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From: michael@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Michael Williams)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Electronic MIDI Controllers
Message-ID: <649@organpipe.UUCP>
Date: 8 Dec 90 00:26:33 GMT
References: <1990Dec5.124200.1833@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> <1990005@hpldsla.sid.hp.com>
Sender: news@organpipe.UUCP
Reply-To: michael@synapse.Colorado.EDU (Michael Williams)
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Lines: 35

>> on making a controller driven by MIDI information?  I am
>> personally interested in controlling lights via my musical
>> sequencing, but really anything electronic could be controlled.
>
>I guess it's just another  microcontroller kind of project.  You
>need a uP (nothing in MIDI can be done without one), a MIDI port

Ouch! Nothing in MIDI without a uP?  Wow!  I just recently built a
MIDI project using nothing more fancy than a UART.  Happened to be
a MIDI light controller ! :-)   Funny thing, eh?

I know its easy to do things WITH microprocessors, but whatever happened
to Karnaugh maps, etc.  (not that I really like them).   With a little
thought about what MIDI sends (ie MSB=1 for system commands, such as
NOTE ON), and a little logic design, one can take the words coming from
the UART and process through to the final stages of registers driving
your relays. 

I have built to versions of this: 
(1) lights controlled by key #, the most useful
(2) lights controlled by velocity of a particular key.  very specific
    to drum machines with limited # of keys.

Good luck!  
Michael


*******************************************************************************
Michael Williams
Internet: michael@synapse.nsma.arizona.edu 
"I need someone who'll gimme a dollar!" - Users of the Wicked Gravity.
*******************************************************************************
Michael Williams
Internet: michael@synapse.nsma.arizona.edu 
"I need someone who'll gimme a dollar!" - Users of the Wicked Gravity.