Vibrating metronome with MIDI?

deHaan · 2013-12-17T09:21:19.000Z

Hey guys,

I got the idea that it would be very smart for me to have a vibrating metronome in my pocket when I’m doing my improvisation sets. I hate always having to start sequenced drums before being able to do live recordings on the grid, so it would be great “feeling” the pulse in my pocket even when no rhythmic sounds are to be heard

So far I could only find the Peterson Strobe Tuners BBS-1 which is kind of expensive and overkill. Does anyone know of similar products?

Cheers,
Nikolaj

nedavine · 2013-12-17T09:57:55.000Z

Why not just have a metronome in your cue? Only you’ll be able to hear it.

deHaan · 2013-12-17T10:13:44.000Z

Because I’m using my CUE outputs for sending to my Kaoss Pad

gbravetti · 2013-12-17T11:19:16.000Z

Can you briefly describe your setup?

Also DIY using Arduino would be very easy.

EDIT: sorry I forgot to ask, how much is your budget?
EDIT2: do you need it wireless? or wired is ok?

the_dreammer · 2013-12-17T14:48:29.000Z

Get a cheap Midi-CV convertor… and attach a little servo to the gate-out
put engine in box… and jam away

Cant garantee it would work… but it was the easiest way that popped in my head.

I do like the idea allot… good thinking… so yeah, if somebody could build an ardiuno
board that eats midi (and i do not mean the usb-midi) and drive a little servo that makes the box shake in time. the size of a sigaret case… dont mind cable… be great… awesome
handy

deHaan · 2013-12-17T14:58:37.000Z

Here’s a photo of my setup. MIDI goes like this:
MIDI keyboard-> Octatrack -> MPC -> Nord Lead -> Pitchfactor -> Kaoss Pad. The second out of the MPC goes to my MFB-502 drum machine.

So I think I am gonna need a MIDI Thru box for splitting the MIDI signal and sending clock to the metronome.

DIY sounds interesting, do you have any links to guide?

Wired is okay, and budget - as cheap as possible since I only need one basic function…

gbravetti · 2013-12-17T16:30:08.000Z

""the_dreammer"":

Get a cheap Midi-CV convertor… and attach a little servo to the gate-out
put engine in box… and jam away

Cant garantee it would work… but it was the easiest way that popped in my head.

I do like the idea allot… good thinking… so yeah, if somebody could build an ardiuno
board that eats midi (and i do not mean the usb-midi) and drive a little servo that makes the box shake in time. the size of a sigaret case… dont mind cable… be great… awesome
handy

This could works yes, but I think this (LINK) will be better than the servo.

deHaan · 2013-12-17T17:18:34.000Z

""gbravetti"":

This could works yes, but I think this (LINK) will be better than the servo.

That looks good. But then I would still need a MIDI to CV converter, right?

gbravetti · 2013-12-17T17:31:07.000Z

Yep.

Actually the DIY idea I was talking about is about creating a sort of MIDI to CV using an Arduino Board.

If I have to choose between buy something that is already made or DIY, I’ll go with the “buy it” choice. Even things that looks cheaper at the end could results more expensive and incredible time consuming till you get it working.

I don’t know how expensive are those MIDI to VC, anyway if you need the DIY option I can help you with that, I already build several MIDI appliances with Arduino boards, and just one of them did explode. (joke)

Just let me know.

EDIT: Just by curiosity, you need it to be by vibrations, or it could be audio also?

the_dreammer · 2013-12-17T18:14:45.000Z

""gbravetti"":

[quote=“the_dreammer”]Get a cheap Midi-CV convertor… and attach a little servo to the gate-out
put engine in box… and jam away

Cant garantee it would work… but it was the easiest way that popped in my head.

I do like the idea allot… good thinking… so yeah, if somebody could build an ardiuno
board that eats midi (and i do not mean the usb-midi) and drive a little servo that makes the box shake in time. the size of a sigaret case… dont mind cable… be great… awesome
handy

This could works yes, but I think this (LINK) will be better than the servo.[/quote]
Nice and yes… better then servo…

deHaan · 2013-12-17T19:25:04.000Z

""gbravetti"":

Yep.

Actually the DIY idea I was talking about is about creating a sort of MIDI to CV using an Arduino Board.

If I have to choose between buy something that is already made or DIY, I’ll go with the “buy it” choice. Even things that looks cheaper at the end could results more expensive and incredible time consuming till you get it working.

I don’t know how expensive are those MIDI to VC, anyway if you need the DIY option I can help you with that, I already build several MIDI appliances with Arduino boards, and just one of them did explode. (joke)

Just let me know.

EDIT: Just by curiosity, you need it to be by vibrations, or it could be audio also?

I just got an idea: I have some free audio outputs on my MPC 1000. Could it work if I had a rimshot playing on each quarter note and sent it to this “LilyPad Vibe Board”? Then I don’t need a converter at all…

Thanks for being very helpful! I need it to be vibrations - I hate having a click in my ears, I find it very distractive

the_dreammer · 2013-12-17T20:03:57.000Z

Not so sure that would work deHaan…

Line-level audio is alternating current… and this engine is direct current.
The other thing I worry about is voltage of line-level audio… which acording to wikipedia isnt near 5v … but somewhere around 1.7v if I understand it correctly
which is lower then the 2.5V that lilypad needed as minimum…

but ask smarter people. I am not an elektronical enginere… I am a thinker…
big difrence…

gbravetti · 2013-12-17T22:55:12.000Z

""the_dreammer"":

Not so sure that would work deHaan…

Line-level audio is alternating current… and this engine is direct current.
The other thing I worry about is voltage of line-level audio… which acording to wikipedia isnt near 5v … but somewhere around 1.7v if I understand it correctly
which is lower then the 2.5V that lilypad needed as minimum…

but ask smarter people. I am not an elektronical enginere… I am a thinker…
big difrence…

Agree

gbravetti · 2013-12-17T22:56:21.000Z

@deHaan
How much it cost the metronome you saw?

deHaan · 2013-12-18T00:14:03.000Z

It’s 115 €, so it wouldn’t be worn it to do the MIDI-CV thingy, since they cost almost the same I think…

Musikhaus Thomann

Peterson BBS-1

Metronome Body beat sync wireless synchronisation for multiple body beats, Plays Midi Tempo Map files, Synchronised click track, USB Compatible, Dimensions: 11 x 7 x 2.5 cm, Vibe clip (included)

EDIT: I just realized that it only takes MIDI over USB, so it won’t work for me actually.

But I found this app that actually can vibrate and runs with MIDI IN. I just hate using my phone for that stuff, and the vibrator is pretty loud. Hm, I think I will give it a try anyway

usa.yamaha.com

Metronome - Overview - Yamaha - United States

A feature packed Metronome app for every musician. Made by the world’s largest musical instrument manufacturer, built with all of the know-how that only Yamaha can provide. No matter what your level of musical ability you will find Yamaha’s Metronome...

gbravetti · 2013-12-18T13:46:16.000Z

Do you realize that you’ll need a MIDI interface for your iphone right?

They suggest the i-MX1, you have on the same line the iRig MIDI and the line6.

I was about to suggest you to use TouchOSC on iPhone, but I think that you can access the vibrate function just by using OSC, not by using plain MIDI.

Now returning to your original idea of using a sample to trigger the vibrator.

I think that you can use a positive only pulse sample. Then make a kind of amplifier to convert that pulse to a range/kind signal able to drive the vibrator. I think it could work, and I guess it will be cheap.

Then you can use different pulse lengths and you’ll get differentiated vibrations, so you can recognize the bar start, etc. (like morse code)

deHaan · 2013-12-18T14:52:05.000Z

""gbravetti"":

Do you realize that you’ll need a MIDI interface for your iphone right?

Now returning to your original idea of using a sample to trigger the vibrator.

I think that you can use a positive only pulse sample. Then make a kind of amplifier to convert that pulse to a range/kind signal able to drive the vibrator. I think it could work, and I guess it will be cheap.

Then you can use different pulse lengths and you’ll get differentiated vibrations, so you can recognize the bar start, etc. (like morse code)

Yep, I already have an iRign MIDI interface…
The positive pulse samples idea is good, and it would definitely be nice being able to change the length of the vibrations.
To you have a good idea for a simple and cheap amplifier that can amplify the line signal (around 1V as far as I know) to the 5V that the LilyPad needs?

gbravetti · 2013-12-18T20:25:02.000Z

""deHaan"":

[quote=“gbravetti”]Do you realize that you’ll need a MIDI interface for your iphone right?

Now returning to your original idea of using a sample to trigger the vibrator.

I think that you can use a positive only pulse sample. Then make a kind of amplifier to convert that pulse to a range/kind signal able to drive the vibrator. I think it could work, and I guess it will be cheap.

Then you can use different pulse lengths and you’ll get differentiated vibrations, so you can recognize the bar start, etc. (like morse code)

Yep, I already have an iRign MIDI interface…
The positive pulse samples idea is good, and it would definitely be nice being able to change the length of the vibrations.
To you have a good idea for a simple and cheap amplifier that can amplify the line signal (around 1V as far as I know) to the 5V that the LilyPad needs?[/quote]
Not me, but I already send a couple of emails, I’ll keep you posted.

deHaan · 2013-12-18T20:36:52.000Z

""gbravetti"":

Not me, but I already send a couple of emails, I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks a lot! I know almost nothing about electronics, but I know how to use a soldering iron, so maybe it’s time learning something

gbravetti · 2013-12-18T20:51:01.000Z

""deHaan"":

[quote=“gbravetti”]Not me, but I already send a couple of emails, I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks a lot! I know almost nothing about electronics, but I know how to use a soldering iron, so maybe it’s time learning something :)[/quote]
Indeed you should!
Ok, is supposed that this component will do the trick.
Is an OpAmp and it cost just 5 USD so it worth the trying.

As it says in the comments: “You’ll need to short out caps c5/c6 as those make this circuit a differentiator. In other works, it blocks very low freq signals including DC.”

I don’t have accesso to that piece so I can’t test for you. I live in Uruguay so it will take a wile till it gets home.

Try first with some cheap sound card or mp3 player just in case, and put a couple of diodes in between to avoid any problem, like burning your audio source.

And remember to be safe, always wear protective googles in case something explodes.