idea: kaossilator midi hack

pierlo · Post by **pierlo** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:11 pm

i just had an idea and would like to share with the board.
Wouldn't it be possible to add a sort of hacked down midi clock to tap-tempo converter? I have really basic knowledge of electronics, but - correct me if i'm wrong - the tap tempo is a momentary press button. Which means it should be possible to desolder it and apply a wire to the button or something, that simply changes state every bpm. So basically one should make a stupid controller (arduino could do it) that reads midi signal and converts it in "real" beats per minutes, switching on and off that very tap-tempo button...

I bet it MUST work. If i only had the guts/confidence to avoid damaging my beloved kaossilator...

any crazy fellow out there??!

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:44 pm

that seems like a lot of work for a simple midi clock signal when the thing already lets you choose bpm??

pierlo · Post by **pierlo** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:34 am

salamanderanagram wrote:that seems like a lot of work for a simple midi clock signal when the thing already lets you choose bpm??

well, i really find the lack of midi sync a major issue if you're trying to use the kaossilator in a live rig like i do... yeah tap tempo is ok but if you're changing tempo very often it's really annoying...

m4m · Post by **m4m** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:17 pm

and, it's more for the START than for the tempo that midi is really usefull, cause no matter how tght you think you are, you'll NEVER lock perfectly by pressing start on 2 devices simultaneously, i'm thinking of building a relay box to midi to start the kaossilator, trigger sampler on my redsounds and send tap tempo to my DD5

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:14 pm

pierlo, i'm pretty bored with my kaossilator and probably going to take it apart and try to circuit bend it pretty soon anyway... so if you can design a (simple) circuit that makes an LED flash with a clock signal i'll try it for you and see if it works...

pierlo · Post by **pierlo** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:01 am

salamanderanagram wrote:pierlo, i'm pretty bored with my kaossilator and probably going to take it apart and try to circuit bend it pretty soon anyway... so if you can design a (simple) circuit that makes an LED flash with a clock signal i'll try it for you and see if it works...

hey cool! yeah definitely. the major part of the work lies in the midi to signal conversion. not too hard, i guess. i have an arduino board and i will manage to make it... but anyway you can take any ic with an internal clock (say ic 550) and that will produce a sort of testing clock. That should be ok as a testing platform...

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:57 am

took apart my kaossilator last night. the circuit is too small to circuit bend but you could easily wire up something to the tap tempo button. unfortunately the way the kaossilator is built i can't really test this stuff without doing permanent mods which i'm not really willing to do cause i think i'm just gonna sell mine.

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:59 am

interesting note - inside the kaossilator there is room for 2 rca in jacks (the circuit board even has it marked "rca in" with holes for a mount jack and everything!) , the caps and diodes that would be nearby are missing too, but i wonder....

pierlo · Post by **pierlo** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:18 am

salamanderanagram wrote:interesting note - inside the kaossilator there is room for 2 rca in jacks (the circuit board even has it marked "rca in" with holes for a mount jack and everything!) , the caps and diodes that would be nearby are missing too, but i wonder....

cool. but i guess that's just because they use a common board with the one found inside the mini-kp

plasmaphonic · Post by **plasmaphonic** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:39 am

The little Yellow submarine is pretty easy to take apart safely.

All I want to do is one of 2 things:

1. Find a way to safely at I presume 4.5v, receive the X-Y coordinates the user is touching.

2. If not that, user a re-configured pen drafting plotter to map out various fractal like slides, or bumps (up then down) and control it using math functions.

If I can't do that, I'm looking for some small (I would need 24, patch on light sensors, maybe 25 to get the bpm light) to signal that a zone has been reached.

I actually want to do both, recognize via LED where the zone is at, and preferrably link into the x-y positions which may come by voltages?

I do know there is room for 2 more expansion outs right opposite the RCA outs.

KORG really always has very clean sounds....if one wants to distore them the Kp3 can do that right?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-r

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:54 am

sorry man you seriously lost me on #2. touch up this sentence and maybe it will be more clear?

"If I can't do that, I'm looking for some small (I would need 24, patch on light sensors, maybe 25 to get the bpm light) to signal that a zone has been reached. "

some small... what?

#1, i dunno, there's a little ribbon that connects the xy pad to the main circuit board. i'm sure you could in theory derive some sort of data that could be turned into numerical data, but i'm really not sure how. KP3 could easily do that though, heck it outputs that as midi data by default on channels 0c and 0d in normal mode and 46 and 47(hex values there, i think) in external control mode.

those extra outs you're talking about are missing the caps/diodes that are supposed to be there as well....