Wednesday, May 30th

Over the past week, both the sequencer and synthesizer have made great strides. With the sequencer development on the hardware has begun. The next step is finishing the schematic for the board and printing the board. Along with development on the hardware, the software aspect of the sequencer continues to be tested to find bugs and loose ends. The biggest bug continues to be the hard sync between the arduino micro controller and Ableton Live. The synthesizer has also made great strides. The software has been developed to play Square, Saw, and Triangle waves so far with just the sine wave remaining.

Wednesday, May 23rd

The past week production and development have been slow. Along the way programming hit a few snags and a few bugs have been discovered. Among the good news these bugs were discovered through preliminary testing of the sequencer. Along with the sequencer production somewhat stalling the synthesizer has also stalled. The development of the code after forming the wavetables has hit a stand still.
Over the next week the goal, as week 10 approaches fast, is to get the wavetable synthesis coded and working. Along with that the next step for the sequencer so to save to the SD card. With both the synthesizer and sequencer preliminary testing will continue and begin for the synthesizer. Also the board will be produced and hardware will start being developed to get a more professional looking finish.

Week 7, Wednesday, May 16th

Over the past week the LCD has been programmed to display the notes playing in each sequence. Along with the LCD, the sequencer now has the capability to run 4 sequences simultaneously and has the ability to save and playback these sequences. While programming a few problems were experiences mainly with the buttons not working as originally programmed.
With the synthesizer the next goal is to program it to generate sine, square, triangle, and saw wave forms. So far the synthesizer has been programmed to create a tone based on a input value given by a pot. The next goals for the sequencer are building a permanent device instead of the bread board that is currently being used. Along with the permanent build another goal is the tempo challenge that has been an issue for several weeks. That problem has finally been solved, now it just needs to be programmed in.

Thursday, May 10th

Production on both the sequencer and the synthesizer have continued over the past week. All the parts ordered and needed to build have arrived and the first board will be created by the end of the week. The sequencer has progressed to being able to play chords along with single notes. Meanwhile the synthesizer has progressed to the point of playing a tone based on an analog input. Over the course of the next week a board will be created, the synthesizer will be programmed to put out sine, square, triangle, and saw waves. In regards to the sequencer, over the next week the hardware will be created. Along with this pages will be set up and the ability to control and sync tempo will be programmed.

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Full scale software development has begun on the sequencer portion of the project. Various aspects of the devices operation have been coded for and tested, such as generating and sending midi data to a respective DAW, constructing and playing through a sequence of notes based on potentiometer input, variable tempo and note length control and note velocity control. Videos of the device in operation have been posted.
In addition to basic functionality testing, additional peripherals such as the LCD display, surface mount components and SD card interface (for non-volatile storage of sequences) have been ordered. The first prototype circuit board is under construction and will be assembled upon receiving of the surface mount components.
As the sequencer as been developed more problems have arose. The biggest of which is a problem with the tempo of the notes being played. To combat this the plan is to create a function that stabilizes the tempo of the sequencer so that no matter how many processes the micro controller has done the tempo stays at the specified value.

Since last weeks lab the Teensy ++ micro controllers arrived in the mail as well as other parts such has potentiometers needed for the hardware aspect of the sequencer. Over the course of the week problems arose with the internal midi clock in Fl Studio. These problems resulted in switching to Ableton Live. With the above problems solved the next goal is to send a signal from the Teensy to Ableton to play a scale. Along with the programming preliminary hardware prototyping has already begun. Overall the project has progressed from week to week and doesn't show signs of slowing until the goal is reached.
     Over the next week the LCD, SD card reader, and multiplexers needed for the display will be ordered. Along with these parts being ordered, programming and hardware prototyping will continue as well as a finalized hardware design. For the moment problems needed to be solved include syncing to Ableton Live and Massive, and learning the code needed to program everything.

Week 3 Progress Report

With the parts ordered, the development stage of the sequencer is beginning to take place. Over the next several weeks, the software and the hardware of the sequencer will be developed. Parts have been ordered and research is being done as to why our sequencer may be better than others. This is shown in the table below.

	Axiom 61 Controller	Proposed Device	256 Monome
Price	$499.95	$120.00	$1400.00
On Board Storage	♪	♪	♪
User Friendliness*	X	♪	X
Parameter Control	♪	♪	♪
LCD Screen	♪	♪	X
LED for DAW feedback	♪	♪	♪
Pitch and Modulation Wheel	♪	X	X
Live Sample Cutting	X	X	♪
Drum Machine/Pad	♪	X	♪
Games	X	X	♪

*Based on installation, control layout, and mapping process

Welcome to our Blog on blogger.com. Our group is developing a 4 Channel, 16 Step Midi Sequencer with manual parameter control as our project for Engineering Lab 103 Section 021 Group 06. By developing this Midi sequencer we will be able to create and manipulate or own music in conjunction with digital audio workstations such as FL Studio or Ableton Live. Over the next ten weeks we will develop and program the hardware and software needed to make our project successful. Stay tuned for more posts on our recent developments and the happenings of our group.