PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Hi, this is Frank.

In a previous thread ("MPA: A whole new Chapter for SCOPE" in Announcements) I was introducing you to some background and the actuality of an upcoming new relative to SCOPE - the MPA Platform. In further threats I am throwing some topics at you - eager to see what you say!

Let's talk Makers.

Arduino and Raspberry Pi are two icons of the rapidly growing "Maker" movement, allowing people to easily conduct their very personal and individual electronics developments. People build their own robots. Their own LED lighting systems. Their own drones. Their own 3D printers. Their own... Pro Audio system? What if they could??

What if YOU could build your own digital mixer. But not some average lame digital mixer as there are so many - but a device which leaves pretty much every major brand mixer behind and you full of excitement?

What would actually happen to the industry if people were making their Pro Audio products themselves from modules? Just like in the late 80ies and the 90ies when people started to build their own PCs from standardized components?

What would happen if a community was able to fuel the further development of such system - using published APIs, published hardware interfaces and Open Source code - contributing their achievements back to the community?

What if you, an Arduino and a weekend of time were sufficient to significantly extend your system "your way"?

What would you be DOING?

- Frank

I using the Teensy 3.6 platform for building extraordinary sound-modules. With 170Mhz DSP floating-point power, it&s good enough for a 8-voice polyphonic harmonic synthesizer. The SW is ope-source and easily expandable.

but why ardunio? the whole idea sounds amazing, but more interested in such a concept on a proper pc.

faxinadu wrote: ↑Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:21 pm but why ardunio? the whole idea sounds amazing, but more interested in such a concept on a proper pc.

Hey Faxi.
If i understood Frank's statement correctly you are doing the wrong question. It looks like Frank is thinking more in a way like: "Why only PC ?".

Get back to me when the SDK and Modular run on my Android....or Nintendo. How about some Marshmallow in an X-ITE with BT and a big touchscreen. The X-ITE S'more. Hom nom nom.

I would imagine MPA to be like Eurorack but not restricted to synths - in that its a standard by which multiple manufacturers can provide modules. This could be in an 'MPARack' configuration in concept and I could imagine building a digital mixer with channel strips provided by Sonic Core where each channel strip contained a Sharc which would provide EQ, compression etc. But the send effects could be made and sold by Behringer running on Intel CPU - or other Sharc based components by Ocean Swift, and the master bus could be by dNa and the digital I/O modules by FerroFish. As long as they all interconnected with a standard connector providing audio I/O, control (CC etc) and power they would all work together.

So if you need more mixer channels you buy and add them one or two at a time etc etc etc.

It looks like Frank is thinking more in a way like: "Why only PC ?".

That's precisely right!
Networked systems are very inclusive and have the potential to bring all kinds of things together, even unusual ones!
We at MPA embrace the Arduino but also community CPUs like the Pi or the Bones.

Arduino people will be able to create modular patches from code / their "sketches".
For Arduino lovers, and there are a few million of them by now, that is a pretty awesome suggestion.
Dynamic systems can become as small as a stomp box while retaining their reconfiguration ability.

Faxi: As an example for Arduino relevance - It should not be too hard to take your awesome synth plugs
or any part of them into a tiny embedded format suitable for e.g. the Eurorack.
The Arduino can easily do the control readout and also "remote control" your circuitry on our processor module.
It's easy and affordable. But only since we managed to break out from PC imprisonment

Dante: the form factor is actually different but otherwise you've gotten really close. Your fundamental idea is perfectly spot on.

DragonSF: Awsome!! That is the thing. There'll be more such toys for you soon.
Here is also where XITE could come in, I'd hope.