MiniDexed TX816 – Part 6 – Pico MIDI Router and TX816 IO Code

It's been a while since finishing the MiniDexed TX816 Mechanical Assembly and I had a bit of a distraction recently rebuilding my Lo-Fi Orchestra, but I've also been tinkering with the code for the TX816 IO panel and router. This post looks into a bit more detail what it is all doing. Posts in this series: … Continue reading MiniDexed TX816 – Part 6 – Pico MIDI Router and TX816 IO Code →

Lo-Fi Orchestra – The Flight of the Bumblebee

This is the second of my additional new Lo-Fi Orchestra performances. This is Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee from his opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan". Listen out for the "flute" (R2R DAC) with the short chord accompaniment in the strings. Full details of the rebuild process can be found here: The New Lo-Fi Orchestra Explainer. … Continue reading Lo-Fi Orchestra – The Flight of the Bumblebee →

Lo-Fi Orchestra – The Dam Busters March

I have two more performances recorded after my Lo-Fi Orchestra rebuild. The first is a performance of Eric Coates' legendary Dam Busters March from the 1955 film of the same name. Listen out for the "piccolo" (R2R DAC) descant second time through the first theme. This is also quite a nice showcase for the Adafruit … Continue reading Lo-Fi Orchestra – The Dam Busters March →

Arduino OPL FM Synth – Part 2

Despite saying last time that I looked at the YM2413, I didn't need to build a protoboard version of the YM2413 "shield", I've had an idea for something that would really benefit from one, so here it is. I've built it onto one of my Arduino MIDI Proto Shields. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or … Continue reading Arduino OPL FM Synth – Part 2 →

Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Note Balancer

One use for my Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Splitter is as a way to get pseudo polyphony from a range of monophonic sources. I've called this "note balancing" from the idea of "load balancing" online systems - sharing out the "ask" across a number of devices. In a similar way, this can take requests to play … Continue reading Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Note Balancer →

The New Lo-Fi Orchestra Explainer

In honour of my 400th post to my blog, and having now designed and built a range of relevant PCBs I wanted to completely take apart the existing Lo-Fi Orchestra and rebuild it from scratch. This post details how the orchestra has been updated and will hopefully serve as a new explainer for the Lo-Fi … Continue reading The New Lo-Fi Orchestra Explainer →

The New Lo-Fi Orchestra and The 1812 Overture

In celebration of my 400th post on my blog, I've just finished rebuilding the Lo-Fi Orchestra. And seeing as for my 100th post, I presented the finale for Tchaikovsky's Solemn Overture, 1812, in honour of my 400th post and for the inaugural performance of the new orchestra, I thought it was about time I did … Continue reading The New Lo-Fi Orchestra and The 1812 Overture →

MiniDexed TX816 – Part 5 – Mechanical Assembly

Having now built the required PCBs and obtained a panel, this post starts to think about the actual mechanical assembly of the MiniDexed TX816. Posts in this series: Part 1: Introduction, context, and high-level design. Part 2: PCB design. Part 3: Panel design. Part 4: PCB assembly. Part 5: Mechanical assembly. Part 6: Pico MIDI … Continue reading MiniDexed TX816 – Part 5 – Mechanical Assembly →

MiniDexed TX816 – Part 4b – PCB Build Guide – IO Board

This is the second build guide, this time for the IO board. The build guide for the Raspberry Pi Interface Board can be found here. Posts in this series: Part 1: Introduction, context, and high-level design. Part 2: PCB design. Part 3: Panel design. Part 4: PCB assembly. Part 5: Mechanical assembly. Part 6: Pico … Continue reading MiniDexed TX816 – Part 4b – PCB Build Guide – IO Board →

MiniDexed TX816 – Part 4a – PCB Build Guide – RPi Interface Board

I'm not going to do full build guides for the PCBs for this, but I will be documenting in high level terms how they are put together. There are two build guides, this one for the Raspberry Pi Interface board and a second one (4b) for the IO board. Posts in this series: Part 1: … Continue reading MiniDexed TX816 – Part 4a – PCB Build Guide – RPi Interface Board →