[sdiy] REVIEW: Beat707 Arduino Drum Sequencer

[Paul Dickow]

The dreaded question, "does it have swing/shuffle?"

So, does it swing or shuffle?

Someone had to ask!

Paul

On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 8:29 PM, Altitude <altitude at optrand.com> wrote:
> Thought this may be of interest to some people here so here is my quick
> review.  I'd be happy to discuss off list since this does stray into OT.
>
>
> This project was brought to my attention a month ago and it immediately
> caught my eye as a perfect solution for a sequencer for my 9090 TR-909
> clone.
>
> Quick Run Down:
>
> The Beat707 is a Arduino shield (meaning hardware front end) and software
> for an Arduino (Uno/2009/Mega) hardware platform. The Beat707 hardware can
> be purchased via their website assembled for $100 (An Arduino MIDI Groove
> Box Shield). Their website has a number of video demos that I recommend
> everyone check out. An arduino will run you $15-$65 depending on what you
> get and where you get it. I opted for an Uno for $30 but am upgrading to a
> Mega since the code limit for the 2009/Uno has pretty much been met. Anyone
> looking into getting one, I recommend a mega (Chinese clones are ~$40).
>
> The hardware is simple to assemble, simply join the Arduino and the Beat707
> (pins and headers) and upload the software. Arduino has its own software to
> upload the apps to the hardware and it is trivial to use (no programming
> knowledge required)
>
>
> The Hardware:
>
> The controls are straight forward. Sixteen step buttons, 4 navigation
> buttons, Stop/play/record/shift. Ports are midi in/out, Power, USB. It can
> be powered via USB and it also has a midi over USB function.
>
> Here is mine. I opted for different style buttons from the kit to better
> suit my case. I also have two mods installed (more on that later)
>
> http://midiot.net/B707%20May.JPG
>
>
> The software:
>
> The sequencer consists of 18 tracks: 14 drum instrument tracks, 2 monosynth
> tracks, and two accent tracks. Each drum voice can be set to a different
> midi channel and note. The names can easily be edited in the software so you
> don't have to have them named according the to GM names.
>
> Editing the drum tracks is pretty much identical to the Tr-707. There is a
> A/B variation for each track giving a total of 32 steps (and it even goes
> beyond this, however I have not played around with that feature). The
> combination of the shift key gives access to editing and quick jump
> parameters (copy/paste/mute/solo etc). Pattern edit mode is your classic x0x
> style editing and there is also a realtime record where each of the 16 keys
> represents and instrument (again, like the 707)
>
> The two synth tracks work considerably differently than the drum tracks and
> each note is entered per step and remains on until a note off event is
> programmed (to hold notes) or another note begins. There is also a slide
> function to slide between notes. What I really dig about the synth tracks is
> that with a keyboard attached, you can simply play in the notes from a
> keyboard. A clever scheme is used where a light note press (low velocity) is
> recorded as a rest and a hard press records that note. Both events advance
> the sequence to the next step. Quite fun to use.
>
> Hacks and Mods:
>
> The designer built in quite a bit of expandability so it is very easy to add
> features. Like I show above, I added an analog pot (which can be assigned to
> a number of parameters) and an encoder which allows for quick editing of
> parameters. There are also a number of switch inputs that can be used for a
> variety of things (footswitch start/stop). Trigger outputs are also built in
> to trigger non-midi external drum voices.
>
> At this time, there is no case or faceplate for the Beat707 (coming soon
> afaik) so I designed my own enclosure based on an extruded Hammond box and a
> CNC made panel. I used lightpipes for the LEDs since they are mounted to the
> board and SMD parts.
>
> http://midiot.net/b707case.JPG
>
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-- 
Paul Dickow
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