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Hi - sorry I don't know anything about the ALC850 audio codec chip - never used them. Regards, Mike.

@@mikerainbow thx and have a good time !

Hi - any version of the 18F452 and 16F1825 will work - I use the dil versions for ease of use but you could just as easily use the smd types if you are happy using them.

I truthfully have no idea. I have a basic understanding of electronics. How do you program the chip? Is there a way I can buy the electronic components from you, programed and ready to go?

Hi - I'm ok, thanks for asking. Just lost another son recently so not in the mood for doing projects at the moment.

@mikerainbow that's terrible I've just lost my only friend I had and it really realty hurts .I'm autistic and dyslexic and my friend was bipolar and always very poorly but we suffered similar health issues worked together 20 years and spent a lot of time together. I saw your videos because I was looking for something for myself but something to remember my friend by .both of us are hopeless at most things but we both had an imagination creativity like no other person it seemed.me and Kevin could never play a guitar and tbh never will my brains concentrate level is 5 minutes unless it's a painting .now I've always wanted something I could play make a noise music affects rock dance doesn't matter just wanted something with buttons to press but involves electronis .so hard to explain until I saw your work ! You know when you find something you have been looking for but didn't know what it was until you saw it ? A musical instrument buttons no strings but it's a guitar shape and something anyone even me can enjoy something I won't be judged for playing badly .I also love creative people and look upto them .now I feel your pain and don't want myself to talk to anyone because they can't feel what I feel ATM or understand but when you can I would like you to help me .I want an instrument like you have made .my thing is painting so would paint it in memory of my friend and use it think of him as I know he would love it .take your time but you are needed not just by me but even here people watch and it improves people lives Paul god bless x

Hi Seven - thanks very much for your comments and info on Mr Tanner - very interesting! Good luck with your build. MIke

Thanks for watching!

Thanks!

Hi - these are still the only reasonably priced modules and you can't connect usb directly to these boards - would have to do it through a usb compatible PIC or an arduino nano/uno etc.

@@mikerainbow hi thanks, you mentioned sam2195, do they have better sound quality, and are they still general midi?.

The sam2195/2695 have much better instrument sounds and are GM but I encourage you to do your own research - there is loads of info on line. @@100roberthenry

Thanks - have fun.

Hi - unfortunately Hubert Bollig who wrote the code for the main Hammond tone generator section hasn't released the source code for the PROP micro.

@@mikerainbow Ok Thanks so much for responding. Did you ever upload the GCB Code?

Have just uploaded the gcb code for the controller.@@GospelMusicians

@@mikerainbow Blessings to you and your family buddy...Thanks so much!

This is exactly what I did as shown at 7.45 on part one of this video - I used a PIC18F452 to convert the analog voltages from the sliders and pots to MIDI messages.

The VS1053 accepts all standard MIDI messages sent to it from another device such as a MIDI keyboard or PC.To select any of the 128 instruments you have to send an instrument change message and instrument number. You will have to read up on MIDI messages and how to send them.

Hi - sorry, I'm not sure I understand your question - what files are you talking about?

audio file @@mikerainbow

These VS1053 modules can stream mp3 and wav audio files from an sd card and the number depends on the size of the sd card. I haven't tried this so don't know much about it. I have only used the modules for accessing the on-board midi instruments. @@rathannaik1220

Ok thanks for your kind information 😌😌

Hi, if you send me contact info I can send you the original code written in Great Cow Basic.

@@mikerainbow Could you maybe post it next to the other files on the google drive folder?

Have just uploaded the GCB code.@@LithiumGrim

Hi Pablo, thanks for watching - I think it would be possible to build a tone generator to do what you want but the tone generator part of this project was designed by Hubert Bollig and it would need access to his code to do this. He hasn't, as yet, made his code available.

Thank you.

Thanks - comments like yours make it all worthwhile.

Thanks very much.

haha - I don't know if that's a good enough reason but thanks anyway.

Hi - sorry, I haven't looked into playing mp3 files on this chip, so don't know much about it except what is available in the data sheet.

@mikerainbow thank you so much for you

@mikerainbow can tell me any library use it #include "any.h"

Hi - thanks very much for the nice comments. No plans at the moment for a drum kit but will keep it in mind.

Hi, thanks for the nice comments. I've been working on just such a project because as you rightly say, there is no reasonably priced solution. I've been developing a program using the ESP32 module which is very cheap and very powerful. Lots of projects on YT using this device and even a sampling midi project but it is quite complicated and difficult to implement. So I will publish my project when finished, which, hopefully, will be cheap, effective and simple to build.

@@mikerainbow Excellent work sir, thanks for your reply, I look forward to seeing any future projects you have on this subject. 🍻

Hi - thanks for watching. I suppose there would be a number of mods and extras you could do but I'll leave that to other experimenters to try. Mike

Many thanks.

Thanks very much.

Hi, unfortunately Hubert Bollig has not released the source code for the Prop programme which does all the hard work generating the B3 sounds. The controller code is pretty straight forward and written in GCB (Great Cow Basic) which I haven't uploaded yet.

@user-od4jk6zc2y Wrote: Hi, I haven't given up on the dream yet. Something occurred to me that might help (I don't know, I'm not a programming expert): was there an error when I imported the source code directly from the HEX file I used on my PC (HxD_HEX)? Hi Paulo - sorry, I haven't forgotten about your problem - my Pickit 3 has just stopped working and I can't afford a new one so I am building a programmer from scratch. I knocked up the midi controller circuit on breadboard to check the hex code that is on the download site but haven't been able to do so yet.

@@mikerainbow Amen! Thank you, Mike! I looked forward to an answer from you. But that's okay, I know that we will get make it. As I said, I'm not an expert, but if I can help in some way, let me know it.

@@PauloAfonsoPereiradaSilva Hi Paulo, I have got my programmer working and have checked the code and it works perfectly. Also there are no errors in the schematic. I have updated the hex code slightly by removing the midi test on switch-on which plays a 'C' chord but other than that everything is as it was and works (updated link above) so you have to look for a problem elsewhere - either with your circuit or with your programming. You should have no problem programming directly with the imported hex file.

@@mikerainbow Thank you very much, Mike. I am grateful to you for your effort in solving my problem. I will again review everything. If I succeed in this, I will let you know.

Many thanks.

Thanks for the kind comments.

@@mikerainbow very welcome Mike. Glad to have stumbled across your channel.

Hi Ray - thanks for your interest in this project - I'll do my best to answer all your queries - 1) Because the strings are touch sensitive and there are a lot going to the PIC, the spacing is critical and if the circuit you've built has no faults (well done by the way!) the likely cause is that tracks or wires are too close to each other or other parts of the circuit and the "strings" may be permanently triggered. 2) When you get to "Save" you must then press one of the up/down keys and "Save" changes to "Done" briefly and next time you switch on the saved settings should appear. 3) The boot-up display you are seeing is correct - the video was showing an earlier version of the LCD program - and finally 4) S1 is the lowest note and S18 is the highest. Hope this helps, Mike

Mike, Sensitivity was the issue, all strings operate OK. Still have a couple of issues though, the first is the action to SAVE is not the same as you described. Using SELECT combined with UP or DOWN do not save. I have found using UP and DOWN together work so have added a further button named SAVE, it feeds 5v via 2 isolation diodes in parallel to the UP / DOWN S. SAVE does not change to DONE at all, instead the screen goes blank blue, touching SELECT again restores the screen back with the selection number flashing. The selection has been saved as next switch on proves. So, apart from being different it is satisfactory, Now the main issue is I cannot achieve any audio from the VS 1053 module, I have thoroughly checked the changes described and all is well. MIDI data is present at VS pin 26 when selection parameters are changed and strings played. I suspect I may have a faulty item and have ordered a new one, delivery will be a few weeks away. Thanks for advice. Ray in Tasmania AUS.

@@thesecretary6433 Ray, the overall string sensitivity, as you know, can be changed by changing the "S" value in the menu but you can change individual string sensitivity by altering the value of the 100k trigger resistors - higher value gives greater sensitivity etc. There seems to be some strange things happening with the save command - can't think what at the moment and good luck with the VS1053 module. Regards, Mike.

Mike, Now here is a peculiar thing that has me baffled regarding the VS module. I made a direct TTL connection and it worked from the Easy Harp pc but not via the opto coupler. In both cases the data on pin 26 switched to 0V from the static 3.25 v, the rise and decay times looked the same, it looked identical! As I had bread boarded the set up to try it out I had included the 220R in the send line of the MIDI signal but had not included the 220R in the return path from the cathode of the diode back to 5V, the diode was connected directly to the 5 V rail as was pin 2 of the opto. Fitting the 220R in that path allowed the opto circuit to trigger the VS. No differences can be seen in voltage or waveform at pin 26 with any of these variations yet the omission of that resistor stops operation. I do not have any MIDI system or connectivity experience so there may be a simple explanation but considering the final controlling data appears the same it has me perplexed. Any ideas or explanation? Anyway I am pleased with the performance and will now start on the hard part building the body. Thanks for a great project. Ray

@@thesecretary6433 The two 220ohm resistors are essential - one from the 5v rail to pin 4 of the midi out socket and one from pin 4 of the midi in socket to pin 2 of the opto-coupler - this limits the current to the opto-coupler LED to around 8.4mA (opto LED has 1.3v forward voltage drop so 3.7v/440ohm=8.4mA) - so leaving either of these out relies solely on the 220ohm res to pin 5 of midi out skt for current limiting and this res can actually be omitted (some standard midi circuits leave it out) provided the other two are still in circuit. The opto LED would have been working at higher current and brightness but may have still been working - not ideal - I think it's rated at 20mA. Glad everything's working now though. Mike

Hi, I gather from your description that you are trying to connect to some music or sound program on your PC? The project has a standard MIDI DIN to Din connection to be plugged into a MIDI sound module or music keyboard with a DIN MIDI input socket - these devices need no software. The output is on MIDI channel 1 (of possible 1 to 16) which is actually channel 0 (0 to 15). When connecting to a software program on a PC it is a little more difficult because the DIN plug output has to connect to a USB input on the PC via a suitable MIDI/USB interface and the PC will recognise the interface and then any MIDI device connected to the interface should work OK. Can you tell me exactly what your setup is?

@@mikerainbow Thank you for answering. You are great! I was really trying some music program installed on the PC, through midi/usb interface (Prelude). I tried several programs and could not configure. But I also tried to mount the midi module on the sheld_mp3 (your video) and I was unsuccessful, due to the delicate soldering to be done on the tiny IC. Finally, to avoid a music program, I built a midi_in/out module that I saw on the internet, from the arduino UNO, and I successfully recorded the test code, but not even that one worked. As for your midi module (which I made in the shape of a guitar), I think the electrical assembly was perfect, since I was able to record the code directly, via pickit_3/icsp, successfully. But the guitar doesn't turn on. Just turn on the power led and the midi led blinks twice. Anyway, I still don't know what went wrong.

@@PauloAfonsoPereiradaSilva The blinking midi monitor led indicates that midi messages are being sent - does the midi led blink when you push a chord button or when you touch a string sensor with a chord selected - this will indicate the area of the problem. and where to look next.

@@mikerainbow Thank you, very much. Well, the led-midi does not blink when pressing keys 2 and 4, but it blinks in the others keys. I must then search in this area. The source code I have imported as is. So I supose it is ok. Thank you and sorry for my questions, but your information is very valuable for this simple hobbyist. I will check, Mike.

@@PauloAfonsoPereiradaSilva That's no problem - I am going to knock up the original circuit on breadboard and check it with the hex code from the link above just to make sure there are no problems - I will let you know the results. Does the midi led blink when you press button 1 and then touch a string sensor?

Hi, sorry I'm retired now and just do these vids for a bit of fun. My hope is that people find them interesting and get some inspiration to build stuff of their own - but thanks for your interest.

Hi, using a PIC to produce MIDI messages to control an external drum sound generator would be fairly straight forward but to produce MIDI drum messages AND drum sounds is a little more complicated. There is a huge variety of PICS in different sizes, clock speeds, peripherals and, importantly in this case, memory (program memory and ram). You would need to store drum sounds in memory and this requires quite a bit. Also it depends on what quality of audio you want in the way of sample rate, sample bit size etc. So you can achieve some success with lower-end PICS but a 32 bit device with more memory is probably the way to go.

Thank you very much for responding...so what do I need to program a PIC chip

@@shepsss2002 For the PIC's I have used in this project you need a pickit 2 or 3 usb programmer or something similar and MPLAB IDE or MPLAB X IDE programming software which Microchip make available free of charge to download and use - but if you are starting from scratch with no or little knowledge of microcontrollers then you would need to learn a bit more about them. There are loads of good tutorial vids on YT that will help you.

Hi - thanks for your interest - no, I'm retired now and just design these things for fun, hoping others can get some fun out of the projects as well.

Hi Jeffrey, thanks very much - so glad you liked it.

@@mikerainbow just wanted to add: I commented in the first five minutes of the video and kept more and more excited as it went on. Some of the best content I’ve seen and I can’t believe it’s all current. You’re an admirable creator lol. And I just watched your autoharp video which was awesome too. I’ve wanted to build a univibe since the first time I heard one so again thank you.

@@majordabalert Thanks for your kind words - let me know how you progress if you get around to building it.

@@mikerainbow absolutely. Don’t hold your breathe though, I’m starting with fuzz faces and boosts since I’m just a beginner in electronics

Thanks very much for your kind comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the project.

Hi there - thanks for your interest in the project. The microcontrollers I've used are made by Microchip and there is loads of info on line in PIC forums and on the Microchip website. At the very least you would have to learn about programming PIC's with one of the in-circuit programmers that are readily available on ebay etc (PICKIT2, PICKIT3, K150 or something similar). There is enough information in the video to build the project but a level of prior knowledge is needed in using PIC micros and constructing circuits on stripboard.

Thanks for the advice! I'll do some research and see if it seems achievable

Hi Tim, good luck with your project - let me know how you get on.

@@mikerainbow Looks like the PIC 16F1829 is available as a SOIC-20 and P8X32A is available as a QFP-44. Unfortunately, the PIC chips are not due in at Mouser until July of 2023 so I'll have to see if I can source them elsewhere. They show up on ebay from China, but...🤔

@@timgood4003 Yes, this should be fine - the prop and eprom need way less than 100mA so there should be no problem.

@@mikerainbow Do you have the part number for the plastic case you used? Looks like a Hammond to me. And the switches and jacks?

@@timgood4003 It's a Hammond 1590BB powder coated enclosure (120x95x35mm), general purpose miniature toggle switches - 1 x SPDT, 1 x SPST and 2 x DPDT footswitches. Jack sockets are standard 6mm(1/4") mono.

Hi - thanks for the feedback - so glad you built it and are happy with the results. Mike.

Thanks - and thanks for watching.

Hi - thanks for your kind comments - very glad you found it useful.