[SPAM] FS: Korg Monotribe Midi Kits

[Altitude909]

* Update March 13

Now Ipad Midi Ready!!

3.5mm to 2.5mm cables are in stock!




So here is my no-solder, plug and play midi kit.

This consists of midi in and out on a surface mount PCB. Instead of midi jack, I am using 3.5mm TRS to DIN5 cables (Two 6ft cable with Rean/Neutrik metal midi connectors are included) since drilling 2 small holes anywhere is a lot easier that 2 huge ones. You can do these holes with a hand drill and a 6mm bit. The jacks will be the threaded with a knurled nut variety, the ones pictures are for a mod i am doing and there for reference only.

$40 + shipping ($7 US, $15 CA, $17 worldwide)

Ipad "midi" cables $10 a set. This is a 2.5mm (iRig) to 3.5mm cable that allows you to plug it into the ipad. This has been tested for the iRig Midi Kit (http://www.ikmultimedia.com/irigmidi/features/) Thanks to captaink for beta testing these..

Here is a very good write up about what the built in midi functionality in the montribe is capable of (and related quirks). I can only provide the hardware to interface with the serial header, I cannot change any of the firmware functionality

Gameboy Genius

Simple answer: You can sync the internal sequencer, play notes, and control all parameters the EG type as well as all parameters relating to the LFO section. It also transmits those very same things, so it could be used as a MIDI sync source, sequencer or limited control surface.

Details

Sync: It will both send and accept MIDI sync, start and stop messages, meaning the sequencer can be reset over MIDI, which can’t be done remotely if you’re only using the regular sync input.

Quirks/problems: When you’re using the miditribe as a MIDI slave and remove the sync clock, it will keep waiting for a MIDI clock indefinitely. You can fix this by either turning it off and on again, or plugging something in and out of the sync in jack, which will restore it to the internal sync clock.

Notes: It will send and receive notes within the limits of the sequencer. It’s using channel 1 for notes. Notes outside these limits will be ignored. It does not react to varying velocities. It does however react to pitch bend MIDI messages and is able to record and play back pitch bend in flux mode! I don’t have MIDI out hooked up at the moment, so I can’t confirm this right now, but I’m assuming it also transmits MIDI pitch bend messages when it plays notes in flux mode.

Quirks/problems: It has a stuck note issue when it doesn’t receive a note off message for a note. Let’s say you send a note on message for D4 and then a note on message for E4, and lastly a note off message for E4. This can happen in Renoise, for example. In this situation, D4 gets stuck, and a new D4 note is played as soon as you release all other keys. Sometimes multiple keys can get stuck, and you need to go through each key to depress each one.

Drums: It’s using the standard General MIDI specification for drums, which means the following notes on MIDI channel 10.


BD: Note number 36 / C1 Bass drum 1
SN: Note number 40 / E1 Snare drum 2/Electric snare
HH: Note number 42 / F#1 Closed hi-hat

Control change messages (CC): It can send and receive CC for all the knobs and switches marked green above. The parameters are mapped as follows:

LFO rate: CC number 16 - General purpose controller 1
LFO int: CC number 1 – Modulation wheel
EG shape: CC number 80 32=decay, 64=sustain, 96=attack - General purpose controller 5
LFO target: CC number 81 32=VCO, 64=VCO+VCF, 96=VCF - General purpose controller 6
LFO mode: CC number 82 32=Fast, 64=Slow, 96=1shot - General purpose controller 7
LFO wave: CC number 83 32=Saw, 64=Triangle, 96=Square - General purpose controller 8

Quirks/problems: It’s practically useless as a MIDI control surface because it is really slow at sending CC messages. If you wiggle one of the knobs a few times really fast for a few seconds, it will continue to transmit CC commands for several seconds.

I’ve noticed that when controlling the LFO rate/int. knobs remotely, the value will sometimes jump back to the value that the knob is at. I’m guessing that this happens because there’s a small fluctuation in the voltage that the microcontroller will pick up as a change in the value. If you only want to control these parameters over MIDI, you can minimize this effect by turning these knobs fully counter-clockwise.

[natefrogg]

wow i had no idea that so much could be controlled by midi in to the monotribe! i ordered 2 yesterday with the thought of slaving to an mpc click track, then i saw some midi mods which sounded like the sequencer would just listen to midi clock and that's it, the midi clock alone got me super excited which got me to bite and purchase, now i see this, you can control every parameter from a computer now! this is insane!

you mention slide being added on possibly at a later time with another daughterboard, that would be so rad if you can do it man! i'd probably slide so silky smooth between notes!

thank you for doing this, going to play with mine when they come and most likely order 2 of these, fricking awesome!

[Altitude909]

Just to be clear, I dont recall mentioning anything about slide or daughter-board.. Slide is already there with flex time. The midi stuff was programmed by Korg and only includes what is listed above.

[natefrogg]

oh...well maybe i completely misinterpreted this:

My new idea idea is to add another microcontroller (’duino anyone?) which replaces the sequencer, and also gives the possibility to do things like slide (emulated with pitch bend) or accent (emulated by adjusting the LFO rate/intensity). You could also add a second LFO and all sorts of things. With some extra software and wires, this thing could become truly useful as a standalone unit…

substitute daughterboard for microcontroller, i apologize for mis speaking about it, i wrongly assumed this would be done on a secondary board and not on the same board you are doing the midi i/o with...slide from midi in is what it sounded like you were talking about here too, a different kind of slide maybe is what you meant?

thanks again for doing this, and clarifying!

[Altitude909]

That was not me that made that comment. Its nice to dream like that but the reality of actually doing it without the full documentation is wishful thinking at best.

[cdog]

Looks great man! You are selling the cheapest MIDI-mod on the market. Check your PMs.

[criminallysmooth]

Altitude, what do you think is the likelyhood of a similar mod being possible on the "Monotron Duo," given that it's touch strip is has variable quantization similar to the Monotribe's?

[Altitude909]

Originally Posted by criminallysmooth

Altitude, what do you think is the likelyhood of a similar mod being possible on the "Monotron Duo," given that it's touch strip is has variable quantization similar to the Monotribe's?

I'd say none in the same manner as the monotribe. The midi kits I have seen for the monotron are full on midi to CV and gate deals since there is no hidden midi feature on those device or even a micro controller that I can find by looking at the pics of the PCB that would allow for it

[criminallysmooth]

Originally Posted by Altitude909

I'd say none in the same manner as the monotribe. The midi kits I have seen for the monotron are full on midi to CV and gate deals since there is no hidden midi feature on those device or even a micro controller that I can find by looking at the pics of the PCB that would allow for it

I'm talking specifically about the new Monotron Duo, not the original - it hasn't been released in the US (AFAIK) nor has Korg released schematics (AFAIK).

The original Monotron had an unquantized ribbon, whereas in the new "Duo" model the ribbon has variable quantization (with major/minor modes). The ribbon behavior is more like the monotribe which makes me suspect the PCB may be similar to the monotribe, allowing a similar MIDI mod.

Sorry for taking your sales thread off-topic, if its a problem feel free to use PMs.

[verve92]

Pardon my ignorance but is there ANY way to hook the 'tribe up to a MIDI keyboard controller? Or am i just dreaming?
Functionally what does this mod do? Don't fully understand MIDI- been focusing on programming synth the last few months.
I am finally understanding it, but not there yet.

[cresshead]

Originally Posted by verve92

Pardon my ignorance but is there ANY way to hook the 'tribe up to a MIDI keyboard controller? Or am i just dreaming?
Functionally what does this mod do? Don't fully understand MIDI- been focusing on programming synth the last few months.
I am finally understanding it, but not there yet.

yeh to be clear..if i plug in a midi keyboard can i play the monotribe from it?
or...do you have to "program" it using that text based pc app running on your laptop in that video?

cheers

steveg

[Altitude909]

Originally Posted by criminallysmooth

I'm talking specifically about the new Monotron Duo, not the original - it hasn't been released in the US (AFAIK) nor has Korg released schematics (AFAIK).

The original Monotron had an unquantized ribbon, whereas in the new "Duo" model the ribbon has variable quantization (with major/minor modes). The ribbon behavior is more like the monotribe which makes me suspect the PCB may be similar to the monotribe, allowing a similar MIDI mod.

Sorry for taking your sales thread off-topic, if its a problem feel free to use PMs.

I cant speculate on something that hasn't been released yet but I doubt they would use the same large micro controller thats in the monotribe

[Altitude909]

Originally Posted by verve92

Pardon my ignorance but is there ANY way to hook the 'tribe up to a MIDI keyboard controller? Or am i just dreaming?
Functionally what does this mod do? Don't fully understand MIDI- been focusing on programming synth the last few months.
I am finally understanding it, but not there yet.

Originally Posted by cresshead

yeh to be clear..if i plug in a midi keyboard can i play the monotribe from it?
or...do you have to "program" it using that text based pc app running on your laptop in that video?

cheers

steveg

Yes, that is the whole point. You can play the synth part with any keyboard controller and also trigger the drums that way as well. The sequencer in the demo is just to illustrate that you can play both the drums and synth part over midi which can come via keyboard, software sequencer, or whatever midi device you like.

[bluemanontelly]

payment sent, pm sent. looking forward to trying it out with midi

[Franc]

Originally Posted by Altitude909

Yes, that is the whole point. You can play the synth part with any keyboard controller and also trigger the drums that way as well. The sequencer in the demo is just to illustrate that you can play both the drums and synth part over midi which can come via keyboard, software sequencer, or whatever midi device you like.

Nice job. Very cool.

[Ausgeno]

Hi Altitude909, your mod kit looks fantastic, especially for someone like myself with no soldering skills.

How do I go about ordering one?

[bluemanontelly]

Originally Posted by Ausgeno

Hi Altitude909, your mod kit looks fantastic, especially for someone like myself with no soldering skills.

How do I go about ordering one?

Hi Ausgeno, I ordered one yesterday, just send him a PM and he'll send you the necessary info. He takes paypal.

I guess it's NYE so people are busy and whatnot, but I haven't heard confirmation of payment yet. Altitude909 said he is posting a batch today so I hope I am included - can you confirm this Altitude909? I'm excited about the possibilities this will open up for the monotribe, getting impatient already!

[bluemanontelly]

update: have been informed that the midi mod kit has now shipped. will let you know how it performs once it arrives

[Altitude909]

Sorry guys, my ambitious schedule to get these out today went a little off course. Everything is done but the sockets I had ordered are a hair too short and when you tighten the nut down and the jack does not seat all the way. They need to be changed to something longer. New jacks will be here Wednesday. Sorry for the delay..

[cresshead]

okay so i'll wait and see what namm and specifically KORG come out with in mid Jan 2012...if they don't have a monotribe type thing with midi...then i'll be gettig a monotribe an your midi kit!.....so go stock up on solder and chips!

[cdog]

Hey man if you get a minute can you post what the exterior looks like finished, if possible, and how long the cables are coming out? Thanks

[Ausgeno]

Thanks bluemanontelly, all sorted and ordered.

[Altitude909]

Originally Posted by cdog

Hey man if you get a minute can you post what the exterior looks like finished, if possible, and how long the cables are coming out? Thanks

Done and done.

The midi cables are 2m in length.

Please note the jacks on the harness shown here are the wrong ones, the correct ones will have the same look from the exterior as these though (they simply have a longer threaded section).

[Ausgeno]

That looks even better than I thought it would, very tidy!

[mijome07]

Great job Altitude. I noticed this on the other forum. I'll be ordering a kit soon. Thanks buddie.

[EN tha Wize Guy]

let me know when you have more in stock... ian datz on fb or ian.datz@me.com. does it come with the jacks to? is it pretty hard to get the drilled hole to look good. also what about attack decay etc mod for drums? and multiple outs?

[Altitude909]

Originally Posted by EN tha Wize Guy

let me know when you have more in stock..... does it come with the jacks to? is it pretty hard to get the drilled hole to look good. also what about attack decay etc mod for drums? and multiple outs?

I should have everything back in stock in 2 weeks. The kit comes with everything pictured so:

1x PCB
1x wiring harness with jacks
2x 6ft long custom midi to TRS cables

Drilling the case is simple, it is a hard cast aluminum that machines very easy. I did the two holes pictured above with a hand drill by marking the two spots with a punch to make a little indent for the drill to start, drilling through with a 1/8" drill and then finishing with a 1/4".

Also, do yourself a favor and edit your post to remove your email address (and PM your info). This is a public forum and that will surely get picked up by a spam spider..

[Altitude909]

Ok, im moving the schedule up and making new boards myself tomorrow night so i'll have them ready next week.

Sent from my X10i using Gearslutz.com

[mijome07]

Count me in.

[Altitude909]

Alright, more boards made (enough for a while)