[sdiy] Re: 3E as keyboard controller

[Scott Gravenhorst]

jhaible at debitel.net wrote:
>> Don't forget: the software includes a *full blown* schematic entry system AND
>> a 
>> simulator :)
>> 
>> So, you can just copy part-for-part the TTL logic into the Xilinx.
>
>
>Yes, but Magnus' caveats are still valid. I remember when I built that circuit 
>in CMOS technology (3 boards for 4 voices ...), the timing was kind of special.
>Who knows how much depends on the tolerances of just this old MOS technology.
>
>Anyway, it's quite unlikely that I'll do this. No time - better focus on 
>analogue. I'm going to buy a board though, expecting someone to come up with a 
>nice FX box application or digital synth, and I'll just use it. 

I think this is the beauty of the whole idea.  It will be a common, prebuilt device
compatible with those owned by other community members that mostly just needs programming. 
I intend to go MIDI with mine, although others will probably use ADCs to gather CVs.  While
I have _some_ time, I certainly don't have a profuse abundance and I will also want to try
out what others have done.  We all have different ideas of what we would like it to do, but
unlike the DIY hardware world where you need to build physical devices just to test them
out, the firmware world allows us to exchange ideas and hear them function in our own
studios in the minutes it takes to download and install the code as opposed to the hours and
cash it takes to craft hardware.  Especially considering the complexity this device will
support.  I have nothing at all against hardware, but there is a clear trading advantage for
software.  The man-hours (or woman-hours) can really add up for us all, while I may spend X
hours on a project, I get to enjoy the man-hours of other community members as well. 
Speaking with Jim Patchell, I mentioned that I might want to go poly at some point and he
said I might want to create my monosynth code with poly in mind.  That's not a bad idea, but
then I thought about specialization.  If I do a monosynth, it can be an immensely complex
one - so I might just forget about poly.  Someone else may want to do a monosynth as well,
but completely different!  and then still others may work on polysynths, and I can play with
them all!  And these boards are so inexpensive, it may be worthwhile to have more than one.

So I will probably also wind up "just using" quite more code from others than I might
imagine myself writing.








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-- Scott Gravenhorst | LegoManiac / Lego Trains / RIS 1.5
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