[sdiy] Microprocessors for Music

[Grant Richter]

Synthmodules.com is not paying me anything, so I feel free to discuss this
regarding general DIY projects that could use a microprocessor.

Writing C or assembler is not fun for me, but writing BASIC is. I started
writing BASIC when I was 11, so it is sort of a second language.

In pursuit of a BASIC programmable analog synth controller, I have built
units based on the Sinclair ZX-81 and the Atari 800XL. Neither was fast
enough under BASIC to be really useful (micros only had 1 or 2 MHz clocks).

Out of the blue, Brice put together the PSIM-1 which is based on the Basic
Atom Pro, a 16 MHz Hitachi H8 with the MBasic interface.

http://www.basicmicro.com/

Well, gosh darn it if the thing isn't faster than sh*t. Updating 4 x 12 bit
serial DACs takes 400 microseconds and reading 4 ADCs and updating 4 DACs to
make a 4 channel chromatic quantizer takes a millisecond. This is with BASIC
language programming. As a rule of thumb, a single line of BASIC code
executes in 20 microseconds. Also you can program MIDI and DIN interfaces
with BASIC.

So, for one off and hobby projects where the $50 for the stamp is doable,
you could use a Basic Atom Pro and make the software development end a LOT
more approachable.

If you just want to program, Brice has already done a nice job packaging the
Basic Atom Pro into a synth module. I worked with him to make sure the
analog end was very stable and scaled correctly for simultaneous analog and
MIDI synthesizer control.

http://www.synthmodules.com