It is no compicated design. You just have to get the midi input (using the optocoupler like all midi stuff [...]]]>

I desperately needed some through ports for devices I have that have only in and out ports. So this easy project was done in a single worknight (after putting kids to sleep, 2 hours at most)

It is no compicated design. You just have to get the midi input (using the optocoupler like all midi stuff I’ve made. Based on ucapps.de midibox design). Then buffering it through two subsequent logic inversions of the signal. One of the outputs goes to the LED for visual feedback. The others, like any midi output fed from 5V, gets a 220Ohm resistor and it is imediately made an output.

I will post schematic later in the day because I have to scan it and I’m too lazy to make it on eagle (it is on paper). If there is a need for a PCB (even though it is a very easy project) I can provide one. I may even make it on a pcb with multiple in/outs (3 in / 9 out eg

Say hello to my model: His name is Braska and will be posing on my stuff from now on! He is a cute guy and posing is the only chance to take a break from being beaten, tortured and gummed to death by the kids.

And this is how it sounds (a little tape delay added)

I had once stumbled upon Catweazle’s fractal synth. In the circuit benders forum it seemed that the project had come to a halt. But recently I realized that it was going on elsewhere.! Here.Also, the files can be found in [...]]]>

This is how fractalSynth looks like:

And this is how it sounds (a little tape delay added)

I had once stumbled upon Catweazle’s fractal synth. In the circuit benders forum it seemed that the project had come to a halt. But recently I realized that it was going on elsewhere.! Here.
Also, the files can be found in the forum or in http://www.gjcp.net/~catweazle/PICsynth/
There are two schematics and lots of mp3 samples if you want to hear how it sounds.

I decided against building a PCB in eagle and then etching, soldering, etc. and went for the perfboard. It is a very simple schematic and I pulled through it with relative ease. Just remember to leave a little space around the MicroChip so as to put the simple filter and the voltage stabilizer (a simple 7805 with two capacitors, nothing special).

The schematic mentioned 10K pots but since they are used as simple voltage dividers you can go (as I did) up to 100k with no apparent malfunction. I used a lot of female pin headers on the board (as you can see) and connected the pots and buttons with male pin headers. This is rather flimsy as a connection. You might not be able to go live with such a thing but, it is quick and easy.

The underside of the perfboard is all connected with solder. A difficult to correct method but again, it is quick and I can’t wait

I used a cardboard box because it was the only thing I could find around me at the time. I had some aluminum panels lying around but I would make noise and the kids would wake up. I have mentioned again the problem I have, making panels for my stuff.

Now I have a noisemaker in a shoeBox

I added a simple voltage stabiliser with a 7805 and two electrolytic capacitors and fed the voltage to the chip.

The pots were mounted on the cardboard (a tedious and dangerous job because the cardboard was thin and there is always the risk of ripping it appart.) and soldered with wire and pin headers.

Some special attention was given to the 7-segment LED that connects to the chip. I used 150 Ohm resistors instead of 200 Ohm mentioned in the schematic. The difference is not a big issue. (It would be if 10 Ohms where used for example). The resistors where directly soldered on the led pins because I wanted no other things than the led on the top side of its board in case I wanted to glue it on the cardboard.

So it looked like this:

The whole thing was put in the box after determining which pin of the led went to which pin on the chip. This made the wiring a bit of a rat’s nest.

So the final “product” was firmly closed to hide the ugliness of it’s interior.

The first tests were a reality.. And it WORKED!!!!!

The next step was to figure how it was working.!!

A big thanks should go here to Catweazle (you can find him in electro-music.com forum) for releasing the source code as well as the schematics. I put a programming header on the board so as to try some things myself.

The next thing is to put the shoeBox fractalSynth through my MC 909 and make a tune out of it !!

It got a little wiry but it plays alright.. The following sample is a single note (until the end where I start to improvise The loop is made by the envelope only (decay time)

The original site of JAREK ZIEMBICKI is hereThere is this other guy named krüe who [...]]]>

The connections are simple now.

It got a little wiry but it plays alright.. The following sample is a single note (until the end where I start to improvise
The loop is made by the envelope only (decay time)

The original site of JAREK ZIEMBICKI is here
There is this other guy named krüe who modified a little the hardware (used an atmega 32 instead of atmega16 and a 16MHz osc instead of 8MHz) and added a lots of features. Source code included! here

A note. I found that the code on Jarek’s site didn’t work with my atmega16 so I got the hex file off here where they also sell ready made boards.

My sample is here

I decided to make JAREK ZIEMBICKI’s AVRSYN. But there were only the schematics and no board layout so I had to make my own. So I started laying it out on eagle but I got on a deadlock due to the fact that I didn’t want to make a double sided board. I would etch [...]]]>

I decided to make JAREK ZIEMBICKI’s AVRSYN. But there were only the schematics and no board layout so I had to make my own. So I started laying it out on eagle but I got on a deadlock due to the fact that I didn’t want to make a double sided board. I would etch it myself and double sided boards are a BIG pain in the but (vias and such, alignment etc). So I made it on a perfboard. But before that, I decided that it should be made into discrete modules. One for the microchip, one for the D2A (an R2R resistor ladder type) , one for the midi interface, one for the power supply and one for the switch multiplexer.

Here is the main part. I put pin headers to wherever it would connect to another module and got myself a lot of ribbon cable. The AVR is a really simple design. Only the layout makes it complicated. It can be made by anyone (Even I made one!!!).

This is a simple 7805 on a perfboard. Giving stable 5v to your (my) test circuits and breadboard projects.. I recently made a 3.3 V [...]]]>

This is a serial communications module (using the UART that exists inside the PIC 18Fxxx, It just changes Voltage levels so your 5v microchip, doesnt get fried by the serial’s +-9V

This is a simple 7805 on a perfboard. Giving stable 5v to your (my) test circuits and breadboard projects.. I recently made a 3.3 V version for experimenting with the dsPIC33 family.. (more problems with these to follow