SynthModules

Yeah, the PSIM is *THE* geek device of the decade.  I missed the
Sinclair days by a few years, so I was doing the Commodore 64
programming thing, but this is the same kinda deal.  I'm jazzed...!

And I'm glad it has the 9 pin port instead of USB.  USB is so _not_
geeky...  Anyone else gonna out there going be a REAL geek and use the
DOS version of the software???

And I'm not telling anyone about the program I have all ready to load
once the PSIM is here!  Once it's all tweaked and perfect you're welcome
to it, but it may be my only chance to get an original program into soup
before all the smart people get all the glory ;)

Andrew

>>> mmarsh@websense.com 02/18/04 12:37 PM >>>
I'm also the Mike Marsh that ordered a PSIM and now I can't sleep 
thinking about it. Yep: geek.

Mike

--- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, "grantrichter2001" 
<grichter@a...> wrote:
> --- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Marsh" 
> <mmarsh@w...> wrote:
> > Grant has it right.  Of all languages, BASIC is perhaps the 
> easiest 
> > to a hold of.  And it's really fun to use, particularly for 
smallish 
> > things like PSIM code.  
> > 
> > It's really fun!
> > 
> > Mike
> 
> Hi Mike,
> 
> The Feb. issue of SPIN magazine says a Mike Marsh is the 
> drummer for the band Dashboard Confessional.
> 
> Any relation?
> 
> I hope this gives no offense.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Grant



Be sure to check out the primary Web site at:
http://www.SynthModules.com
  
Yahoo! Groups Links

Andrew wrote:
> Yeah, the PSIM is *THE* geek device of the decade.  I missed the
> Sinclair days by a few years, so I was doing the Commodore 64
> programming thing, but this is the same kinda deal.  I'm jazzed...!

It really does bring back the "old fashioned" (LOL!) concept of DIY
programming. In the early PC days it was not unusual to write your own BASIC
program, or perhaps to modify one that you bought, or typed in from a
magazine article, or downloaded from a BBS at 300 bits per second. ;-) This
is gonna be fun!

I'll be surprised if Brice doesn't sell a truckload of these modules. For
the price of a "dumb" module or two, you can not beat the flexibility.


Andrew wrote:
> And I'm not telling anyone about the program I have all ready to load ...

Ack! I am *so* behind the curve -- I haven't done one bit of preparation
(pardon the pun).

So, it looks like Andrew, Mike and I are the 3 geeks getting this batch of
PSIMs. Any day now, guys!
--
john

Andrew Scheidler (10:13 AM 2/18/2004) wrote:

 >And I'm glad it has the 9 pin port instead of USB.  USB is so _not_
 >geeky...  Anyone else gonna out there going be a REAL geek and use the
 >DOS version of the software???

I may... :) I've been a command line lover since 1976. :_


 >And I'm not telling anyone about the program I have all ready to load
 >once the PSIM is here!  Once it's all tweaked and perfect you're welcome
 >to it, but it may be my only chance to get an original program into soup
 >before all the smart people get all the glory ;)

hhahahaha!!!

I have to find some time to sit down and start working through Brice's port 
mapping and all. I've gone through a couple of the sequencer examples and 
I'm trying to get a handle on just how much clock time he's got hanging 
around to play with. :)

Hey Brice! Any thoughts on how much horsepower you got left? :)

I'm really looking forward to getting into this module. The downside is 
that all my gear is packed up waiting on a move. I may have to sneak a 
couple of things out to play with in a few weeks. :)

Mark

john mahoney (10:32 AM 2/18/2004) wrote:

 >I'll be surprised if Brice doesn't sell a truckload of these modules. For
 >the price of a "dumb" module or two, you can not beat the flexibility.

Honestly, I dunno... I think that there are certainly a number of DIY geeks 
out here that will be able to make a LOT of use of this module, but there's 
a magnitude more of folks that could make use of it - but have no technical 
prowess to handle a serial interface much less write code to do what they 
imagine in their head.

Maybe Brice is re-creating a sideline business for a lot of us... BASIC 
consulting. :) The last time I wrote BASIC for hire was in 1980!


Mark

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Mark Pulver" <mark@midiwall.com>
>
> Honestly, I dunno... I think that there are certainly a number of DIY
geeks
> out here that will be able to make a LOT of use of this module, but
there's
> a magnitude more of folks that could make use of it - but have no
technical
> prowess to handle a serial interface much less write code to do what they
> imagine in their head.

Many people won't need to write their own code, because the free software
library will keep growing. Or they can hire someone to write custom
software. (Future AH post: [WTB] Will trade a SynthCo VCX1 module for a PSIM
program that provides 2 LFOs, two 5-stage EGs, and MIDI Clock out, all
synch-able.)

I can see a use for a memory bank select board. Then you could load several
programs into the module and select between them with a switch. It would not
quite be a real-time changeover, but a stop/select/restart operation that
would change the personality of the PSIM.

The cost that keeps amazing me. There are "normal" modules that cost as much
as a PSIM, yet are dedicated to a single function. And we haven't even seen
the upcoming version of the processor, which has many more I/O ports.


> Maybe Brice is re-creating a sideline business for a lot of us... BASIC
> consulting. :) The last time I wrote BASIC for hire was in 1980!

That's funny! I actually still get paid for writing BASIC: VBScript for
websites.
--
john

I think there might be two levels of buyer - one that programs and 
one that doesn't.  Kinda like two levels of synth buyer: one that 
progams and one that uses presets.  The more 'preset' PSIM code 
available, the more attractive it could be.  But I'm notoriously bad 
at predicting the future: witness the fact that I'm not filthy rich 
from stock trading, for e.g.

The one geek element that might be a barrier to the non-geek crowd 
is the connection to the computer.  Some might look at that and run 
away screaming.  Too bad for them!  I lurk on AH and the recent 
tirades against computers seems pretty limiting to me.

One particularly intriguing aspect of the PSIM is the CV-to-MIDI 
conversion: how about syncing your MIDI gear to a Balcet BZ?  Or an 
MOTM-380?  Or a CGS Infinite Melody controlling my modded FatMan?  

Oops, sorry, I'm drooling again.  Damn.  SHorted tHE keYBoaD tHIs 
timE.

Mike

--- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pulver <mark@m...> wrote:
> john mahoney (10:32 AM 2/18/2004) wrote:
> 
>  >I'll be surprised if Brice doesn't sell a truckload of these 
modules. For
>  >the price of a "dumb" module or two, you can not beat the 
flexibility.
> 
> Honestly, I dunno... I think that there are certainly a number of 
DIY geeks 
> out here that will be able to make a LOT of use of this module, 
but there's 
> a magnitude more of folks that could make use of it - but have no 
technical 
> prowess to handle a serial interface much less write code to do 
what they 
> imagine in their head.
> 
> Maybe Brice is re-creating a sideline business for a lot of us... 
BASIC 

> consulting. :) The last time I wrote BASIC for hire was in 1980!
> 
> 
> Mark

Er, Blacet BZ...

--- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Marsh" <mmarsh@w...> 
wrote:
> I think there might be two levels of buyer - one that programs and 
> one that doesn't.  Kinda like two levels of synth buyer: one that 
> progams and one that uses presets.  The more 'preset' PSIM code 
> available, the more attractive it could be.  But I'm notoriously 
bad 
> at predicting the future: witness the fact that I'm not filthy 
rich 
> from stock trading, for e.g.
> 
> The one geek element that might be a barrier to the non-geek crowd 
> is the connection to the computer.  Some might look at that and 
run 
> away screaming.  Too bad for them!  I lurk on AH and the recent 
> tirades against computers seems pretty limiting to me.
> 
> One particularly intriguing aspect of the PSIM is the CV-to-MIDI 
> conversion: how about syncing your MIDI gear to a Balcet BZ?  Or 
an 
> MOTM-380?  Or a CGS Infinite Melody controlling my modded FatMan?  
> 
> Oops, sorry, I'm drooling again.  Damn.  SHorted tHE keYBoaD tHIs 
> timE.
> 
> Mike
> 
> --- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pulver <mark@m...> wrote:
> > john mahoney (10:32 AM 2/18/2004) wrote:
> > 
> >  >I'll be surprised if Brice doesn't sell a truckload of these 
> modules. For
> >  >the price of a "dumb" module or two, you can not beat the 
> flexibility.
> > 
> > Honestly, I dunno... I think that there are certainly a number 
of 
> DIY geeks 
> > out here that will be able to make a LOT of use of this module, 
> but there's 
> > a magnitude more of folks that could make use of it - but have 
no 
> technical 
> > prowess to handle a serial interface much less write code to do 
> what they 
> > imagine in their head.
> > 
> > Maybe Brice is re-creating a sideline business for a lot of 
us... 

> BASIC 
> > consulting. :) The last time I wrote BASIC for hire was in 1980!
> > 
> > 
> > Mark

I've been knocking myself out to try and build a phase locked 
loop without realtime or interrupt support. It is not working very 
well, but should be possible with up coming releases of the 
debugger.

> > One particularly intriguing aspect of the PSIM is the 
CV-to-MIDI 
> > conversion: how about syncing your MIDI gear to a Balcet 
BZ?  Or 
> an 
> > MOTM-380?  Or a CGS Infinite Melody controlling my modded 
FatMan?  
> >

Mike Marsh (08:06 PM 2/18/2004) wrote:

 >The one geek element that might be a barrier to the non-geek crowd
 >is the connection to the computer.  Some might look at that and run
 >away screaming.  Too bad for them!

This is kinda' where I'm thinking now as well.

John (and you) brought out that there will no doubt be a nice library built 
of code for the PSIM, but getting people to deal with a computer to make 
use of it could be an issue.

 From years of hanging out on the Waldorf list, I can say for a fact that 
there are people that would bring their machines to a friend's house or to 
the dealer to get a new OS downloaded via sysex. This was coming from 
either the folks didn't have MIDI in their studio, couldn't get it to work, 
or didn't even have a computer around.

Now take those folks and try walking them through rigging a serial 
interface on a Mac (even windows can be "fun")...

And maybe I missed it, but what program is used to feed code to the PSIM? 
Is this a simple terminal interface running Xmodem or?

That can open up a whole new can of worms... Walking someone through a 
terminal emulator! :)

No matter... I'll take the stance of "I'll be REALLY happy to have one, and 
will help out other folks as much as I can". But I hope that Brice will 
sell enough to make all his (and Grant's!) efforts worthwhile.


 >I lurk on AH and the recent
 >tirades against computers seems pretty limiting to me.

AH remains in it's cesspool stage... It used to be such a cool forum.


Mark

There's really great stuff on AH, and I always (OK nearly always) 
learn something from the daily digest.  I'm about sound, if not 
music (what did John Cage say?), and I'm not picky about where it 
comes from.  My instrument of choice, believe it or not, is my old 
Martin D-28.  Now THERE'S some analog timbre!

I really did not want to stir up any controversy - it's why I only 
lurk at AH!  Really I think the group here instinctively knows that 
it's about making music, and we're all just discussing how to do 
that.

Without computers we would not have Kyma (yikes!) or Encore's new 
Freq Shifter or even PSIM!  On the other hand, there ARE some really 
crappy soft synths out there, so ther you go.

Now this idea of a librarian of BASIC PSIM code on a handheld - 
WOW!  And I don't want to start another flame war, but I think I 
will attempt a version on my iPAQ.  In .Net even :)  I would also 
build it in PalmOS but my Visor died a year ago.

That is, whenever my PSIM arrives ... :)

Mike

--- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pulver <mark@m...> wrote:
> Mike Marsh (08:06 PM 2/18/2004) wrote:
> 
>  >The one geek element that might be a barrier to the non-geek 
crowd
>  >is the connection to the computer.  Some might look at that and 
run
>  >away screaming.  Too bad for them!
> 
> This is kinda' where I'm thinking now as well.
> 
> John (and you) brought out that there will no doubt be a nice 
library built 
> of code for the PSIM, but getting people to deal with a computer 
to make 
> use of it could be an issue.
> 
>  From years of hanging out on the Waldorf list, I can say for a 
fact that 
> there are people that would bring their machines to a friend's 
house or to 
> the dealer to get a new OS downloaded via sysex. This was coming 
from 
> either the folks didn't have MIDI in their studio, couldn't get it 
to work, 
> or didn't even have a computer around.
> 
> Now take those folks and try walking them through rigging a serial 
> interface on a Mac (even windows can be "fun")...
> 
> And maybe I missed it, but what program is used to feed code to 
the PSIM? 
> Is this a simple terminal interface running Xmodem or?
> 
> That can open up a whole new can of worms... Walking someone 
through a 
> terminal emulator! :)
> 
> No matter... I'll take the stance of "I'll be REALLY happy to have 
one, and 
> will help out other folks as much as I can". But I hope that Brice 
will 
> sell enough to make all his (and Grant's!) efforts worthwhile.
> 
> 
>  >I lurk on AH and the recent
>  >tirades against computers seems pretty limiting to me.
> 
> AH remains in it's cesspool stage... It used to be such a cool 
forum.

> 
> 
> Mark