Hi everyone,

I'm building a custom wireless MIDI accordina. I've just finished the 3D models and ordered the PCBs from JLCPCB.

The design uses a SuperMini nRF52840 for BLE MIDI and an MP3V5010DP pressure sensor for breath control. I've since found some much cheaper alternatives to the MP3V5010DP, which I might try in a future revision.

Here are a few 3D renders of the design. I haven't assembled anything yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the first prototype turns out. I'll post an update once the boards arrive and I've put everything together.

Hey everyone!

I'm building PocketEuclidean, an open-source groovebox for retro handhelds, centered around 8-track Euclidean sequencing.

The idea isn't just to generate Euclidean rhythms, but to make them more complex and unpredictable. LFO modulation and jitter let you push patterns beyond rigid, repeating loops and explore more unstable, evolving rhythms.

I'm also working on WAV sampling, synth voices, and a minimal, flat UI.

It's still an early work in progress, with plenty left to implement.

I've written detailed Markdown documentation to make development accessible to everyone, including people using AI coding assistants. No need to contact me first — PRs, issues, ideas, and experiments are all welcome!

GitHub: https://github.com/ijnekenamay/PocketEuclidean

Hi, I am a beginner who has barely held a soldering iron and can't read a circuit diagram - please recommend some easy projects for me to try.

Ideally recommendations for a stand-alone synthesizer rather than modules in a modular set up so I can start making music/sampling whatever I build immediately. I am open to building a digital or analogue synth. If it could be programmed using MIDI that would be a bonus.

Thanks heaps.

Just added an RP2040 behind the display to handle the UI and free up more processing power on the Daisy for what really matters: audio DSP! 🎛️
#Cosmolab #DaisySeed #RP2040 #SynthDIY

I was thinking about this today, since scaling is necessary to integrate analog and digital signals, how do you do this when the demands are very strict, like in the pitch CV?

As an example, let's say that we are sending CV from -5V to 5V, for 10 octaves in total, and we have a microcontroller that can receive voltages from 0 to 3.3V. The general handling of this is simple, reduce the overall signal and introduce an offset DC voltage so that -5V becomes 0, and +5V becomes 3.3V.

However, since there is quite a lot of variance in analog components, the DC offset might be a bit off, or the planned reduction might not be as precise, leading to things like +5V becoming 3.1V and -5V might become 0.2V etc. How is this solved in digital modules?

My two thoughts are:

1. Have a trim pot and make sure that all levels are correct right before the ADC. This has obvious cons though, since trim pots are expensive, and it's labor intensive if multiple modules are built.

2. Have some kind of calibration mode in the module, where the software receives something like the note C over a couple of octaves and then scales it correctly within the software. This feels like the better choice, or am I missing something? Are there even simpler or better solutions?

I've been working on a synth for the past 9 weeks, and I would love to get some feedback, in any shape or form. This video showcases most features: https://youtu.be/rvdnp3vw48o . I'd love it if you would check it out, and read the description for additional context. I'd love to hear you guys' opinions on this project and if you have any ideas on where I can take it next, or if you have some general improvements/tips/tricks!

by referencing picovintagesynthesizer d5 engine (github), i tell gemini argon to write and install d50 firmware for amyboard

Total beginner here, so please excuse any terminological errors.

I recently purchased a Casio DG-20, and I want to play live with it. I am looking to use it as a MIDI controller, and I want a headless synthesizer that would be good for switching between instrument sounds. I'm especially interested in the fact that the DG-20 can assign different instruments to each string.

I was initially going to go with a Roland JV-1010, but I have recently been intrigued by the Raspberry PI/DIY synth space. I've looked at the Squishbox, the Samplebox, the Organelle, and the Zynthian.

Do any of these options feel clearly better than the others? Especially considering what I want to do with the DG-20? Or is there some synth that I am not even aware of that would do the job better?

Hey y’all, wanted to pick your brain as to if you had any ideas on how to implement this idea on this silly thing I’m building :

Though the iPhone is alright for sliders and selecting presets, it leaves something to be desired for actually playing bass notes in a consistent way, I need something actually tactile

The problem with just buying like a used korg nanokeys and slapping it on there is the way that I want to hold my left hand is reversed (like a guitar) I was able to circumvent that digitally by making a keybed with the white keys essentially “dual sided” so they can be pressed from either end.

If I turned it upside-down the keys would be high to low.

So basically what I’m looking for:

-11-12 buttons (capacitive or physical, doesn’t really matter)

-Slim profile and lightweight

-able to be usb powered and/or battery powered

-midi or 3.5 midi out: no host program or computer required

If something like this already exists for under 100 US beans, I would consider it

I’ve never built a microcontroller before, but have messed with breadboards and have a good deal of midi programming experience, so that could be a fun project. I would just need to know the best microcontroller and components needed to get me started

Hi all,

I have experienced some of the issues other people are having with the Behringer RS-9 and I have gotten a little obsessive with it and found a potentially easy fix although I haven't found a way to implement that easy fix my self, so I hope that someone from Behringer is lurking.

This concerns the Behringer receiving Midi Clock over USB but not syncing properly to anything we would send the RS-9 Clock and Reset signal to (unless it's a Midi Din cable, in that case, it works correctly)

But when clocking the RS-9 in USB MIdi, when you press stop in your DAW, the Play button remains "Green" so engaged or "Paused". That keeps the Reset gate output always UP. That results in that resest gate to just DIP back down for a split of a millisecond (literally 0,12ms is the median measurement) before going back up to full gate and external machines who are reset by that gate signal miss it about half of the time.

Now if you manually press stop on the RS-9 and then press play in your DAW again, that works 100% of the time because pressing stop properly turns that gate signal off, and you get a clean gate edge when pressing play again. Basically the same behaviour as when using the RS-9 in INTERNAL sync.

I have noticed the One clock pulse being missed while using USB MIDI but that doesn't seem to be the reason for that Reset gate issue as I have had succesful gate resets regardless of that first clock pulse missing or not.

So the simple fix would be, to just have the RS-9 ACTUALLY stop when we press stop in the DAW just so that when we press play we get the clean reset gate signal.

At this stage, I have not found a way yet to force the RS-9 to stop when pressing stop in the DAW.

Any help or lead appreciated as this would make the RS-9 a TRUE BEAST which it's so close from being.

Finding one of these is almost impossible. Understandable because it is a 40+ year old synth. I'm told I can find a generic transformer but can't seem to find one with 9volt ac and 19 volt ac on the secondary side which are needed on the power board. If anyone can steer me in the right direction I would be eternally grateful. The one in the pic is burnt. Thx, Ed

I’m trying to build an omnichord synth, and was wondering if anyone’s ever done it, and if i can do it as a beginner. i would love any help i can get, or if anyone knows what kind of materials i will need.

Hi,

I was wondering, if the SH4D can be turned into an MPE receiving synth through altering the firmware? As it is a fully digital synth, it is basically running a code, so the code can be extended or altered. Receiving MPE has no any hardware dependencies.

Obviously it has to also come with additional functions to enable/disable, assign channels in the mod matrix maybe, etc. Based on what was achieved onthe elektron cycles with the Model-TG firmware, I would think this one can be done too.

Any thoughts on this?

My method. Curious if you have better/other ones.

1. Create schematic (of course)
2. Create PCB with with 0.5mm margins to faceplate (ex. 6hp -> 30mm faceplate --> 29mm components PCB.
3. Place all jacks, pots and any switches on the top layer (hidden in the screenshot)
4. Hide top layer and top layer silk screen
5. Move all components to bottom layer
6. Layout the components between all top layer holes (the "puzzle")
7. Auto route! (yes, it sub par, but never failed me yet)
8. Create faceplate PCB (another challenge in itself)
9. Order module ar JLCPCB
10. Receive and test it
11. Realise you shouldn't do delicate PCB work while nipping on a whisky late Saturday night because you end up with stupid mistakes (like swapping opamp power pins)
12. Throw the PCB:s in the trash and hope you don't break German law (should you dispose of them at the the Wertstoffhof?)
13. GOTO 5 (skip 8)

P.S.

Yes, I am using EasyEDA. Yes, I intend to autoroute this.
Good enough for me. No need for downvoting. :-)

This is my first arduino project! It has it's fair share of problems though. The clock drifts, the arpeggiator button (not used in video) isn't quantizing properly and causes the bpm to fluctuate, and the sustain is constantly on. If anyone has any input on a solution to my clock drift, I'd really like some advice.

Experimenting with my #Cosmolab! 🎛️
Today I’ve been testing some new UI concepts with an SPI OLED display, and I’m pretty happy with the results!
After a long development journey, Cosmolab is finally ready for production! 🚀
The first batch will go to our Indiegogo backers, and we expect to have a few extra units available in November.
We’ll update the website as soon as shipping begins, along with the release of the complete source code and repositories.
100% open-source, powered by Daisy, and built for experimentation.
More info: https://cosmolab.faselunare.com
#Cosmolab #Faselunare #DaisySeed #OpenSourceHardware #SynthDIY #MusicTechnology

Edit: There is now a v1.0 with several new features, including freely assignable voice engines for all 6 voices (voice 7 still has 2 decays, independent of the engine) and cross-project saving/loading of kits or individual voices.

v1.0: https://github.com/tunefish777/openelixir-02/releases/tag/v1.0

I will probably post a video soonish showcasing the new features. Stay tuned.

-- original post below ---

Full disclosure first: Yes, this is largely vibecoded, but I have a background in embedded device development and know what I'm doing. I think it's stupid that I have to explain myself here - I don't think vibe-coding is bad by any means if it just speeds up a process you could've done yourself by weeks. Still, I follow the general discussion here and know how it's a very controversial topic.

I was very happy to see the announcement that Erica Synths open sourced the LXR-02's firmware this morning, so I dug into the code, got a grasp on how the thing is actually implemented. Before, I already followed Brendan Clarke's efforts regarding a free firmware for the LXR-02 so I was beyond happy to finally get a full understanding of the thing.

So long story short, I decided to start working on custom firmware with a few simple goals at first:
- Improve the baseline. Without changing anything major, simply fix existing bugs, improve the code wherever possible and make this thing the absolute best the hardware can offer.
- Fix all known bugs that v1.7 had.

the long run (soon :tm:):
-Gain flexibility by freely assigning voice types to voices, so that you are no longer limited to 3xdrum, snare, clp/cym and hh, but instead can go for a 6/7 voice cymbal setup for maximum cowbell action.
- In my head, I envision some form of visual editor that allows you to drag engines into slots, edit midi mappings etc. For now I'm locally experimenting with reassigning voice types.

Here's the first release of OpenElixir-02: https://github.com/tunefish777/openelixir-02/releases/tag/v0.1

So far, the list of changed things is pretty minor:

• Voices/FX bus are summed with 32 bit and limited per output. This fixes the originals behavior where the outputs would start to clip audibly if several voices are at max level at the same time. Per-voice distortion & FX distortion is not affected by this. It's just the mixer.
• Builds now report memory usage compared to the stock firmware. This is important as the LXR-02 is fairly limited wrt. tightly coupled memories for data and more importantly, instructions. If there is not enough TCIM space, critical code can't run fast enough and real-time behavior can't be guaranteed anymore.

I couldn't find a curated list of known bugs of the latest 1.7 firmware for the LXR-02, so if anyone is interested, please let me know about any bugs and I will address them in following releases.

Use at your own risk. I will test release builds with my own hardware, but I do not perform extensive testing or anything. Note that as long as the bootloader (which is a separate, locked software component) stays unmodified, a bug in custom firmware cannot corrupt your bootloader and brick your device. You should be able to just roll back to the official firmware, if you get crashes. To stay safe, back up your presets, as a bug in the firmware could technically corrupt them.

Cheers

I would personally kill for a Turing machine style sequencer, couldn't make it myself yet. What would you do with it?

Been working on this tool for modifying the MicroFreak firmware and swapping oscillator engines. Just released a pretty major update, thought it might be interesting here too.

Top to bottom, left to right:

"Untameable" Fuzz and texture generator

"Blemmyae Synth" Glitch Noise Machine

Nameless Drone Machine

"EMF SNOUT" Electromagnetic Field Microphone

"Box of teeth" Harsh Noise shaker Box

Everything Available at: https://shunganoie.bandcamp.com/merch