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Making Pulse
Pulse is my first MIDI sequencer!
I use Elektron Model: Samples to perform for my Laptop Ensemble class.
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It’s a great little thing for music production but it lacks in performance features. It would be awesome to add a module to manipulate its sequences in a more varied and dynamic way on the fly. Enter Euclidean Rhythms!
Euclidean Rhythms are the most dynamic way of creating drum sequences I’ve seen. Basically, it is a simple algorithm that takes in the total number of notes in a sequence and the number of ON notes, and spreads them out as equally as possible. Here’s how it looks:
![](./notionAssets/assets/6fb3bccf46491b437099c711130f589471303f11c48260de5f18590502914275/Euclidean_rhythms.gif)
I’m planning to make a tangible version of that and use it with my drum machine and synthesizers.
Early prototyping:
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Components:
- Rotary Encoder
- Capacitive Touch Plate (under surface)
- Push Buttons
- LEDs (under surface)
- USB-in for MIDI
- Power-in
- Glass surface
- Wooden frame
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A lot of coding.
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1. Inputs modules
2. Sequencer
![](./notionAssets/assets/812cbc40f7279da8f13642feaed19cf19b39b6de0ccd9b0a96dad67c3a7107dc/Untitled.png)
3. MIDI
I thought I figured out midi by just using a few libraries that somehow worked with samd21 but I later realized there’s still much more to learn.
Finalizing user interface layout
I started by re-making layout out the user interface.
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Parts selection
I selected the best parts. I wanted it to tingle when you touch these knobs. So you can try and confirm it’s a really pleasant feel.
PCB milling
Then the pcb milling time came. I had to use a large 8x5 board which meant I couldn’t use any milling machines except for this one. It’s giving mystery and rawness. So I spent a few days learning it. There’s been plenty of mistakes. Like 4 hours debugging the silent z limit hit, which almost got me insane. Or wrong parameters which resulted in spaghetti pcb. Regardless, I wrote a tutorial on how to use it and now this machine is my bestie. If the board holes are too small, just drop it it, reset the zs and x and ys. And you can also do cool stuff because the input into the system is a png, which is what you can see I made on my front cover.
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Prototyping front panel
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Case with sheet metal
Then was the case. I built a metal case, sandblasted, and painted black to go along with the ui.
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Final day oopsies:
Things go wrong:
- Midi is tough
- LEDs are insanely tough
![](./notionAssets/assets/3f8d85c44b9dc7829741124da65e3dc872a3691c4432ab05244444905fe4560c/Untitled.png)
Minor notes: Don’t
![](./notionAssets/assets/c901ffce083dd34ea0521920528fad11c212099b50d72ed5b61539106e956f3b/Untitled.png)
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Epilogue.