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Sometimes I build dumb stuff

#21
klejst said:
Not dumb, pretty cool actually. I have one of those Raspberry Pi credit card sized computers, I seen and heard of a lot of cool stuff you can do with them, I just have not had the time yet to play around with it. I did have to use it the other day though to download an old software driver for my Windows 10 machine though :D.
Click to expand...

totally. The Pi is way overkill for most of what I do. The punch in/out pedal uses an Arduino Micro which is WAAAAAAAY cheaper and simpler (depending on how you look at that) than the Pi. I'm just running code that emulates a keyboard. My one button simply outputs a "*" when it's pressed. "*" is the hot key in studio one for "record". So, it's pretty simple. It's about 6 lines of code and $5 in parts. I can just add the code to output other characters as needed. I'm happy to post my schematics, parts lists, and code if anyone is interested.
 
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#22
mmon77 said:
Those are some neat tools you've made. From experience, I know that when you build something like that yourself, there's that intangible feeling of accomplishment you get that makes it worth the time and effort.

I've recently started my foray into the DAW world, and thought the same thing about the punch in/out switch. I just don't feel right having to press a key. I may just have to build something like that myself...
Click to expand...

Sweet. This is what I did to build that pedal:
The brain inside is the Arduino Pro Micro: https://goo.gl/ijTbGT
Any momentary push button switch will work. I found some specific to foot switches on guitarparts.com or something.

Code looks like this.

Code: 
#include <Keyboard.h>



void setup() {
  pinMode(8,INPUT_PULLUP);
  Keyboard.begin();

}

void loop() {
   //if the button is pressed
  if(digitalRead(8)==LOW){
    //Send an ASCII '*',
    Keyboard.write(42);
  }
}

Schematic looks like this.

buttonthing.JPG


If you want to add more buttons, just pick another digital I/O port and copy/paste the code referencing the new pin number and the character you want to send. If people are interested I can do a detailed write up on this and get into the nerdy bits.
 
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#23
ThatBrianGuy said:
As an electronics hobbyist I tend to build a ton of really stupid stuff. I've recently built 2 things that are in the proof of concept stage, that are music related. I figured I'd share with the masses and see how many ways people can say, "that's really stupid, why did you waste your time on that"

First item is the crudest at this point but totally works and I've ordered some parts from amazon to make this thing a little more....production grade(?) I suppose so I can use it when playing out and not worry about breaking it. Here it is. A box that converts 5V DC (USB) to 9V DC so I can run my pedals off of any USB charger or USB battery thingy. I don't always have access to an outlet when I'm playing out, and changing 9V batteries in some of my pedals require screw drivers and whatnot. This seemed easier. Here it is



My second item is a little more polished, but I'm also waiting for some connectors to make things a little more permanent. When I'm recording bass, I generally don't have a hand free to stop/start my recording. It seemed to me that years ago, we used to have punch in/out foot pedals that would allow you to stop/start recording while a track was playing. It seems this concept has fallen out of favor with the DAW era, and people are setting start/stop recording tabs or triggers in the DAW to accomplish this now. Well, I'm kinda old school in that respect and I kinda like the foot pedal. So I made a USB punch in/out pedal that works with StudioOne, and I'm sure it would work with anything else as long as the start/stop recording function could be tied to a hot-key. Here's what that looks like. I can add as many buttons to this as I want and control as many functions as I want. A future version will likely include a play, stop and record button...or who knows maybe a "go back to the beginning" button.




Well? Lets hear it. Solutions in search of problems? Clever but dumb? Completely useless?
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me!
 
#24
ThatBrianGuy said:
It's possible. I just figured I'd sort of do the "laptop" scenario with my pedals. I wanted to incorporate a battery pack into my pedal board, but it got really complicated (more than I wanted it to be) really fast. The idea was, if I had power, great, if not, no big deal, my board has a battery...and then the 9Vs as a backup. I figured everyone has a USB phone charger or one of those battery packs. So, making my pedals USB powered seemed like the most versatile thing to do. Thanks for the feedback (the good kind).
Click to expand...

Here what I was talking about. A DIY could be cheaper and more fun though.
Birdcord USB to 9V Converter Cable

When two people has a good idea, i guess it is because it's a great idea :)
 
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#25
ThatBrianGuy said:
As an electronics hobbyist I tend to build a ton of really stupid stuff. I've recently built 2 things that are in the proof of concept stage, that are music related. I figured I'd share with the masses and see how many ways people can say, "that's really stupid, why did you waste your time on that"

First item is the crudest at this point but totally works and I've ordered some parts from amazon to make this thing a little more....production grade(?) I suppose so I can use it when playing out and not worry about breaking it. Here it is. A box that converts 5V DC (USB) to 9V DC so I can run my pedals off of any USB charger or USB battery thingy. I don't always have access to an outlet when I'm playing out, and changing 9V batteries in some of my pedals require screw drivers and whatnot. This seemed easier. Here it is



My second item is a little more polished, but I'm also waiting for some connectors to make things a little more permanent. When I'm recording bass, I generally don't have a hand free to stop/start my recording. It seemed to me that years ago, we used to have punch in/out foot pedals that would allow you to stop/start recording while a track was playing. It seems this concept has fallen out of favor with the DAW era, and people are setting start/stop recording tabs or triggers in the DAW to accomplish this now. Well, I'm kinda old school in that respect and I kinda like the foot pedal. So I made a USB punch in/out pedal that works with StudioOne, and I'm sure it would work with anything else as long as the start/stop recording function could be tied to a hot-key. Here's what that looks like. I can add as many buttons to this as I want and control as many functions as I want. A future version will likely include a play, stop and record button...or who knows maybe a "go back to the beginning" button.




Well? Lets hear it. Solutions in search of problems? Clever but dumb? Completely useless?
Click to expand...


I was looking all over the internet for a device like the first one you made. You will be rich.
 
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#27
Jebberz said:
Here what I was talking about. A DIY could be cheaper and more fun though.
Birdcord USB to 9V Converter Cable

When two people has a good idea, i guess it is because it's a great idea :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was looking for something like that too and never found it. That's awesome. That's pretty much what I made. The only benefit to mine is it can deliver 4x the power, but for most applications, who cares? Nice! good find.
 
#32
ThatBrianGuy said:
As an electronics hobbyist I tend to build a ton of really stupid stuff. I've recently built 2 things that are in the proof of concept stage, that are music related. I figured I'd share with the masses and see how many ways people can say, "that's really stupid, why did you waste your time on that"

First item is the crudest at this point but totally works and I've ordered some parts from amazon to make this thing a little more....production grade(?) I suppose so I can use it when playing out and not worry about breaking it. Here it is. A box that converts 5V DC (USB) to 9V DC so I can run my pedals off of any USB charger or USB battery thingy. I don't always have access to an outlet when I'm playing out, and changing 9V batteries in some of my pedals require screw drivers and whatnot. This seemed easier. Here it is



My second item is a little more polished, but I'm also waiting for some connectors to make things a little more permanent. When I'm recording bass, I generally don't have a hand free to stop/start my recording. It seemed to me that years ago, we used to have punch in/out foot pedals that would allow you to stop/start recording while a track was playing. It seems this concept has fallen out of favor with the DAW era, and people are setting start/stop recording tabs or triggers in the DAW to accomplish this now. Well, I'm kinda old school in that respect and I kinda like the foot pedal. So I made a USB punch in/out pedal that works with StudioOne, and I'm sure it would work with anything else as long as the start/stop recording function could be tied to a hot-key. Here's what that looks like. I can add as many buttons to this as I want and control as many functions as I want. A future version will likely include a play, stop and record button...or who knows maybe a "go back to the beginning" button.




Well? Lets hear it. Solutions in search of problems? Clever but dumb? Completely useless?
Click to expand...

Not bad, the second one is maybe the slightest bit unnecessary, but the first one is practical.
 
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