Waiting is good. The KS is next week.
1 Like
Some things are beyond the control of the developer, but not delivering anything is still fhe responsibility of the developer.
It’s a tough balance, even otherwise shipping products can take forever in between the first backers and the last few.
1 Like
The Loog Piano is about to ship.
Got to say i am tempted by this. No frills keyboard with MIDI, but it also has the option for battery use with built in speakers or headphones and the one piano voice. And the price seems good to me.
( It is for both adults and kids. )
2 Likes
I don´t know, if it has already been mentioned here:
MyVolts has shown at Superbooth 24 their prototype of the Alchemist and the silent Alchemist - an isolated USB hub for hum free power. I think, that it´s a great device to get rid of ground loops and power your gear at home or anywhere else. Here is a link to the kickstarter campaign. 9 days left and they almost reached their goal.
1 Like
MIDINA: Two physical versions of a sequencer based on Rpi 5 and Arduino (teensy) with open source software:
16-Track Polyphonic Linear MIDI Sequencer. Record Pitch Bend, MIDI CCs, and Aftertouch!
Summary
Features
MIDINA is made of 128 Songs.
Each Song contains up to 16 Blocks in the Block Order.
Each Block contains 16 Tracks.
Each Block has its own Lifetime and BPM. Block Lifetime can be from 16-2048 Steps.
Each Track has its own Lifetime, unique per Block. Track Lifetime can be 4-2048 Steps.
When a block lifetime expires, the song automatically advances to the next block. You can toggle “Loop” On/Off to stay looping within any given block. You can manually jump between any blocks in the block order at any time. Each block can have up to 48 program change messages assigned. If there are program changes assigned to a block, they will be sent out to the assigned channels when the block is selected. Program changes won’t be sent more than once if you are working in Loop mode.
Each track has its own lifetime, which is the measure of recording length and loop length for the track sequencer. Each track can be anywhere from 4-2048 steps, unique in each block. Each track has 16 program change Favorites that can be applied. Each track also has 8 CC macros that can be applied.
Songs, Blocks, and Tracks, Favorites, and CCs can all be easily renamed with an on-screen keyboard for custom labels.
There is a Live Record mode that records all Note data, but allows expressive modulated data to pass without being recorded. You can toggle on “MOD” and record all Pitch Bend data, Aftertouch, and MIDI CCs. You can quickly jump between armed tracks, or enable Multi-Arming and you can arm all 16 simultaneously. You can clear just the note data by hitting “Clear Track”, and you can clear just the MOD data but pressing “Clear Mod”.
The sequencer supports pagination up to 2048 steps, and has a few modes of input.
The first is POLY mode. In POLY mode, whatever step you are on will write any incoming notes to the current step while it is active. To change active step, simply press one of the 16 buttons on the current page. You can also send MIDI CCs to sequence control change data. Note data and CC data are represented by different colored steps.
The second is PERC mode. In PERC mode, the sequencer remembers the last note that was received. Then, any step you press will automatically get that note assigned. In PERC mode, pressing a step which already has a note assigned will remove the note. This allows you to create rapid percussive changes while also controlling notes along the way.
The third is Live mode. This is a traditional live input recording. Playback your notes or modulations in real time and see them recorded into the sequencer.
The eight knobs that are attached to the touch-screen act both as controls for the MIDINA application, as well as assignable CC knobs for each track. The knobs will automatically update their labels and values based on the application state. You can toggle between being in “operation” or “CC” state by pressing the hot button “CCs”. Assigning CCs to the knobs is simple - in the popup just press the knob you want to assign, and then select the CC value you want, and done. It automatically saves your assignments so the next time you power up, they’re still assigned to that track. Each track has 128 CC assignments, broken in to 16 pages of 8.
On the home screen for MIDINA you will see the current song title at the top of the screen. The current Measure:Beat:Bar value are printed in the center rotating indicators, and below these values is the relative position of the current track. Further down is the message bar which displays incoming midi data and important application messages. Below the message bar are the primary transport controls and sequencer toggle. On the sides are the knob indicators and labels. To the right of the center is the Block Order, which is a scrollable list of up to 16 Blocks, each displaying name, BPM, and Length. The 16 track toggles, labels, and mute-switches are below. You can mute or unmute tracks by toggling on/off the yellow mute strip of each track. Buttons for block operations are to the right of the Block Order. Sequencer buttons and track buttons are to the left, with three hot buttons for ARP, CCs, and Favorites.
There is an Arpeggiator that can be triggered at any time.
There is a “Key” and “Scale” assignment which are adjustable on the home screen. By default you will be in the Key of C and the Scale of Chromatic, so all 12 musical notes are considered valid. You can change the key and scale to adjust the playback of notes from MIDINA to be locked into a mode. Currently support the 7 standard modes with plans to add more.
MIDINA makes no sound. It is a box dedicated to recording and sequencing MIDI.
https://www.funkycoldmachines.com/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/midina/midina-expressive-linear-midi-sequencer
I have no connection to the project, just found it interesting.
2 Likes
The Donner MEDO looks about ready to ship.
They have a video scheduled for it in a week, July 25th, and there has been plenty of activity on it recently on KS, only visible to backers.
What is it exactly? Is it their take on the Artiphon Orba?
1 Like
I got mine, I am happy. Keys feel nice, speakers are good. Only bad thing is you need a pitch pedal, otherwise it’s fun to carry around and play anywhere I want.
1 Like
A new MIDI controller focused on macros. Could be a very powerful tool in the right hands. Not in mine though, since my hands aren’t full of cash.
1 Like
Also Mircorack is launching this week, an affordable open source modular format.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/microrack/microrack-affordable-and-compact-modular-synthesizer
1 Like
Man I wish this thing had a midi-out port, even if it was TRS.
Having to bring in a usb host box to use this in an all-hardware situation , is a pain
1 Like
The Dato DRUM is coming to KS soon.
I had fun with the Dato Duo, sadly my (adult) friends that had fun with it in Berlin weren’t interested in playing when I bought one back home.
Great toy for kids though!
Similar marketing challenge for Playtime Engineering – Blipblox and myTRACKS ( thread ). They did the After Dark version and have promoted their myTRACKS for young and old. BTW their recent KS for the myTRACKS went well and they are on schedule to ship in November.
1 Like
Just throwing this out there out of interest and curiosity. Why do people start crowdfunding instead of finding someone to back them? It looks like for a Kickstarter they don’t even need millions of dollars. The world is full of venture capitalists dropping billions like it’s nothing. I am curious why they haven’t tapped into music gear yet?
Because vulture capitalists don’t want products. They want the Emperor’s New Clothes, selling dreams (not products.)
It’s why they’re on AI drek after Metaverse after Tokenomics after Blockchain
4 Likes
Also they ( almost always ) want eventual controlling interest in the company. Crowdfunding almost never takes ownership stakes. The innovator keeps corporate ownership. It’s a better deal for them that way.
6 Likes
I was rooting for America’s speed bicyclist during the Olympics (who ended up winning the Gold), then was conflicted about how I felt because they announced she was a former Venture Capitalist. I’ll ever forgive them for killing Toys R Us.
I do really appreciate the ideas of Crowdfonding, but feel that at times it can really under deliver more times than the opposite. I get it though. Lots of people are doing it for the first time and have no idea of all the variables involved, and often times don’t give a long enough time span for delivery of product, and I’ve lost count of the amount of popular crowd funds that ended up taking 1, 2 years to deliver, and in a few cases even longer. It’s a tough road to travel, and I imagine extremely stressful.
2 Likes
The two funding methods can cross, and have frequently.
And then there are the industrious souls who start up with neither.
There are other sources of assistance as well, and it doesn’t have to be monetary.
1 Like