| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2753.1 | do you want to hack or do you want to play? | EZ2GET::STEWART | Balanced on the biggest wave | Tue Oct 22 1991 12:44 | 10 |
|
Keith, unless you want to do this for the sheer thrill of hacking
hardware, just go buy some used synth. You can probably pick up a
CZ-101 for US$100 - as an example. For the money you get a nice little
miniature keyboard (no velocity), an SGU with lots of buttons to push
(and available support software), and a MIDI interface.
But if you want to MIDI your piano, yes, the baud rate is fixed, so you
have to choose the appropriate clock circuitry to achieve that speed.
|
| 2753.2 | | MANTHN::EDD | We are amused... | Tue Oct 22 1991 12:50 | 4 |
| Although the chip will "scan the keyboard" you'll still need some
sensors installed in the keybed for the chip to scan...
Edd
|
| 2753.3 | An ex-Hardware Buff's View | SHIPS::REMMINGTON_J | | Tue Oct 22 1991 14:19 | 22 |
| If you enjoy messing around with soldering irons and DIY PCBs, and can
borrow a scope etc, why not? You'll need an idiots guide to the MIDI
standard (I'm sure I've seen one in this conference somewhere, or I
think I could dredge one up if you're stuck) and of course you'll need
to be sure the sensors on your old piano are compatible with what the
chip expects. HOWEVER, I suspect (not sure because I don't know the
chip) that without some fairly fancy extra logic you will not be able
to set up keyboard splits and layers, which, if you want to use it as a
master keyboard for more than one SGU (or even a single SGU if it's
multitimbral) could be a pretty serious limitation. In any event, you
will need to adapt your keyboard to be able to select the MIDI channel to
be used, and set up said splits etc if the chip can indeed hack it.
So bottom line IMHO is basically to agree with -2; fine if you enjoy the
practical side as an end in itself, but if you're really 'just' a musician
wanting a cheap keyboard - don't - your time and blood pressure is likely
to be worth more than the extra bucks you'd have to fork out to buy one
ready-made.
Good luck whichever!
|
| 2753.4 | | DECWIN::FISHER | I understand your concerns. Request denied. | Tue Oct 22 1991 14:22 | 6 |
| BTW, to get velocity, you have to have TWO switches for the ship to scan on each
key. One which switches as the key leaves the top position, and the other which
switches when the key hits bottom. Timing the difference between the 2 gives
velocity. Don't know if your kb has these already.
Burns
|
| 2753.5 | | MIZZOU::SHERMAN | ECADSR::Sherman DTN 223-3326 | Tue Oct 22 1991 14:34 | 8 |
| In the end, I think that you won't save money rolling your own versus
going out and buying a keyboard, at least not that much when you
consider the cost of your time. Eventually, you may want to add
velocity, splits/zones/layers, aftertouch, pitch bend, hold pedal,
expression pedal and so forth. You can get that on the used market now
for pretty cheap.
Steve
|