Category: General

  • Golf: 32-step, 12-track drum sequencer (VIDEO)

    The Golf firmware for the Groovesizer MB is now available – you can choose it as a firmware option when buying a Groovesizer MB, or download the firmware from the Golf’s page.

    Here’s a video with an overview of the features:

  • New hosting – less downtime (holding thumbs)

    My apologies if you found the groovesizer.com website down lately. I changed hosts to Arvixe less than two months ago – my other sites are happily hosted by Exabytes, but adding this website to my current hosting plan proved a bridge too far.

    I’d read good things about Arvixe, so I thought I’d give them a try. Unfortunately, I’ve suffered outages lasting more than 5 hours at least 3 times in my short time with them. I was on a shared hosting plan with Arvixe, but my Exabytes account is also a shared one with nowhere near the same amount of downtime. Support has been helpful and polite, but I’d rather not have to use support at all.

    I moved this site to a standard VPS hosting plan with Bluehost yesterday. It’s really hard to find solid unbiased reviews of web hosts, but at least Bluehost is recommended by WordPress.

    I’ve been worrying that someone has set aside time to build a kit, only to find the website and building instructions unavailable. Hopefully that won’t happen now.

    UPDATE:

    Arvixe support has been great again – my request for cancellation was treated very politely and a refund for my pre-paid hosting was made without a struggle. I hope my hosting experience with them was the exception, not the rule.

  • Coming soon: Groovesizer mk1 kits

    The original Groovesizer mk1 is still getting quite a bit of attention, so I’ve decided to offer it in kit form, too. I wanted to keep it simple and as close to the original as possible, but at the same time I couldn’t resist improving on some of the shortcomings of the first design. I’ve added two shift registers so that now there is an LED for each of the 16 steps – with some pins to spare broken out on an expansion header). I’ve also added a MIDI input alongside the output, so that it can be played as a standalone instrument, or synced to external devices.

    Some prototype boards are being fabbed as we speak. It should be a great beginners kit with a low parts count and price. Groovesizer mk1_pcb

  • Foxtrot Firmware now available

    I’ve just released the Foxtrot firmware and there’s a growing implementation chart on the Foxtrot’s firmware page. It’s a MIDI controller, but far from being a one-size-fits-all controller, it’s meant specifically as a clip and scene launcher for Ableton. (And yes, it does mean there are other MIDI controller firmware planned, too.) The firmware is designed to fit in perfectly with my Ableton workflow, but I fully expect users to go in and fiddle with the firmware code to make it ideal for their own setup.

  • Template Firmware

    We’ve uploaded a template to help you get started rolling your own firmware. You can download it from the Template page.

    Here’s a quick look at what the template does.

  • Front panel design

    For those of you curious as to what the front panel will look like, here’s the design. The gray background here will be black – it’s just so you can see the bend-lines of the eclosure.

    Nothing too fancy, or specific, since functionality will change depending on the firmware.Groovesizer - Silkscreen

     

    UPDATE

    The manufacturer is unable to do silkscreen printing within 3mm of a bend, so I’ve had to adjust the design somewhat. I chose to keep the circles around the pots in their altered form. It’s more as a design element – but someone may still have a practical use for it.

    Groovesizer - Silkscreen_updated2

  • Enclosure design – first look

    Here’s a first look at the completed design for a sheet-metal enclosure. Kudos to my brother who obviously spent a lot of time working on this. We’ve sent the design to a local manufacturer and are waiting for them to come back to us with a quote.GS Assy_Shtmtl 100813PM

    GS Assy_Shtmtl 100813PM_2UPDATE:

    The manufacturer suggested we simplify the design into two shells (top and bottom) only. I’m expecting an example in a week or so. The enclosures should be available early in November 2013.

    We’ll keep this design in case we ever want to do wooden end cheeks – classy!

    UPDATE 2 (2023-10-05):

    We’ve just received a sample enclosure from the manufacturer – it looks great! (Click to enlarge.)

    DSC00270

    DSC00272

    DSC00273DSC00274DSC00276

  • First Kit

    My friend Old Crow will be helping me demo the Groovesizer at this year’s Knobcon on September 13th & 14th.

    Not so much time left, so I packed a kit for OC post haste and sent it off. Here’s what the first kit looks like.

    first kit

  • Update: Hong Kong Mini Maker Faire

    I had a great time at the Hong Kong Mini Maker Faire on the weekend. I got some very valuable insights into explaining exactly what the Groovesizer is to passers-by. I also got great tips from a design and production perspective from some of the other makers. I’m very happy about the enthusiastic response I got from many quarters, especially from musicians.

    2013-08-17 14.50.42
    The Groovesizer table at the Hong Kong Mini Maker Faire

    My only regret is that I didn’t have time to explore all of the awesome other projects on display. But there’s always next year ;^)

  • Welcome

    The original Groovesizer on the breadboard
    The original Groovesizer on the breadboard

    Welcome to Groovesizer.com – this website is currently under construction, but will soon be home to everything related to the upcoming Groovesizer range of 8-bit DIY musical tools. Watch this space!

    If you’d like us to let you know when more information is available, please use the contact form below.

    [contact-form-7 id=”4″ title=”Contact form 1″]

    In the meantime, have a look at the original Groovesizer Arduino project and build one for yourself:
    Info & Schematics
    Manual (firmware v1.9)