I converted an unrepairable vintage 1940s radio into a Raspberry Pi Pico-based preset drum machine and modded a Radio Shack "Electronicv Reverb Control" to have knobs for extended delay time and feedback, as well as switches for wet-only signal and muting the input.

The Radio Rhythm Ace (as I've dubbed it) has its four knobs replaced by encoders which allow to control (from left to right) volume, tempo, pattern and sound set. The encoders' buttons control play/stop, output (speaker/line out), pattern variation and mute (of Kick and Snare).

This is my first completely unrehearsed one-take jam with both machines - I was planning on running the delay output through a phaser pedal, but forgot to turn it on.

In the second half I'm playing a bassline (quite badly) on my Korg MS-10, with a couple of notes on my Sequential Circuits Six Trak. The coordination of all those machines overwhelmed me a bit, but I still kind of like the result for a first try.

Here's a slight update to my MIDI synced PT-2399 delay from https://diode.zone/w/9Xe4J655RLJfx9uWtyrZLh

I replaced the Arduino Uno with a Nano and added an OLED display and one more potentiometer. After a bit of code fiddling the display now shows the (approximate) MIDI clock tempo, as well as the first and second beat of each bar (the latter was a bit of an unintentional accident).

Using the new pot I can now choose different echo intervals - triplets, dotted and whole notes. (For the video I removed the dotted notes as these didn't really work with the tripletty demo track)

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My second Teensy experiment, as well as a first test drive of a cheap DSP Effects unit from AliExpress. Plus a quick jam to showcase both in context. As my voice is very quiet and hard to understand at times I recommend turning on subtitles.

00:00 Intro and effects showcase of the DSP FX unit

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Gear Used:

Moog Werkstatt-01: the arpeggiated synth line

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Setup:

The JP-8000's serial MIDI out goes into the Teensy, which has the Arturia Beatstep connected to its MIDI host port (which also powers it).

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Background:

As I had an unused Teensy 3.6 (which can act as a USB host device) in my drawer I cobbled together a serial MIDI to USB MIDI host interface. Sadly I couldn't get the SQ-1 to receive any MIDI commands, despite it being enumerated correctly by the Teensy.

To troubleshoot (and as the next best thing) I instead connected my Arturia Beatstep (which also only has USB MIDI in) to the Teensy, which works perfectly as a serial to USB host converter.

So while I still can't send arpeggios to my MS-10 DAWlessly, I can now at least do so with my Moog Werkstatt!

So far I haven't done anything fancy to it - I simply hooked up some jack sockets and a power supply. It works great, but the effects are 100% wet, so the reverb and delay effects need to be used as send effects, rather than as inserts.

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Resources:

There is some interesting projects online (especially by the excellent Juanito Moore) that add wet/dry pots to the FX unit, as well as feedback and CV control for the delay time, which I might attempt some time in the near future. For now here's a few useful links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3db1TwfEk

Just a little DAWless Tech/House/Trance live jam to test out my new homemade delay (cardboard) box, featuring Elektron Model:Samples, Behringer TD-3 & RD-6 and Korg MS-10.

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The low tom trigger out on my RD-6 is connected to the gate in on my MS-10 for the staccato bass in the second main section.

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The project is just a mashup of several tutorials I found online:

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I'll try and get some build instructions written up in the near future if there is interest...

A live jam to test out my new RD-6 turned into this odd reinterpretation of Mr Oizo's Flat Beat. The transposed Bassline was a bit of a lucky accident, as my MS-10 was tuned too high at the time to reach the lowest note, but it turned out to work really well with the stab I had sampled from my JP-8000, so I kept it.

Gear used:

After several months in bits I have finally got my studio wired up again. In the process I dug out my old Tama Techstar TAM500 module, a mid-80's drum synth to be used with an electronic drum kit.

While I still have a few drum pads in storage, I thought it'd be fun to try using the two trigger outputs on my Behringer RD-6 with its Tom channels. The Tama's audio output then goes into the Korg NTS-1 for some flanger, delay and reverb treatment.

The other thing I hadn't really played with enough was using the Korg SQ-1 as a MIDI interface for the MS-10. As I still haven't quite worked out how to control the SQ-1 with my Teensy USB Host to Serial bridge I ended up using my DAW to play a MIDI arpeggio (in addition to recording the whole jam).

The MS-10 goes into my "100 Kinds Effects DSP Digital Reverb Module DC 5V Karaoke Reverberation Mixer Effect Board" I got from AliExpress for some stereo delay.

As my DAW controls the MIDI clock this time I have the Elektron Model:Samples (which provides the 909-style drums, bass and stab sample) synced to it. Its MIDI out then goes into the RD-6, which goes into the TD-3, which goes into my PT2399-based delay unit (both its audio output as well as MIDI through for syncing).

Everything goes into a separate channel on my DAW, but apart from a couple of cuts to shorten the jam and to fix one of the breakdowns, some level adjustments and overall compression everything is live and untreated. This was my biggest handicap as I only had one hand spare while filming with the other, so I had quite a few practice runs to get things as tight as I could.

I hope you enjoy the jam as much as I did making it!

In part 3 of the DIY Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI to CV converter project I've added another two CV outputs (giving a total of 4) and four sliders via an MCP3008 8-channel 10-bit ADC. The sliders control attack, decay, sustain and release of an envelope generator which I have hooked up to the Werkstatt's filter cutoff CV input (via CV output 3 on the Pico). This allows me to have independent envelopes for the VCA and VCF and really opens up the sonic potential of the synth.

00:00 Demo of a few envelope settings and second CV output.

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Gear Used:

Raspberry Pi Pico with 2 MCP4725 DACs and separate slider and MIDI interface boards

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The Elektron Model:Samples is set up to sequence MIDI notes on track 6. These are sent via DIN MIDI to the Pico, which generates a gate signal and pitch voltage for the Moog Werkstatt-01 on CV 1.

The analogue readings from sliders 1,2 and 4 are translated to attack, decay and release time and slider 3 to sustain level of the envelope generator and sent out to the Moog Werkstatt via CV 3 (CV 2 and 4 aren't populated in this demo).

Finally, the output of the Werkstatt goes to a Korg NTS-1 for a bit of reverb and delay.

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More info, code and schematics can be found here:

This time the Raspberry Pi Pico simply acts as a MIDI clock synced arpeggiator for the Moog Werkstatt. The star of the show however is the Yamaha RX11 Digital Rhythm Programmer, which I bought used almost exactly 35 years ago (and which spent the last couple of decades accompanying my dad with his guitar).

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Gear Used:

Yamaha RX11 Digital Rhythm Programmer

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The Set Up:

The Yamaha RX11 drum machine is running in song mode and sends MIDI clock to the Behringer TD-3 and to the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Additionally, the TD-3 is connected to my laptop via USB and receives pattern changes via the excellent TD-3 Patcher by Amit Talwar. You can find it at https://www.amitszone.com/products/td-3-patcher/

The Pico is running a simple arpeggio synced to MIDI clock into the Werkstatt's VCO and gate inputs. Its fader board allows to control the ADSR envelope of the Werkstatt's VCA and VCF simultaneously.

For effects, the Werkstatt's output runs into the Korg NTS-1 running a flanger and stereo delay, the TD-3 is connected to my PT2399-based delay and the RX11's clap goes into the Korg Monotron for additional PT2399 delay goodness.

A festive take on J.S. Bach's Air on a G String on a Moog Werkstatt-01, Korg MS-10 and Behringer TD-3.

The Werkstatt is triggered by an Arturia Beatstep and goes through a Melos tape echo and my DSP Fx unit.

The MS-10 is triggered by the Korg SQ-1 and has dry output.

The TD-3 is controlled directly via USB and its output runs through my PT2399 delay unit.

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Gear Used:

Moog Werkstatt-01

In part 2 of the DIY Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI to CV converter project I've added a second CV output, a distance sensor as a modulation source and a Neopixel ring to visualise its output. This allows me to control the LFO rate of the Moog Werkstatt-01 through hand gestures.

00:00 Demo of the distance sensor and second CV output.

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Gear Used:

Raspberry Pi Pico with 2 MCP4725 DACs, Sharp distance sensor, Neopixel ring and MIDI interface

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The Elektron Model:Samples is set up to send out MIDI notes on track 6. These are sent via DIN MIDI to the Pico, which generates a gate signal and pitch voltage for the Moog Werkstatt-01 on CV1.

The distance sensor’s analogue output is visualised by the Neopixel ring as well as sent to CV2, which is connected to the Werkstatt’s LFO FM input to control the speed of the LFO which is modulating the cutoff frequency of the bassline.

Finally, the output of the Werkstatt goes to a Korg Monotron Delay, which is used to further filter the bassline and to add delay to it.

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More info, code and schematics can be found here: