Thanks guys, I have never done anything like this, but I think I will have a go at this. I have been over to yellow box, and it looks like all the information and help, I could need as been made available. Big thanks to all involved.
I just started looking into this project today. I appreciate the link to what looks to be a more feature rich build from which to start! The info on others making this project is rather sparse! I hope that you show the final product when you are done, and show it off in concert!
Very nice walkthrough! And I totally agreed with your approach to simplicity and stability, no matter how expensive and up to date pc/mac you have, they will eventually crash down at a time you don't want them to, simply because of the more complicated system it is. The only problem of the Raspberry pi ecosystem for musicians, for now, is that there is not much choice of the good quality/looking case/screen/etc that is easy to buy on the market, the community is not big enough. There are some great products based on pi, like Monome Norns, Organelle M, Zynthia, Pisound, NSynth Super synthesizer. But they are either too expensive to just assign them on just one job, or just constantly out of stock. I wish there could be more simple Pi projects like the Sample box, just come with a usable screen, few buttons, sturdy case, but less expansive.
At this point I only have the Pi, a monitor, and a usb-midi keyboard (no manually hooked up electronics or buttons). I'll do more reading, but at this point it's not clear to me how to operate the thing. Also, I take it, attempting to upgrade the Raspbian is not recommended?
All I do it download and flash the sketch of samplerbox onto an sd card with etcher. no need for a monitor unless you are looking to create a sample folder on your sd card. The 1602 screen I have is wired onto the gpio pins (well I used a header I had so it's removable). the version I use, Han's sketch, is only working on 3b and 3b+. I believe he is working on a pi4 version but it might take some time as it'll need to be completely re-written.
cool idea! wonder if it could be made to have more than two outputs so you could split sampled instruments into separate outputs? it's one thing that is missing in a lot of modern sample players.
You probably could get it doing that. I don't have a DAC with more than 2 out puts. Maybe pitch the idea to the sketch maker, Hans, over on his project web page. He's usually really good at replying to ideas.
I was searching for exactly that to be able to play backing tracks and samples on different outputs. Seems like this here would be a solution but I haven't tried it yet: www.nickyspride.nl/sb2/
Yes, you can take the screen out of the box. I just had it in there to keep it all together when I was at shows. With the current version I am using, you can't use a touch screen, but I know they are running an OLED display on the new version. If you are keen at programming in python you could probably make it all work together.
@@BridesGothic Haha wups. I meant does the screen work (is it programmed already in the Samplerbox .iso) or do you have to edit the code to have a screen? (in North American English, we sometimes say 'it works "out of the box"' for that.
@@buttonsplaymusic4896 ha yeah, the screen works with out any coding. Just put it to the right gpio pins and check the .ini file. I think the is a line or 2 you need to update, code is already there, you just have to enable it.
hello, I'm building a laser harp and I would like it as "autonomous" as possible. I don't want to depend on a computer or keyboard. Actually I'am using A midi signal over USB with an arduino UNO. If I do that, it will works ? - connect the arduino USB connector to the raspberry pi for the MIDI signal - connect speakers to the raspberry pi's jack connector - connect your LCD screen and buttons - connect the dac. Thanks for your answer
That's a clever idea. You should be able to connect an Arduino to a Pi via USB, it's only midi-over-usb anyway. Alternatively you could try to connect the Arduino to the Pi through UART. I know you can send midi straight into the Pi through one of the pins with just a simple circuit. Just a couple of resistors and an opto coupler. Secondly I wouldn't run and sound our of the Pi's audio plug. The sound quality is pretty bad as it's not really made for it. Get yourself a simple USB sound card and it'll go so much better.
@@BridesGothic Thanks for your answer and yes, Pi's audio plug has a very bad reputation, but I have another questions ^^ - where can I get wav files for free (no illegal download ^^) - If I understand, I need to create one .wav for each notes of the instrument and one folder for each instruments ? If it's true, how can I do that ?
@@jonathanhugon5617 there re plenty of royalty free sound sites out there, freesound.org is one I use for sound effects in my video editing. Ghoshack has free sound packs from time to time too. I do know that samplerbox has a number of sound packs for free on their main page. Alternatively you can use something like audacity to make your own samples. You only need one .wav file for each folder (minimum). Assign it to the correct note, say middle c, and the samplerbox program will speed up or slow down that one wav for every key. That's good for simple things like a saw or sine wave. But more complex sounds are better sampled multiple time per octave. I usually go with 2 or 3 per octave so the don't sound too wonky when playing chords. For some songs I play live, I sample all the notes I would play, and let the program fill in the rest for when I'm playing around.
I've had a lot of bad luck with laptops on stage. I usually use older ones as that's what I have. I've had Ableton crash on stage, huge latency issues with reason, audio interfaces stop responding, I've had to reboot a few times as well mid show. I just find having something purely dedicated to one thing works for me. Boots up in no time, loads samples pretty quickly, I don't notice any latency in it and it doesn't struggle with longer samples (the akia mpx8 struggles with samples larger than a mb) I'm sure a new up to date laptop or Mac (I don't know how to Mac) would have no issues with what I do but that's not very DIY, where's the fun in that. And probably a lot more expensive than a $100.
Thanks guys, I have never done anything like this, but I think I will have a go at this. I have been over to yellow box, and it looks like all the information and help, I could need as been made available. Big thanks to all involved.
I just started looking into this project today. I appreciate the link to what looks to be a more feature rich build from which to start! The info on others making this project is rather sparse! I hope that you show the final product when you are done, and show it off in concert!
Very nice walkthrough! And I totally agreed with your approach to simplicity and stability, no matter how expensive and up to date pc/mac you have, they will eventually crash down at a time you don't want them to, simply because of the more complicated system it is. The only problem of the Raspberry pi ecosystem for musicians, for now, is that there is not much choice of the good quality/looking case/screen/etc that is easy to buy on the market, the community is not big enough. There are some great products based on pi, like Monome Norns, Organelle M, Zynthia, Pisound, NSynth Super synthesizer. But they are either too expensive to just assign them on just one job, or just constantly out of stock. I wish there could be more simple Pi projects like the Sample box, just come with a usable screen, few buttons, sturdy case, but less expansive.
cool! thanks for the video and ideas!!
Glad I found your channel.
God Bless.
At this point I only have the Pi, a monitor, and a usb-midi keyboard (no manually hooked up electronics or buttons). I'll do more reading, but at this point it's not clear to me how to operate the thing. Also, I take it, attempting to upgrade the Raspbian is not recommended?
All I do it download and flash the sketch of samplerbox onto an sd card with etcher. no need for a monitor unless you are looking to create a sample folder on your sd card. The 1602 screen I have is wired onto the gpio pins (well I used a header I had so it's removable).
the version I use, Han's sketch, is only working on 3b and 3b+. I believe he is working on a pi4 version but it might take some time as it'll need to be completely re-written.
cool idea! wonder if it could be made to have more than two outputs so you could split sampled instruments into separate outputs? it's one thing that is missing in a lot of modern sample players.
You probably could get it doing that. I don't have a DAC with more than 2 out puts. Maybe pitch the idea to the sketch maker, Hans, over on his project web page. He's usually really good at replying to ideas.
I was searching for exactly that to be able to play backing tracks and samples on different outputs. Seems like this here would be a solution but I haven't tried it yet: www.nickyspride.nl/sb2/
Why wouldnt you build a small wooden box for it?
Does the screen work out of the box? Does it work with a touchscreen as well?
Yes, you can take the screen out of the box. I just had it in there to keep it all together when I was at shows. With the current version I am using, you can't use a touch screen, but I know they are running an OLED display on the new version. If you are keen at programming in python you could probably make it all work together.
@@BridesGothic Haha wups. I meant does the screen work (is it programmed already in the Samplerbox .iso) or do you have to edit the code to have a screen? (in North American English, we sometimes say 'it works "out of the box"' for that.
@@buttonsplaymusic4896 ha yeah, the screen works with out any coding. Just put it to the right gpio pins and check the .ini file. I think the is a line or 2 you need to update, code is already there, you just have to enable it.
hello, I'm building a laser harp and I would like it as "autonomous" as possible. I don't want to depend on a computer or keyboard. Actually I'am using A midi signal over USB with an arduino UNO.
If I do that, it will works ?
- connect the arduino USB connector to the raspberry pi for the MIDI signal
- connect speakers to the raspberry pi's jack connector
- connect your LCD screen and buttons
- connect the dac.
Thanks for your answer
That's a clever idea. You should be able to connect an Arduino to a Pi via USB, it's only midi-over-usb anyway. Alternatively you could try to connect the Arduino to the Pi through UART. I know you can send midi straight into the Pi through one of the pins with just a simple circuit. Just a couple of resistors and an opto coupler.
Secondly I wouldn't run and sound our of the Pi's audio plug. The sound quality is pretty bad as it's not really made for it. Get yourself a simple USB sound card and it'll go so much better.
@@BridesGothic Thanks for your answer and yes, Pi's audio plug has a very bad reputation, but I have another questions ^^
- where can I get wav files for free (no illegal download ^^)
- If I understand, I need to create one .wav for each notes of the instrument and one folder for each instruments ? If it's true, how can I do that ?
@@jonathanhugon5617 there re plenty of royalty free sound sites out there, freesound.org is one I use for sound effects in my video editing. Ghoshack has free sound packs from time to time too. I do know that samplerbox has a number of sound packs for free on their main page. Alternatively you can use something like audacity to make your own samples.
You only need one .wav file for each folder (minimum). Assign it to the correct note, say middle c, and the samplerbox program will speed up or slow down that one wav for every key. That's good for simple things like a saw or sine wave. But more complex sounds are better sampled multiple time per octave. I usually go with 2 or 3 per octave so the don't sound too wonky when playing chords. For some songs I play live, I sample all the notes I would play, and let the program fill in the rest for when I'm playing around.
💚💚💚
Thank you. I'm working on an update with a new case and the new sketch.
I can't imagine that't going to be less of a problem compared to a laptop :x
I've had a lot of bad luck with laptops on stage. I usually use older ones as that's what I have. I've had Ableton crash on stage, huge latency issues with reason, audio interfaces stop responding, I've had to reboot a few times as well mid show. I just find having something purely dedicated to one thing works for me. Boots up in no time, loads samples pretty quickly, I don't notice any latency in it and it doesn't struggle with longer samples (the akia mpx8 struggles with samples larger than a mb)
I'm sure a new up to date laptop or Mac (I don't know how to Mac) would have no issues with what I do but that's not very DIY, where's the fun in that. And probably a lot more expensive than a $100.
Very nice! One thing: it's Akai, not Akia.
Ha. very true. it even says so on the front.
Updated build info: blog.adafruit.com/2021/10/01/from-the-forums-pimoroni-pirate-audio-hat-midi-samplerbox-piday-raspberrypi-raspberry_pi/
Not my build, but an interesting alternative take on it. Having a plug and play hat would have been so much easier when I started years ago now.