[sdiy] REVIEW: Beat707 Arduino Drum Sequencer

[Graham Atkins]

They aren't selling kits / PCB's though ?. That would allow more  
choice of buttons
etc. Where did you get your PCB ?.

Nice case BTW.

Graham

On 20 May 2011, at 04:29, Altitude 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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