From sgtpepper@surewest.net Wed Nov 13 22:41:17 2002
Subject:Re: MIDI Drawbar Controller for B4

Jude;

I corresponded with Jordan about the drawbars, and he indicated that he
could add the capability to switch between sets of drawbars, as well as some
other customizations I asked for, for an extra $50, I think it was. Did you
order the matrix decoders as well? Since the keyswitches in the manual
assemblies have a common connection (the busbar), you need an interface to
convert to the diode matrix input the B4ce is designed for (Or you could
design & build your own--it appears that's what you're doing, from the fact
that you mentioned diodes).

I haven't ordered my B4ce yet--I'm still deciding which B4 functions I need
real-time control over. To some degree it depends on what will fit on the
two cheek-block panels I built. In the pictures they look like solid
blocks, but they are actually boxes with 1/4-inch thick tops. One will get
a set of Percussion control tablets from an M3, and the other will get some
switches and potentiometers to control various B4 functions. And I found a
6-way rotary switch that will go to the left of the drawbars with the
Chorus/Vibrato knob on it.

Some of the design is still up in the air--but I want to take my time & do
it right, & do it well. I've got plenty of room behind the manuals for
wiring, circuit boards, etc. At one point I considered putting a PC
motherboard & power supply in there too, but decided to keep it separate.
Besides, the motherboard I bought is just a little too big.

The computer has a 750mhz AMD Duron CPU, 512 MB of PC133 Memory, and a
Soundblaster Live! 5.1 sound card, running Windows 98SE. The parts were
bought mostly on Ebay, and the total cost was about $220. I already had the
monitor, keyboard, mouse, CDROM drive, floppy, and hard drives, left over
from upgrades of my main computer.

After the computer was built, I installed the OS, the video driver, the SB
Live! driver & software, and the B4 software. NOTHING ELSE! No modem, no
network card, nothing unnecessary to clutter up the system and rob CPU,
memory, or I/O cycles. With the SB Live!'s DirectSound driver, I'm getting
10 msec latency, the lowest setting available with this combination of
hardware & software. Right now I'm using a very nice15" plug&play monitor I
got at a thrift store for $13.00, but I'd like to get a smaller one- flat
panel maybe. I also would like to get a smaller-footprint keyboard and a
trackball for it.

What are you doing for a computer for your rig? And do you have any
pictures?

---Steve


> Hey Steve,
>
> Wow, and here I thought I was the only guy working on one of these!
> I have an old gutted model A that I am in the process of converting
> to a B4 rig by way of Jordan's B4CE board. I like the A for this
> project because the cabinet is a bit smaller than the B3 (but the
> manuals are the same).
>
> I already ordered my B4CE, and it should be here any day now. Got a
> bunch of the other electrical parts from Jameco--potentiometers,
> diodes, switches, etc.
>
> I'm curious--what are you planning on for your drawbar setup?
> Jordan's setup pretty much mirrors the B4 layout, which differs from
> the hammond drawbars. Most notable among these differences is the
> lack of 2 'switchable' sets of drawbars (i.e. through the preset
> keys). I was thinking about wiring up my drawbars through some
> simple relays to allow for 'hardware' switched drawbar assemblies via
> a switch (since I'm using the manuals for a midi matrix). I'm
> thinking about leaving my preset keys in place, and using one of the
> nine bussbars for a preset switching matrix. If I toss in a ten
> position rotary switch to feed into the B4CE, I could get up to 80
> presets (not the 120 offered by B4 but close enough!)
>
> Let's talk about computer hardware and wiring!
>
> Later,
>
> Jude
>
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