How to Select JV-2080 Banks and Patches From MPC

I once owned a Roland JV-1010 sound module. I bought it in 1999 to go along with my FP-9 Stage Piano (which I still use in my home studio). I really loved the sounds on the JV-1010, so last year, I decided I wanted to start using those sounds again. However, the price of the JV-1010 was really close to the price of the JV-2080, so I just got that instead.

July 17, 2024

How to Fix Paused Printer on Mac

I’ve been having difficulty getting my Mac connected to a wireless printer. No matter how I configured it, it would always enter paused mode whenever I printed a document. It turns out that all I had to do was connect to it via IP address on the Add Printer dialog. To get the IP address, first attach to the printer using AirPrint. Then, you can look at the printer’s webpage and get the IP address from there.

April 30, 2024

Music Setup Part 3

I’ve written a few posts on my musical instrument setup. I’ve learned that it isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. There are so many variables that it makes it hard to land on any one configuration. Currently, I am making my setup focused on the hardware, not the computer. However, I have the computer connected to a Scarlett 2i2, which is connected to my 18i8 audio interface that’s connected directly to the MPC.

April 19, 2024

Music Hardware Setup Pt. 2

After working with the setup from my previous post, I ran into issues with the dawless abilities. I’ve created a new setup that involves keeping the computer in the loop, so I can add VSTs and other benefits. I decided to connect the Scarlett 18i8 to the computer so I can still have sound coming from the computer. I then plugged the Mixer and MPC into it so I could record in my DAW.

April 18, 2024

Bridging the DAWless gap with Ableton Link

I have been working diligently to find the perfect hardware setup that will allow me to just sit down and jam out, recording the “performance” in case something good comes out of it. My “eureka” moment was when I was sitting there with two separate clocks running thinking, “How do I synchronize all of this and make it all work together?” That’s when I remembered that the MPC and Bitwig Studio both support Ableton Link.

March 23, 2024

Lunetta 1

About seven or eight years ago, I started down a path to create my own synthesizer using discrete electronic parts like CMOS chips, resistors, capacitors, and the like. Early on, I discovered the “Lunetta” synthesizer, made from 40106 CMOS chips. By hooking them up a certain way, you can achieve a square wave. This was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I got distracted by more capable machines like the Arduino and various FPGAs along the way, so my adventures were short-lived.

December 24, 2023

Using Xmodem to Transfer Files to Retro Computer

My retro computer is an SC126 designed by Stephen C. Cousins. It has two serial ports. I am using 1 serial port to interface with my retro amber monitor. That leaves the second one open to use as a way to transfer programs and data from my laptop to the retro computer. The port circled in orange is the primary serial port. I have mine plugged into the amber terminal. The one outlined in blue is used to communicate with the PC.

December 17, 2023

VGA on an FPGA

I have been working with my FPGA boards to attempt to display a test pattern on a VGA monitor. For my experiments, I bought a small VGA monitor*. It has a VGA input, as well as a HDMI input, so I can use it with all of my FPGAs, since the Zybo only has HDMI ports. Hardware I am using my Mercury 2 with the Mercury baseboard attachment, as it has a VGA port on it.

December 17, 2023

SAP-1 on FPGA Ep. 2 - Simple Seven Segment

In my previous post about the SAP-1, I discussed using the LEDs on my Nexys 7 to display the results of any data that I want to produce. I mentioned that the 8 digit 7-segment display was above my head. This post is an attempt to make sense of it and get it working as best I can. I’m going to start by simply wiring up the output ports for the Seven Segment display to the top level circuit.

December 13, 2023

SAP-1 on FPGA - Ep. 1

In an effort to better understand computer fundamentals, I have been studying the binary language of 0’s and 1’s. I’m trying to connect the dots between my knowledge of programming languages like C#, C, and the acutal code as it’s executed on the computer hardware. This led me to the discovery of a great series of videos on making an 8-bit computer on a breadboard by Ben Eater. If you haven’t seen this series of videos and you have an interest in computer hardware, you should definitely check them out.