Category: hardware

  • PC->NES Transfer Tool + FaMI – Family MIDI Appeared

    Batsly Adams announces two new NES projects using Arduino:

    I’ve been working at a serial connection to the NES for a few months now. At first I came up with a board to try and establish a serial line to the NES through the controller port – I only made 2. They worked – but I figured that it was possible to do it without the board if I did some tricky stuff with the ATMega interrupts on the Arduino. After a few days of debugging (and cycle counting) it’s working flawlessly. The advantage of this over a software serial based approach is that the Arduino acts as a buffer that’ll hold incoming messages (up to 128 bytes) until the NES is ready to get the next one. This means that the NES is free to do other things and doesn’t need to spend time polling the controller port! The latency is extremely low – about as fast as the NES could handle – faster than the MIDI standard. The serial code is compact and easily relocatable – it works great as a replacement to any controller code. Working on a new name for this since it really just acts like a bridge between your PC and the NES. Both the ROMs and the Arduino stuff will be open source so if you have the hardware you’re ready to go!

    Right now channels 1-4 are working with no issues – MIDI files play perfectly (i just need to find the right song for a good demo)! There aren’t any effects yet – but it’s completely stable / performance worthy in the state that it’s in. I’ll be working on pitch bends / cc control in the next couple of weeks – but it’s open source so hopefully people will develop beyond that! The samples work but they are fixed- I’m working on a mapper for powerpak right now that may allow sample uploading.

    What’s great about using this Arduino setup is that you can use VBlanks MIDI->serial processing app so you don’t even need to build a MIDI circuit – just use the USB cable!

    PC->NES Transfer Tool + FaMI – Family MIDI

  • Pocket VBLANK version 2 : ANSI MIDIo

    The requests: Cheaper, DIY Kit Version Available, Upgradable, User Programmable

    ANSI MIDIo: yes, yes, yessss & yes!

    Oh, and not just programmable as in load-your-own-pic, instead the MIDIo will have real-time control and programming  right from your midi software, controller, or (in my case) a Bliptronome!

    What it is:

    Kit or pre-built a bit smaller than a business card, and powered & controlled via USB, using the open-source KIT_MIDI driver already available here.

    The input is midi from any midi software such as Renoise, Max-MSP or Abelton on OSX or Windows or an external controller patched through KIT_MIDI.

    The Output will be NTSC or PAL (separate versions) and give a sweet 32×12 screen where the user can program one of 12 different ANSI Graphics characters in one of 16 different color combination. Yes, 16-color  ANSI:  as in that BBS you wasted time on in 1992.

    Stand-by for more information.

    / straytechnologies.com /

  • Hard Soft Synth F Now available

    HSS3f demo from Gijs on Vimeo.

    HSS3f kit

    features:
    11 selectable synths.
    analog lowpass filter.
    demo video here

    connectors:
    – line out
    – trigger out
    – trigger in
    – ir in
    – ir out
    – ftdi

    More info about this device can be found here.

    Costs: 60,- euro.

    Shipping costs:
    8,- euro, EU

    Homemade stuff by Gijs.

  • Raül Peix’s Insane DMG Mod

    Game Boy DMG adapted in a larger box with some modifications: – Random glitch selector – Distortion Potentiometers – Glitch video out – RCA Pro Sound – Noise generator and one chanel insert. With a 16 steps analog motor sequencer to control the pitch, mute and retrigger notes and a 8 steps digital sequencer to sequence the analog sequencer.

    Via

  • Chip Music on a Tandy/Radio Shack Science Fair Microcomputer Trainer!

    Thought this might be of interest to some of you here! This is what I’m working on for my final project on the ABC Diploma in Broadcast Media (Sound Design & Music Technology) at the London College of Communication.

    recording.jpg (52 KB)