Wednesday, 27 October 2021

Korg Wavestate 2.0 updating firmware using a windows 10 PC

 The latest korg update for the wavestate synth is incredible and well worth doing.
Being able to see a graphical representation of whats happening under the hood of the synth makes understanding wave sequencing so much easier.

Initially I had a few problems updating to 2.0
All the videos I watched used a mac. But I'm PC based.
It took a few hours to work it out, so I thought I'd write this down before I forget the details.
 
The korg download page is here:
 

 
 
There are 3 downloads which you need:
The updater, the editor/librarian,and the sample builder.

Download all 3 but don't install the editor or librarian till you have updated the firmware of your Wavestate.

My Wavestate before the update was firmware 1.0.4.

In order to update I needed to 
A. Change the firmware to 1.0.6.
B. Swap network drivers
C. Then update the wavestate to 2.0.1
D. Swap drivers again
This was what I was initially confused about.
 
So you need to swap drivers for your PC's network adapter twice.
Once for the update to firmware 1.0.6, then again for 2.0.1
 
 
Before you do anything, find out what firmware your Wavestate is running.
Go to utilities, then press shift and the page + button.
.... scroll to the very last page.
Press UTILITY twice, and then hold SHIFT and press > (PAGE +)

On this utilities section you can see the method of  communication that your synth is currently using.
Is it just  MIDI over USB or network over USB?
Anything prior to 1.0.6 uses MIDI over USB.


If this page is named only MIDI, and the "USB Network" parameter does not appear, you will need to
 update to software 1.0.6 before proceeding

The earlier firmware talks to your computer via USB midi
The new firmware also talks via the same USB cable, but uses a network protocol.
Thats why you need to swap the drivers for your network adapter.
 
Networking uses the NCM protocol (for MacOS and Windows 10)
I needed to install the CDC NCN driver first. 
Once you have done this, you can then update to frmware1.0.6

Then the Usb Ncn driver. 
 
------------------------------
Method
 Part1
To change the drivers plug the wavestate into the computer and then go to the device manager.

RNDIS configuration: Windows 10
  1. Locate the RNDIS Driver that has a yellow triangular caution sign. It should be located under Other devices.
  2. Right-click on that driver listing & select Update Driver.
  3. Choose Browse My Computer For Drivers, then Let Me Pick From A List Of Available Drivers.
  4. Select Network Adapters from the list and click Next.
    • The list will take a moment to populate.
  5. From the list of manufacturers on the left, select Microsoft.
  6. Then, from the list of drivers on the right, select USB RNDIS adapter.
  7. Launch the wavestate Updater app.
 Part 2
 
 Update the firmware to 2.0
     Do this with the wavestate Updater app.
     connect the wavestate to your computer, launch the wavestate Updater app, then press Start
     Once the device reboots, the firmware update is complete. 
 

Part 3
NCM configuration: Windows 10
 Hopefully, your wavestate is now running firmware 2.0
Check using the Utilities menu.
NCM is only supported with wavestate software version 2.0 or later. 
If you are still running 1.0.6, you’ll need to use RNDIS for the update, and then switch to NCM after the update is complete. 

1. Plug in the USB cable from the wavestate

 
 

 
2. . On the wavestate, make sure that the USB Network parameter is set to NCM.
 
3. Open the Device Manager.

 
 4. Confirm that a new device named “CDC NCM” is present under the “Other devices” heading. 
 
5. Right click on the new NCM device and select “Update driver.” 
 

 
6. Click “Browse my computer for driver software.” 
7. Click “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.” 
 
 

 
8. If necessary, select “Network Adapter” for the device type and click “Next.” Otherwise, skip to the next step.
 9. Select “Microsoft” for the Manufacturer. 
10. Select “UsbNcm Host Device” for the Model and click “Next.” A warning may appear: “Installing this device is not recommended.” If so, press “Yes” to continue. Wait for the process to complete, and close the window when done

 



now that  the USB network is set up, you can run the Updater itself.
reboot.
Connect the synth via a USB cable
Run the updater app again
Press Start to begin the update.
 



Tuesday, 26 October 2021

Abelton - recording automation

 I always forget little things in Abelton.
Recording automation into things like filter envelopes is really useful.
 




Just hit record & the envelop button at th top.
While its running, move anything you want automated.













Here I'm using the overdrive plugin.
Its a excellent plugin.
 

 

Wednesday, 20 October 2021

Teenage Engineering PC - Computer 1- Mini-ITX

 This looks very cool.
 
 
The Mini-ITX platform is very new.
It has a very small footprint and can be perfect for BYOPC events
Not really sure if these parts will fit into the case but its a rough idea of 
the total cost of the build 
 
 
The case -                                                     $195USD 
 
CPU - AMD Ryzen 5     5600X                     $350
 
Motherboard  - ASUS ROG STRIX B550-i  $229
I think the best motherboards are gamer ones
 

 
 
Corsair Hydro iCUE H100i elete                     $120
This is the Liquid CPU cooler 

Western Digital WD Black SN850 -                 $379
This is the SSD - 1TB
 
CORSAIR Vengenance RGB Pro SL 32GB     $160 USD
This is your RAM
 
Power - Cooler Master V850 SFX                   $250 
Corsair

ASUS Phoenix GeForce GTX 1650 OC, 4GB        $400 USD
graphics card - graphics processing unit -  gpu
I think any graphics card with 2GB of vram should be more
 than enough for Ableton.


Sunday, 17 October 2021

NLC - Primal HyperChaos - Build notes - part 1

These are my build notes for the nonlinear circuits Primal Hyperchaos module.
Its a Eurorack format.


It's a chaos module of course.

easy to build.
all common parts



You can run it at different speeds by installing different caps.
100nF to 1uF will work. 
All 4 caps should be the same value and must be voltage rated for 25V or more
fast = 100nF
medium speed = 1uF
Slow = 10uf
super slow 20uF

If you wish to blend the different caps 
in order to change speeds build the Hyperchaos Deluxe.

There are 5 CV outs and one gate output.
It needs just one input.


Charles Addams was an American artist and cartoonist known for his darkly humorous and macabre characters. He signed his cartoons under the pen name Chas Addams. 
He created the fictional family The Addams Family.
 

 
Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.



 
 
 
 
More NLC words of wisdom

Primal chaos is the original reality ..... or not
 
I'm not sure where this quote originates .
 
Primal Chaos was sometimes said to be the true foundation of reality, particularly by philosophers such as Heraclitus.
 
Chaos, (Greek: “Abyss”) is discussed in early Greek cosmology 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ICs, diodes, etc
LL4148 diodes 6 Mouser 512-LL4148 
TL074 3 SOIC Tayda A-1137 
S1JL or similar 2 Mouser 821-S1JL, dot=cathode
 
  
This is the rear of the sole PCB

 
Resistors next
 


Caps
Using 100nf .. so should be fast.

to be continued...

Part 2 is here:

Links
+ BOM
+ Video 1 -- 1uF cap to 10uF

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can find more NLC builds here.
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Wednesday, 13 October 2021

Watson Beat - AI for music

  IBM has released the Watson Beat code to the public on GitHub .
This Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool is designed to compose music.
 
 
 There are two main ingredients to prepare to create your song with The Watson Beat. 
 
First, you need a midi file with a simple melody. 
 
 The second ingredient is the ini file.
You can find out more here:
 
 

Special note on running on Windows : you will also need to install cygwin as environment to run the code on. All development/testing of this code was done in *nix systems, and there is something different about the Windows shell so you need a *nix bash script emulator (which is what cygwin is).

 

Monday, 11 October 2021

Elk Electroniks - next meeting

 NSW is opening up again.
Hopefully this time for good.

Vaccination levels are nearly 80% .... hopefully they will reach 90% and over.

Looking forward to the next synth meeting in November at Elk Elektroniks in Wollongong


See you all there.


Saturday 20th November, 2-6pm.

$10 at the door

Sunday, 10 October 2021

Moog Mother 32 - sequencer - Step Mode - slides, glides, racheting , rolls, etc

For both of these features we need to use the glide control knob.
Also check out the 8 LEDs. These will light up when you are playing a sequence.
LED 6 indicates a ratchet. 
LED 5 indicates a glide
 
 
For both slides & ratchets, enter STEP mode if you are editing
an existing pattern.
Press SHIFT + STEP

------------------------------------------

Repeats, rolls, ratcheting
 These are multiple repeats that occur on specific steps.
 
1. Enter Step mode
     SHIFT + STEP
 
2. Press SHIFT + Turn the glide knob.
   The 8 LEDs will indicate the number of repeats on the step 

 ------------------------------------
 
Slides, glides, ties, slurs.
Glides allow you to tie notes together and slur between them.
this needs 3 things.
1. Starting note needs to be set to max duration 
   ie 8 LEDs

2.  the end note needs a min duration
    ie 1 LED
 
3. we now need to program the last note to be a Glide using the glide knob.
    a, turn the glide knob fully anti clockwise to let the seq know that glide is off.
    b, turn the knob clockwise till the 8 LED row shows 1 LED lit.
        This tells the seq that there is a glide on that note.
 
4. Play the sequence.
    initally, you wont hear any slides.
   Turn the glide knob during the performance to initiate slides

 
note:
steps 1 & 2 are how you program ties.
  That is, how you tie two notes together.
Step 3 is how you add a slur to the tie to make a glide.
'
--------------------------------------------------------------


Remember to SAVE your CHANGES.


1.Press SHIFT + Record (1 second ... the LED indicating the memory slots blinks yellow)

2. Press SHIFT + Record