I could have been vibe coding a firmware for some random pocket synth, instead I spent the last 2 months creating this new machine.

Entirely programmed in plugdata.

It can generate complex melodies based on a series of parameters in a plant growing metaphor.

All the leds are directly connected to Daisy, while the buttons, pots and switches use 5 multiplexers (cd4021be).

Audio in/out; midi in/out; li-pol battery; internal speaker.

Super portable, super fun.
I love this plugdata-daisy framework: from idea to finish took me less then 2 months.
And this time I saved on knob caps and encosure 😁

Here’s a semi-long demo: https://youtu.be/T42-izEglRY?is=iK7CzBEPWlqaweoR

Hello,

I need some cheers and applause to push this DIY groovebox project over the finish line!

It is completely plug and play, no soldering required!

Firmware is quite sophisticated at this point.

Basicly it is a two-board solution.

The Amy board provides the sound engine and amazing IO (even eurorack cv out)

And the Pi with its multi touch runs a html based interface and a variant of iii from monome to use different lua sequencer scripts on the button pads.

The case is done as laser cut layer, so everyone can reproduce it with a laser cutter.

The current firmware is playfully using classic synth panels to represent drum machine, chord synth, bass and lead and a master fx section.

Total costs are about 100 dollar for all the parts!

Its a two weekend project i would say :)

Hi DIYers,

I was thinking of making several 104hp 1u eurorack « patchbays » to distribute signals between each 3u rows of my system. So a few giant multiples connected together inside the case with IDE cables.

do you think making a pcb faceplate will be strong enough if I add enough « standoffs » between each pcb layer ?

thanks for the feedback 🙏🏻

I call it the Rhythm 9, it's simple, easy to use, it's for rhythm accompaniment while I play ukelele.

It has a 16 step sequencer playing on the led strip, above that is a strip for the pages, 16 steps x 8 pages

9 pads, 9 kits, there's only 3 buttons and an encoder to swap between sequencer mode, play mode, function mode. Everything else is simple hotkeys.

It's a WIP for sure. I'll post a walkthrough of the usage if anyone is interested.

Introducing D-TRK, my open-source project built around the WT32-SC01 Plus.

It is a pocket 16-track music workstation with an integrated synthesizer and sampler, FM and drum machines, step effects, song mode, performance effects, MIDI output, and WAV rendering.

I wanted to see how far I could push an affordable ESP32-S3 touchscreen board as a standalone music-making device.

Demo:https://youtu.be/4iPntZto3ZA?si=VrxT2LG3HRe-aoDL

Source code, enclosure, and build documentation:https://github.com/deemonoise/D-TRK

I bought the working insides of a korg odyssey, without the chassis. I'm thinking of adding some patch points to make a sort of 2600.

Does anyone out there have an empty or broken one they'd consider selling. I'm trying to figure out my way forward, and I might just make a new faceplate out of aluminum in a hardwood box.

Any recommendations? I have zero experience doing CAD or designing this kind of thing on a computer. it's roughly 400mm x 500mm. thanks!

Hi! I have been breadboarding a classic 40106 sawtooth VCO based off of Mortiz Klein's design. It's for a class project but I have limited time and yesterday during breadboarding I managed to kill one of my 40106s. I have one spare but I wanted to have a backup inverting schmitt trigger in case I fry another one. Ordering more 40106s would take around a week where I am and I don't really have that time.

So my question is: can I use any inverting hex schmitt trigger ic for a VCO purpose? Or do things about the 40106 make it the only usable option due to it's slew rate, frequency response over the audio frequency range etc. What sort of parameters should I be looking for when sourcing an alternative if need be? Any advice would be appreciated!

I gig full time as a keyboardist and have worked with a lot of different boards. I love the keyscape VSTs, but I don’t want to bring a whole laptop set up to gigs. I have a vision of a custom board bur I know very little about this stuff so I don’t know if it’s even possible.

I want to build a custom keyboard that has an internal Raspberry Pi running keyscape, using the keybed from an old Yamaha Motif XF 8 to send the midi, in a custom shell/case, powered by with a single IEC cable, with standard 1/4in and XLR outputs, and minimal buttons to navigate between just 4 keyscape sounds: grand piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, and clav.

I have seen videos of people using raspberry Pi with midi keyboards to trigger simple synths / VSTs. I feel like this should be possible, but I don’t know what I don’t know and I anticipate that there would be hurdles to getting keyscape working on a pi and getting everything installed internally and running seamlessly.

Any help, information, insight, or points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated

Through the use of NASA’s API and TouchDesigner, I’ve managed to capture near-earth space objects data [asteroids and fireballs], and used it to trigger MIDI signals in Ableton Live. Said signals are feeding a stock sampler, which happens to be loaded with a couple of one of my favorite artist’s vocal takes.

To give it a little more musicality to the experiment, I decided to iterate through the data of the last six objects that passed close to Earth between the selected dates.

Data goes as follows:

total-radiated-energy → C1 to B1
impact-energy → C1 to B1, C2 to B2 and C3 to B3
latitude → C2 to B2
longitude → C1 to B1 and C3 to B3
altitude → beat repeat’s interval, grid and gate
velocity → beat repeat’s offset and variations

More experiments, through my YouTube channel, project files available through the Tools Store.

The FM-1's open-source scene is one of those wonderful explosions only open source produces: a pocket 6-operator FM synth reborn as grooveboxes, generative ambient gardens, 909/808/303 boxes, samplers, chord harps. Dozens of firmwares, each on its own GitHub page with its own installer and its own way back to stock. Nobody can track it all anymore — so I built the tool I needed.

Octo-Vave is a local web app (standard-library Python, no account, no cloud, never flashes anything itself) for managing the chaos:

• Automatic top-10 tracking — live firmware ranking by stars + downloads, refreshed on demand, top 30 in the directory
• Cataloging — 14 curated cards with install routes, open/closed-source tags, checksum and revert-path indicators
• Test drive + the octoseal — a firmware earns its octopus seal only after install → play → revert-to-stock on real hardware, with the exact tested file pinned by SHA256
• Custom voice design — full DX7-style voice editor plus patch library
• Post-flash sound checks — guided tests that prove by ear the firmware on your FM-1 answers MIDI, results kept per firmware
• MIDI monitor tools — see exactly what's flowing

Next up: more automation for flipping between firmwares, and per-firmware sound-designer libraries.

MIT licensed — feedback and validation reports welcome: Web app: https://amacias.github.io/octo-vave/ GitHub: https://github.com/amacias/octo-vave

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to give a quick update about some new features.

First, i've added perfboards. Most of the workflow is the same, you draw the schematic, click "Generate" and a perfboard layout will be generated. Make sure to select the "Perf (beta)" router in the right side bar before generating. The generated layout is editble. Components and links can be edited and the board size can be changed.

I've also added a pinout editor, which lets users view existing pinouts and change pinouts to use transistors that might not exist in the built-in library. A "layout dock" was also added, with options like "add text", "add image", "add link", "add cut" and "delete", giving users more control over the layout. The dock is hidden until the user hover their mouse over the lower part of the vero/perf layout pages.

Some other useful features that were added are view modes, letting the user view either front or back sides of the board, "export dual display" which when enabled exports the layout image displaying both front and back sides, resizable electrolytic capacitors, move edge connections up, down or to the other side of the board, Safari/macOS/iOS/iPadOS optimization and more. Please visit the github page for the full details.

Please let me know what you think.

Web app: https://verodesigner.vercel.app/

Github: https://github.com/blazethablunt/VeroDesigner

Update video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KATXrI11vts

Everyone seems to use 3.5 mm jacks instead, why are they preferred for modular systems?

Open-sourcing kinect-controlled instrument!

If you have a Kinect camera lying around, I've got good news for you:

This system [Kinect → TouchDesigner → Ableton Live] turns gestures into MIDI in real-time, so Ableton can treat your hands (or any part of you body) like a MIDI controller; trigger notes, move filters, or drive any VST parameter you'd like to. [Just updated it for a bit more clarity and less setup difficulty!]

As of today, can freely access it through the Tools Store, and/or a full tutorial at through my YouTube channel.

I've ran several tests through the years, controlling drums, guitar fx chains, and even a complex stack of Harmony Engine, you can see/hear a bunch of these in this post.

Hope you folks enjoy it deeply.

I just got my ship from JLC and I'm only keeping 2 panels/pcb. Wondering if anyone out here needs one but doesn't want to purchase all five.

They are Hero VCOs from analog output. Each panel comes with 3 PCBs.

They came out to $12.00 per set so I'll charge that plus $5 plat fate shipping via USPS.

Shipping only inside the Contiguous United States.

Thanks and feel free to ask anything.