I’m nearing a version of the firmware that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to ship with the first kits. Luckily, easy over-the-web firmware updates means things are not set in stone, and I plan to be very responsive to bug reports and feature suggestions from the user community.
With the per-voice features now just about done, I made a video to walk through the current capabilities.
With most of the parts now in our hands, we’ve started packing kits and doing the SMD soldering of the ESP32 microcontrollers.
Fifty ESP32s soldered, fifty tested and working A-OK! Next, the neopixel sticks on the other side of the PCB.
In addition to applying final touches to the V1 firmware, we’re making things official by registering a business entity here in Taiwan dedicated to all things Groovesizer. The official company name needs to be in Chinese and we’re happy to report that we’ll be operating as MoShang Music Technology locally, and Groovesizer abroad.
Parts for the first 50 kits are continuing to arrive and we are hard at work packing kits. To allow for a few more stragglers, we’ve adjusted out expected launch date to May 1st.
Microcontrollers, battery holders, audio modules and more!
In the meantime we’ve added complete build instructions. Head on over to https://groovesizer.com/build-it-mynah/ to see if you’re up for the challenge of soldering your own Mynah.
It’s been a long haul (I guess around 18 months?), but LyraVR is finally available on Steam Early Access. Here’s the full press release:
LyraVR Beta Enables Artists to Pioneer VR Music
Steam Early Access Release Key features
TAIPEI, Taiwan – LyraVR’s radical reimagining of how we create, perform and share music is now available to anyone with an interest in music, virtual reality (VR) or cutting-edge artistic expression – and an HTC Vive.
The March 22 Steam Early Access release of LyraVR, winner of the 2015 Leap Motion 3D Jam, is now available from the LyraVR Steam page for US$9.99. This HTC Vive port adds a medley of new features, including a nine-pad drum controller, an 88-key keyboard, an audio effects library and the ability to import and display audio via an innovative system for rendering audio waveforms in virtual reality.
Users will appreciate the addition of Group Node editing actions that offer greater organizational control over their work, the option to customize the tempo and speed of each musical note, not to mention a suite of loops provided by Loopmasters. The release also features spatial audio with detachable VR “ears” that users can drag around their composition to alter the audio perspective, or keep fixed for a more controlled listening experience. Expect further releases of extra downloadable content as LyraVR grows and evolves as a platform.
Built from the ground up for VR, LyraVR is a music creation platform that offers everyone from the casual user to the most ardent musician the chance to create and enjoy incredible music sequences in full room-scale VR. Users can add unprecedented sculptural elements to their composition by hand-placing musical notes in VR and activating them via HTC Vive controllers that act as drumstick-like mallets. What’s more, they can share their original creations with collaborators, friends and fans, in the process helping to shape and advance a completely new arena of musical expression.
Other features new to this release include:
The LyraVR Beta is available now from the Lyra VR Steam page for US$9.99. Please visit http://store.steampowered.com/app/572630 to find out more.
Quotes
“We see this as being like the VR version of GarageBand,” said LyraVR Co-Founder and CEO Dilun Ho. “Anyone who is into music and or VR should give this a go. The only way is to put on a headset and experience it.”
“This is a chance to totally rethink the way we make music. Early adopters will be joining us on the adventure,” said LyraVR designer and 3D artist Ian Stead.
“More than 25 years worth of experience—first with PC-based, MIDI-only sequencers, and then DAW software and soft synths as those became available—led to Lyra VR,” said programming and audio lead Jean Marais, who has a history of creating sequencers and synths for the Arduino platform.
For further information, including videos and team bios, please visit the Press Kit section at lyravr.com.
Please email hello@lyravr.com to arrange interviews with the LyraVR team.
LyraVR is a product of LyraVr, Inc., a US-registered, Taiwan-based company that is backed by the HTC Vive X accelerator program.
My friend Old Crow’s Crowminius synth is now live on Kickstarter. Based on the Minimoog model D, this thing is a monster!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1312542133/crowminius-desktop-analog-music-synthesizer
A grad student in electronic engineering from Istanbul, Turkey shared these shots of his graduation project – based on the TB2.
Here’s what he wrote:
Looking at the last product that I made, it really has similarities with yours upon hardware and software design. I also really can say that I appreciate your design. I used a 16×4 LCD and I put some additional buttons. I left a gap in the upper right corner for a future sd card module. My design became actually a little bigger because I only had a chance of one layer pcb design:)
Very cool! (Click the pictures to enlarge)
Got a mention on a recent DIY synth megthread on Reddit. Time to try out their new comment embed feature:
Yay! My appplication to show off the Groovesizers at the Eurpean edition of the Maker Faire has been accepted. I’ll be in
Rome for the event from October 3-5, 2014. If you’re in the area, do come say hi!
I’ll be starting this Coursera course today. I’m not sure that it will be of direct benefit for programming Groovesizers, but there’s bound to be a bunch of things worth knowing in there.
I’m not quite ready to go into details yet, but here’s what ‘s currently on the breadboard.
This time I’ve asked my friend Old Crow to design the PCB. It’ll involve quite a bit of SMT components, so it’ll probably not be a DIY project.
I intend to take the new machine to Indiegogo to take pre-orders for the first batch. We’re still some months off though.
