DIY looper/sampler

[ZipSnipe]

Hello all, A brief explanation on what got me started down this path.

I have been on a mission for the past couple of years, I got my studio set up exactly the way i want it. But I wanted a portable set up(been in the closet too long time to get out) , with small battery powered synths and samplers. I was going to get a sp404(I have two sp808's) but I got an iPad instead, I thought that it would replace the SP's but sadly it did not. While there are many many kool apps , they all seem to fall short in one area or another.

Then I said man I see these modular guys building synths, someone has had have built a sampler. Found loads of diy samplers.

Then wala !!! The Rasberry Pi, I discounted this little micro computer years ago when it first came out, really didn't know what all the hoopla was about. Then I came across SunVox http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/ , this a great software that you can test out for free on your windows or mac and best of all it runs on Rasberry Pi . And so begins my path to the diy looper/sampler/synth all based on the Sun Vox engine which will be totally upgradeable running on the RasberryPi3 platform.With 7 inch capacitive touchscreen and 4x4 button matrix. I have ordered all the necessary parts and they should all be in by mid next week.

Best of all I will document the entire process , oh by the way total cost $130

So stay tuned and heres a lil mock up I did in Paint

[ellaguru]

cool!
have you got a site to see it?

[ZipSnipe]

No but I will post YouTube link , as I will film the entire build except for the research I have done which is plain un filmable. I am still researching many details.
Such as getting the pads to play a different loop per pad when you press it. Which means digging into SunVox.
Adding knobs which means digging into Rasberrypi code.

And if you haven't checked out Sunvox please do, I almost brushed it aside because it don't look polished but man it has some nice sounds and features

[THEGREAT]

nice . looking forward to seeing it in action

[ZipSnipe]

Yeah me too, the Pi arrives tomorrow, so I will get the touch screen hooked up first.

I have been messing around in SunVox, it does have its quirks and I am wondering about using it as the main sound engine. I am teaching my self coding by watching all these YouTube tutorials, I might even have to write my own program, in fact I am almost sure of it. Basically I want to imitate the workings of the SP series samplers with the functionality of an Akai Live

[ellaguru]

what about the converters? this is an important thing for the final sound...

[THEGREAT]

^ ah yes . very good point
i was considerring developing a production tool myself . but do not have a clue about how to go about it . sourcing parts and circuitry.

you could probably set off a chain reaction. and maybe even see an unexpected career path . qudos Sir

[ZipSnipe]

what about the converters? this is an important thing for the final sound...

Yep DAC is in there

[ZipSnipe]

Stuff is arriving,as you can see the Adafruit 4x4 pad is kinda small, I figure this will just give me more room for knobs

The yellow board is the dac

[Kegeratorz]

This looks like fun, I love shit like this. Good luck and keep posting!

[THEGREAT]

yes!

[ZipSnipe]

slight delay , waiting on proper power supply and micro sd card class 10. I had a 5v 2.1 amp adapter but it powered up but no os loading, so the specs call for 5v 2.5 amp which is on order and I ordered a micro class 10 card while I was at it. Well try again tomorrow after they arrive.

I also stopped at the surplus store and found the perfect enclosure 6x11x 1/2 inches ,scsi tape drive, gutted it, have useable power supply(not for the sampler but some other project down the road.) all for $11 bucks.

[ZipSnipe]

Just a mock up with case

case.jpg (211.09 KiB) Viewed 15238 times

Also got the Raspberry pi up and running, was not easy. First problem was I was trying to start it up with the touch screen and it wouldn't boot up. Switched to my son's pc monitor and wala , we have life. Loaded all the driver stuff(this is done by typing commands in a prompt so no easy graphical interface like we have in windows or mac)

Anyway got the touchscreen working however it is noooo iPad. In fact its about useless. So now I need to rethink the touchscreen idea, I will continue to research and see if there is code out there to give it more iPad responsiveness but if I can't find the code, I might just switch to a smaller non touch screen lcd just to have display.

Oh and then not to mention the hour and half I just wasted trying to get a pop up keyboard(like most tablets have) and you still have to use the command prompt to activate it, which means you need a mouse and keyboard to type in the command....wtf? Maybe I did something wrong I don't know or maybe I just assumed that it would pop up like most tablet soft keyboards do. ummm maybe I need to leave it up in the back ground, I don't know.....more to come

[THEGREAT]

that's looks sick Brof!

[ZipSnipe]

Thanx GREAT

Well the good news is, I have the Raspberry up and running, the screen works,the DAC works I now have sound andI got SunVox installed.

Bad news , I am stuck on the 4x4 button pad and I am currently awaiting some help at the Adafruit forums. This project is not for the faint of heart. I will have to teach my self coding to get it working right. The problem with most of the tutorials I have watched is they assume you know certain stuff so as you watch they blaze right over my head .