Midwest analog drum things

[Josh Brandt]

> You have to build your own panels, which is easy if you have a big drill
> press (I can't see doing it with a hand drill.. I guess it could be done)
> but could be a pain if you're lacking in tools. 

I did it. Heck, I spent a lot of time carefully laying it out, dividing up
the space, punching it (if you're using a hand drill, _get_a_center_punch!_
And a hammer.), and then drilling it.

I have a Black&Decker Hi-Torque drill, the one with the second handle that
pokes out the side. It rotates slower, but with these particularly nice bits
I found at the local woodworking shop ("Will these work on aluminum?" "Ah,
they should. I think."), it melts right through 1/8" thick front panels
without any problems.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the bits I have, but they're on the
expensive side. The tips, rather than being conical like normal bits, are
almost flat and have a sort of nipple in the middle. In this way, they're
kind of self-countersinking. If you are nice and accurate with your
center-punching, you can drop the nipple right into the hole made by the
punch and not have any problems with the drill skittering across your
surface. I did my ASM-1 this way, and it came out pretty well. 

> I haven't had a chance to test them, but as soon as I get my paia midi->cv
> kit I'll be set. (supposedly 'in the mail' by this friday with my
> fatman..) I'll post a short review if there's any interest. 

I can answer questions about the ADV-Bass right now, if anyone is
interested. 

> On another note, Paia has discontinued a little kit that I was hoping to
> build.. as i remember it's sort of a midi mini-patchbay that adds a couple
> midi ins and outs to your setup. 
[...]

Oh, they discontinued that? That's a pity... I couldn't live without mine.
Nothing is nicer than having a MIDI in and several extra outs on the front of
one's rack... There wasn't much to that, if I remember correctly. The PCB
was only a couple of inches square, and had a couple of IC's and a handful
of other components on it... I don't think I have the schematics anymore
(lost in one of several moves), but I'm sure PAiA still have them.

Josh