Saturday, 1 August 2020

Saigon Central Post Office

This post office is situated in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, near Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica,
the city's cathedral.

The building was constructed between 1836 & 1891 when Vietnam was part of French Indochina.

It's often said this was designed by Gustav Eiffel ... which is incorrect.
I guess, this is due to it's steel frame construction.
It was designed by Alfred Foulhou.


In Vietnamese: Bưu điện Trung tâm Sài Gòn, French: Poste centrale de Saïgon)





tHERE are two painted maps that were created just after the post office was built, The first one located on the left side of the building is a map of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia titled Lignes telegraphiques du Sud Vietnam et Cambodge 1892 which translates to "Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892". The second map of greater Saigon is titled Saigon et ses environs 1892 that translates as "Saigon and its surroundings 1892". (Wikipedia)





The ceiling of the Post Office








tHIS man is the official translator for the post office.
His other jod is as s a "letter writer" to help those who cannot write and read fill out forms.


 He has been translating letters and writing for over half a century.








 Notre-Dame Basilica, 
the city's cathedral. 



Lunch with two of my mates.



For more travel postcards click here:

Thursday, 30 July 2020

Roland TR-8 Drum machine - MIDI trigger - Arturia Keystep Pro

 Some experiments triggering the Roland TR 8 Drum machine with an Arturia Keystep Pro
These basic notes should still work with most midi sequencers.

I re installed the factory settings of the Key step pro to firmware ver 2.01
Without changing any midi settings the TR8 & Keystep worked fine.
 
 

 The TR-8's default MIDI channel is 10

The Keystep's drum sequencer default midi channel is also 10

There are 11 sounds on the TR-8
1. C2    : Bass Drum      (35,36)* 
2. C#2    : Rim Shot             (37)*
3. D2    : Snare Drum 1       (38,40)*
4. D#2    : Handclap - HC        (39)*
5. F#2    : Hi Hat Closed - CH     (42)*
6. G2    : Low Tom              (43)**
7. A#2   : Hi Hat Open -OH -     (46)*
8. B2    : Mid Tom               (47) *
9. C#3    : Crash Cymbal            (49)*
10. D3    : Hi Tom                   (50)**
11. D#3    : Ride Cymbal   (RC)   (51)*


If you use the custom drum map assignments in Arturia's  MIDI Control Centre you should be able
to trigger all the instruments of the Roland Tr-8

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The Roland TR-08
has a very similar MIDI implimentation

It's MIDI notes are:

1. C2    : Bass Drum      (35,36)*
2. C#2    : Rim Shot             (37)*
3. D2    : Snare Drum       (38,40)
4. D#2    : Handclap - HC        (39)*
5. F#2    : Hi Hat Closed - CH     (42,44)*
6. G2    : Low Tom              (43)*
7. A#2   : Hi Hat Open -OH -     (46)*
8. B2    : Mid Tom               (47)*
9. C#3    : Cymbal            (49)*
10. D3    : Hi Tom                   (50)*
11. G#3    : cow bell (56) 
12:             High Conga (62)
13:             Mid Conga (63)
14:             LOW Conga (64)
15:              Maracas (70)
16:             Claves (75)

Thursday, 16 July 2020

Midi2CV - Hexinverter - build pics

This is an old set of PCBs i had in storage.


It's a midi to CV converter module from Hexinverter.
This looks ideal ... sadly discontinued.

It's called the ACX synth
 Designed by Alan Coupel
8HP - size
There is no panel, so I'll need to make my own.


4 channel CV/Gate


There  are 3 PCBs... two logic boards & one controller board.

I'm not affiliated with Hexinverter. These are my personal build notes to help with troubleshooting






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Board 2






Alternatives for midi 2 cv modules are plenty .
Yarns from Mutable Instruments is a logical choice.
I think 4 CV/Gates are ideal.



tHE PIC microcontroller










Width:8HP| Depth:55mmApproximate current draw@ 12V:+80mA, -15mACV output range:0 to 10VGate/Trig outputs:0 to 5V


Links
+ Hexinverter Midi2CV
+ Hexinverter BOM
+ Microcontroller Index Page
+ Midimplant
+ Midisizer

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For more Euro DIY builds click here:
http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/diy-index.html
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