intermediate.texts

puns, not intended.  the next stage is to solder two vactrols to pcb boards with 16 wire leads (8 for each channel) being connected to the arduino mega board.  I need to check some things… does the audio truly cut out when the push button is pressed to stop the sequence?  Is the timing correct?  does each step have the same step duration?  Is there any variance?

I can breadboard the leds so that I can still see what steps I’m on etc and it would probably be a good thing to solder the potentiometers to the board just so that a firm connection is achieved.

If everything is correct in the above areas of concern I can move forward and begin the circuit design in EAGLE and prepare to begin etching my boards and prepping my laser cutting files.

pcb boards (2) , small leds (16)

maxim ic digital pots control audio volume levels through arduino code. maybe this works?

So it looks like I can do a few things to help really clamp the audio off to silence in the arduino LED sequencer.  I am now testing the circuit with the 10k resistor clamp between ground and line replaced by a photoresistor/LED combo that is identical to the one being used to gate open the signal.  This has definitely helped out and I think that before I throw in the towel I need to try out a “matched-ish” set of vactrols, just to see if I can take out my human error in favor of a hopefully more marginal machine error and get results on both the clamp circuit and the signal circuit that are close to identical.  I’m sleeping on it tonight and then I’ll probably end up doing some testing with the opto-coupler.

Treat the computer like an over-priced playback device for beat-syncing. Keep building hardware. Keep spinning records. Keep making music.

After considering the use of a 3pdt or tpdt switch common to guitar foot pedals I realized that while it was certainly an option, there are other more commonly (read, my stock of supplies) available switches that would do the trick.  After a bit of thinking and some false starts this evening with a few different circuits and switches, this beefy switch popped up with a double in and double out option.

This allows me to route two signals into the switch from two different sources, and then, by placing one output on one side of the switch and the other output on the other side of the switch I could toggle back and forth between the two input signals…. Below is a little diagram for this section of the circuit.

This switch will go between the arduino and the opto-coupler, diodes will likely be necessary since I’ll be splitting the signal between the opto-couplers and the LEDs used to indicate the 8-step pattern of the arduino gate.

A 3pdt would be the perfect solution to the “two signal lines in/one signal line out” switch issue that’s been nagging at me today. The 3pdt is commonly used in AB switches of guitar pedals as a way of moving between inputs. I’m going to see if there’s another switch option tonight that I’ve already got in-studio, but if not, it looks like ordering and learning how to wire a 3PDT is in order for a weekend activity.

Apparently this didn’t post up last night, so here it is again.  This is the start to the interface/ideas for controls for the Arduino Gate Interface, lovingly known as gater.hater in my head due to the the constant alterations and rebuilds.  With individual control over both the low and hight pulses of the LEDs I may lose the ease of a tap.tempo option for bpm control, but with some practicing I think beat matching shouldn’t be too difficult and this way, I can create more complexities with the individual control over both the High and Low durations.

More tonight.

I’ve put into place both the pulsing programming and some circuitry to modify the LED behaviour outside of the Arduino programming. The LED pulse speed is being controlled through the 10k pot that’s connected to the analog 0 pin on the board. That translates through the programming to the LEDs 1-4 (for testing, 1-8 for final production) that pulse sequentially. I’ve just inserted a 10k potentiometer between the ground and the LEDs. I actually ended up just pulling the pot from the sequence pulse speed control to test that I could control LED brightness levels. I had the ground and +5 still plugged into the board and then connected them over to the ground that LEDs run to.

So, brightness, in one form or another, would appear to now be controlled. I now want to make it so that two potentiometers control the on/off pulses for each LED in the chain. One potentiometer controls on length (digitalwriteHIGH), and one controls off length (digitalwriteLow).

After that comes the inclusion of a “reset” button hit within the programming.

Tomorrow I want to add the programming to control the Off/Low/0 duration that separates it from the On/High/1 duration.

So, not to get ahead of myself, but what about stereo control options? Cross-paths for fades between multiple patterns? Think about this.

When the button is off/0 (the “if” part of the statement) the LED behavior is based on the tap tempo arduino programming. When the button is pressed on the circuit switches to reading the potentiometer (this is the “else” part of the statement). The potentiometer number needs to match that of the tap-tempo programming and vice vers. One must over-write the other smoothly and without there being a jump in numbers.

// These constants won’t change:
const int analogPin = 0; // pin that the sensor is attached to
const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to
const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input
int sensorValue = 0; // variable to store the value coming from the sensor

void setup() {
// initialize the LED pin as an output:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
// initialize serial communications:
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
// read the value of the potentiometer:
int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin);

// if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED:
if (analogValue > threshold) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
}
else {
// read the value from the sensor:
sensorValue = analogRead(analogPin);
// turn the ledPin on
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
// stop the program for milliseconds:
delay(sensorValue);
// turn the ledPin off:
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
// stop the program for for milliseconds:
delay(sensorValue);
}

// print the analog value:
Serial.println(analogValue, DEC);

}

// These constants won’t change:
const int analogPin = 0; // pin that the sensor is attached to
const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to
const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input

void setup() {
// initialize the LED pin as an output:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
// initialize serial communications:
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
// read the value of the potentiometer:
int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin);

// if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED:
if (analogValue > threshold) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
}
else {
digitalWrite(ledPin,LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(ledPin,HIGH);
delay(200);
}

// print the analog value:
Serial.println(analogValue, DEC);

}

http://umlautllama.com/projects/arduino/s/TapTempo.pde

created 17 Jan 2009
by Tom Igoe

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement

*/

// These constants won’t change:
const int analogPin = 0; // pin that the sensor is attached to
const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to
const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input

void setup() {
// initialize the LED pin as an output:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
// initialize serial communications:
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
// read the value of the potentiometer:
int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin);

// if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED:
if (analogValue > threshold) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
}
else {
digitalWrite(ledPin,LOW);
}

// print the analog value:
Serial.println(analogValue, DEC);

}

——————————-

Created by David Cuartielles
Modified 16 Jun 2009
By Tom Igoe

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/AnalogInput

*/

int sensorPin = 0; // select the input pin for the potentiometer
int ledPin = 13; // select the pin for the LED
int sensorValue = 0; // variable to store the value coming from the sensor

void setup() {
// declare the ledPin as an OUTPUT:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
// read the value from the sensor:
sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
// turn the ledPin on
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
// stop the program for milliseconds:
delay(sensorValue);
// turn the ledPin off:
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
// stop the program for for milliseconds:
delay(sensorValue);
}

After working with Arduino as a sequencer for audio (in a way)…. I realized yesterday that my thinking about it, and the amount of money that I was about to invest in it… was probably a less than wise use of time and resources.  So instead, I picked up a copy of Handmade Electronic Music (I bought it, I gave up on Routledge figuring out how to send my copy to me as a thank you for my having done the DVD production and filming) and have gone back to the original intention that I had to use the 74C14 and the 4017 circuit to control audio amplitude pulses.

There are some issues that I’m hoping to work out, the major one being the need to control the decay of the LED and the need to make what was once a square wave of ON/OFF for the LED into a situation where the On/Off relationship can be altered… but it’s a step in the right direction and hopefully with a bit of work, something can emerge that is usable in live performance.

This past week has really been a refocusing moment.  A lot of new circuits are in the works and a few older ones (see Arduinome etc) are getting the final edits and cases that they need in order to really start using and testing.  One of the major big returns that I’m very excited about is the possibility of creating a beat oriented gating device that would be controlled through an arduino and a piezo disc or something else.  I’ve come across some code that was intended for something else entirely (using a piezo to create mary had a little lamb as you tapped it)…. the thing is, I’m wondering if that code can be taken apart and reconstructed so as to flash and control LEDs.  If that is the case then I can move forward with the LED/photoresistor project.  The major issue that I’ve run into with this circuit comes in the coding.  Essentially I’m looking to use one potentiometer to control the speed at which the LEDs are cycled through by the Arduino.  The issue is that this creates essentially what amounts to a square wave with the LED behavior (i.e. on and off for the same period of time)…. this isn’t what I want musically… I want to be able to set both the high and low aspects of the LED, something I’ve been trying to do with two pots (0ne for interval or low and one for LED ON or high).  I’m not sure if this new approach will work but I think with both this and the other LED coding work that I’ve been doing something is bound to come out of it.

Here are two Arduinome images and some thoughts for the next round of this interface.  Initial problems include but are not limited to: making sure the ribbon cables/connectors are oriented in such a way that they do not interfere with one another/making packaging thicker than it needs to be.  Also, the resistor used for controlling the LED matrix ends up being a somewhat random number that will necessitate combining resistors together in order to maximize the potential of the LEDs while still not messing up any of the electronics on the unsped arduinome shield.  After a few missteps with crimping the ribbon cable and connectors (why is it always what would appear to be the simple process is actually what ends up being a cluster-fuck?) I realized that the next time i build an unsped shield I’ll make sure to get really clear and precise documentation.  At the moment I haven’t found anyone who’s done it and while it isn’t complicated by any means, it would still be nice to have a clear and straight-forward roadmap.  Also, I need to make sure that I get into the sch0ol in the next week and build out the case.  So that means I need to buy standoffs etc.  I thought the lack of pre-drilled holes for the unsped arduinome was a mistake but then realized quickly that since the shield locks into the arduino itself, no standoff is necessary (which is beautiful really).

Tonight I hook it up to my laptop and run it through max/msp for the first time.  Hopefully if there are bugs they are minor and I can get started on the next phase of work (actually making dance music with it)…. I’m also starting to hatch my plans to build a stribe1 touch interface.  For whatever reason a move to making and mixing live has been really exciting in a way that records haven’t been for awhile.   While djing is still something I love, producing tracks and making tracks live has been something that I’ve really been wanting to move towards (at least for the moment).

Anyway… here are two terrible images of the matrix + shield + arduino.  If everything works I’ll post more images tonight at some point.

“No, said Zezette, not the radio, I don’t want it, I won’t think of war.  Well, let’s have a bit of music, said Maurice.  Chersau, good-b—–b-r-r-r–my star–here is the news—sombreros and mantillas–J’ attendrai, at the request of Huguette Arnal, Pierre Ducroc, his wife and two daughters of La Roche-Canillac, Mlle Elaine of Calvi and Jean-Francois Roquettem for his little Marie-Madeleine, and a group of typists at Tulle for their soldier sweethearts, J’ attendrai, day and night, have some more bouillabaisse, no thanks, said Mathieu, something can surely be arranged, the radio crackled, sped over the white, dead squares, smashed the windows and penetrated into the dim vaporous interious of the houses, and Odette thought: It’s got t work all right, it’s so hot.”

A beautiful passage from The Reprieve by Sartre that doubles as both a wonderful description of turning the radio dial and as a short-hand nod to the method and style in which this book is written.