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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...
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The 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...
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First 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...
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First 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...
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Second 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...
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Building 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...
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Learning 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...
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Writing 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....
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Making 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...
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Version 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...
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PCB 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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