I Need a MIDI Sync Box
When performing on stage, we have a problem keeping all our MIDI instruments in time with each other. So I need to create a master sync source. This would be a box which can send a MIDI ‘Start’ command...
View ArticleThe PIC Microcontroller
After some research, I settled on the PIC16F84A microcontroller from Microchip. I like this part because it doesn’t need any expensive development kit. These development kits can cost hundreds of...
View ArticleFirst Concept
Now it so happens that I stol^H^H uh, came across this large illuminated pushbutton recently. It has a large 25mm button illuminated by an incandescent lamp. The switch is a highly reliable...
View ArticleFirst Circuit Design
I’ve sniffed around several other PIC and MIDI pages on the web today. I’ve found out how to interface the PIC to a MIDI connector and how to make an R/C ramp arrangement to let me read input from an...
View ArticleHow Does MIDI Work Anyway ?
I did some MIDI research today. It turns out that the MIDI clock protocol is quite simple. All messages I’m interested in are a single byte only. These are the ones I will be using: NAME HEX BINARY...
View ArticleSecond Circuit Design
Well, one never gets things right the first time. Looking at that first schematic, I can see it is not the best design. For a start, it uses three chips – way too many. I also ran out of I/O pins so I...
View ArticleBuilding the PIC Programmer
I’ve built the little NoPPP programmer. The only problem with the thing is it has no flashing lights of any kind! So I put in two LEDs, one to indicate power and the other to indicate programming...
View ArticleLearning to Program the PIC
Now it’s time to move back into the software domain. Microchip supply a development environment called MPLAB. You can download it for free off their website. Only problem is, it doesn’t work, it kept...
View ArticleWriting the Code
I’m steadily building the firmware for this thing. Something that sounds simple is turning out to be a little more complex than I thought, still, that’s pretty normal in the software world. My program...
View ArticleFirst Working Box
Well, It’s great to have something work. I finally got it to send out MIDI clock messages and my sequencer accepted them. Yay! One thing I had a lot of trouble with was understanding the MIDI signals....
View ArticleMaking Progress
Sorry there have been no updates in months. Things have been busy lately, that’s the problem with having a life. I’m only a part-time geek after all. Since I last did any work on this project, I have...
View ArticleVersion 1 is Finished!
I have now finished the code. Tested it and after a few bug fixes, everything works just great. The final software is 930 lines of assembler. You can download it here if you want to. I also learnt how...
View ArticlePCB Design for the MIDI Sync Box
Massimo Sanna is a reader of this blog and has designed a PCB for the MIDI Sync Box for all of us to share. Thanks very much Massimo!. Click here to download the PCB layout in TIFF format.
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