Thanks for all the input Mike. My apologies for posting misinformation about the bottle-necking of MIDI data. When I wrote that, I had reservations of stating it like I did.. thinking "He's gonna come back and correct me.. I just KNOW IT!"
But I figured I'd just post it and get the current/correct information that way.
"try to send controllers after note on/off events, not before."
Most of the tweaking I'd want to play with would happen while a note or chord is held..
"the question is whether any one wants what you're suggesting ∗that∗ much. In the case of the HAWK itself, I've sold a little of one hundred kits over four years. The HAWK does improve the Poly so much that it is well sort after. But think about it, only 100 kits sold over four years. You need to get plenty of supporters before you take on what you propose."
Guess I might be the only one who does want it so badly that I'd spend countless evenings with my nose in a 8085 Assy. programming book (which arrived yesterday, BTW) just to get to a level where I can have coherent dialogue over the inner workings of the HAWK's code, plus read up on Lancaster's TTL/CMOS Cookbooks and stumble over my Elenco digital trainer lab to get a grip on the use of all the different logic IC's and their applications.
Yup, it's a crash course in digital electronics and assy. language.. but I feel it's something well worth doing for myself to expand my self knowledge... it's not as important for me to create a programmer box for the Korg as to what I LEARN along the way.
If nobody else is interested in it, nothing wrong with that.. I didnt really expect any support in doing it except maybe a bit of advice from you here and there.. I never expected anyone to do all or most the work for me.. what's there to learn from it all that way?
Yea, I'm a little surprised there's only been 100 units sold in four years too. But doing what you have done and to promote it all by yourself, plus be a one man manufacturer of the units... that takes alot of dedication and work. If you had a ton more of biz, it'd become overwhelming.. then you'd be in a position where you'd have to risk investing in hiring other people to keep up with all the production. I was in that position back in 2001 when I had a biz that grew faster than one man could handle on his own.. I couldnt be a field tech and office manager at the same time. It was unnerving to be working on a customers unit and then of course the phone rings.. it would never fail.. I'd begin to do actual work that made money and that phone would ring.. it would almost NEVER ring when I was sitting on my butt with my hands free and in a quiet place to have a conversation. I realized I wasnt going to continue to proliferate my biz if I answered the phone while working.. I was overwhelmed, frustrated and short with people.. I needed someone who could take time with the customers on the phone and leave me to doing the actual work that brought home the $$$$.
Chances are you'd probably sell alot more kits if they were advertised more across the internet, got an ebay presence(to promote awareness) and basically move from the open source/hobby sector to a full fledged manufacturing biz. But that's a huge risk in today's economy.
I do know for a fact that the Poly/EX 800's sell on ebay like crazy daily. They typically sell for $200-300.. even the damaged/not fully functional units sell for around $120. I got lucky with mine for $65 on ebay because the pawn shop didnt realize they tested/powered it on with the TAPE switch on the back ON and were unfamiliar with the Poly's workings.. I guess other bidders didnt look close enough at the pics (it was all quite clear in the pics they posted) to figure out why they couldnt get it to make sounds. So when it arrived, I just switched the TAPE switch off and everything worked fine (except an occasional joystick issue, which I think is the pot slipping inside the joysticks plastic).
I bet if you purchased Poly/EX's, refurb them as needed to full working condition, install your HAWK in it and posted it for sale on ebay or some synth sites.. you'd get a nice price for them.. most likely in the $500-600 range. It'd get the awareness out there for them and you'd probably sell more kits as well for those feeling up to the task of a DIY project.
If it had a programmer panel to go with it... I bet it'd sell for alot more... People LOVE old synths with tons of knobs/controls.
I know from personal experience in the past that one man simply cannot do all this by himself.. there simply isnt enough time in the day/week/month/year to do that, plus have a "real" job and juggle personal/family time in the mix.
Your HAWK is very unique. Just reading all the features you've crammed into it tells me there isnt any other synths like it out there you can just go and buy under a grand or without going old school modular, which can go for several thousand. And VST/ Virtual synths dont count. Seems everytime I play around with one of those, they glitch up eventually when you try to tweak it too much while playing a note... and I mean they will flat out fall on their face, hang/freeze.
"I will hand sketch a diagram of the HAWK schematic (believe it or not, I don't have a schematic of it as I designed it in my head and went straight to the PCB design - lol). "
If this were an engineering class, you would have been given a "C" on this project by the instructor for not showing your work.. ;-P
"Maybe someone else (YOU?) would convert into a schematic? And I will offer tips and hints on assembly and how the HAWK code works and the utilities needed to create binary from the assembly ........ you will need to get a lot of help from elsewhere or otherwise scavenge it from other dedicated Poly fans. Note how quiet this list is?"
The schematic doesn't look like it would be too complicated to do.. just takes a bit of time. Most of it could be figured out by simply looking at the PC board. I wouldnt mind taking on the task...
I've always wondered if ANYONE on here knows just how the HAWK hardware/code works... basically know it inside and out just as much as you do.
Yea, the list is VERY quiet, short of some impatient boob lashing out with juvenile remarks. I imagine this is due to most people buy their hawk, build it and once it all works never really come on here anymore.
And I fully understand you simply dont have the time to hold someone by the hand and lead them thru the entire process of understanding all the inner workings of digital logic/circuits and assy. language... I'm shocked you even found time to singlehandedly create the Hawk in the first place.
"I don't like to knock other peoples ideas but in this particular case, I think you ought to give a controller a chance with the HAWK."
I'll most likely play around with a MIDI controller in the near future.. perhaps try out that custom MIDI CPU board I showed you awhile back.
My hopes of doing the programmer was simply to attempt to make a controller that is HAWK specific.. so it would be easy to change the parameters that have controls laid out in a coherent pattern vs. a generic controller with all the knobs/sliders crammed together and tiny bits of Post-It notes above the knob to keep track of what controls which parameter... and a custom programmer panel with LED indicators that immediately show what waveform is selected, or what feature is on/off would be tremendously helpful. It's hard to do that with a generic controller.
The programmer is the harder project I had in mind.. the other project I have in mind is to use a Flight/Thrust gaming controller to replace the Poly's joystick and combine it with a Flight foot controller that gives three axis's.. left/right pedal plus a RUDDER control where the two pedals push forward/backward alternately (make a nice foot control pitch bend).
Both would be fairly easy to hardwire in.. just need to make voltage followers to make the 100K pots inside the controllers to mimic 10K pots... but those projects are fairly straight forward or would use that MIDI CPU to also use the rest of the pots/switches crammed onto the Thrust controller.
Anyway, my Kester solder arrived yesterday, along with the 8085 assy. book. So hopefully I'll have my Hawk up and running within the next week or so.. just need the right window of time and place to do it without any interruptions or sense of being rushed.
If I were single, I'd have had it done last night.. lol.
-Blaine