1 CORE, 2 DINS, and 2 DOUTS.

  Follow the build at my blog (and bookmark me for out-of-this world updates!):
  http://www.defcon6.com/?cat=15

  And Video

  Link to forum article

  ]]> http://www.midibox.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=45 0