NXT-G, NXC, I2C..What to use to make fastest operations?

[HaWe]

you mean, it was kind of "No-load test" ? =)

[peter-cocteau]

Well, I have check SuperPro board communication, not in detail but it is faster than I expected as someone said here before.
I will try to work with NXT-G for now, I really like the visual approach. Thanks to all for your answers and advices.

In fact I have 2 Superpro boards and it seems working well for polyphonic application.... Work is going on......

[afanofosc]

Peter,

While you can use NXT-G to control the SuperPro boards via I2C you will get the most bang for the buck, as they say, if you write programs that actually run on the board itself. You can do that with BricxCC and the SuperPro C compiler (aka nbc). If you want to try out that part of the board's functionality I can certainly help answer any questions that might come up.

John Hansen

[peter-cocteau]

Thanks for your invitation John.

Your work is awesome, and I've discovered the HT SuperPro board through your post about this subject.I Didn't look Hitechnics product for few months.. this board is what made me come back in the game. As musician and sound engineer I am very interested in analog output features. For example first thing that came to my mind was Analog Synth Control, SuperPro board can be a very good stand alone Analog Controler. There are a lot of synth or audio effect devices, old and new, that can be controled by it. And many other things of course..... in way of arduino maybe?

On the other hand I have to say this kind of language is difficult for me. And at last I am a happy Mac user...
I wish I could program things like that one day but it's a long term investment..

Peter.

[mightor]

On the other hand I have to say this kind of language is difficult for me. And at last I am a happy Mac user...
I wish I could program things like that one day but it's a long term investment..

Some might perceive being a Mac user as being a little bit of a handicap, we'll certainly try not to hold it against you. If you're happy to give the Arduino a try, you're certainly not incapable of programming in SuperPro-C, there's not that big a difference, really.

Regards,
Xander

[afanofosc]

On the other hand I have to say this kind of language is difficult for me. And at last I am a happy Mac user...

Fortunately, the command line compiler with SuperPro-C support will run on Mac OS X as well as it runs on Windows and Linux. I haven't tried downloading a program to the SuperPro on any platform other than Windows yet so it may not actually work. I will try to install the FTDI drivers for Mac OS X and get it all working for sure on my Mac Mini later this month.

John Hansen

[peter-cocteau]

Merry christmas to all!

Well, there's still lot of things to do but the LEGO Music station works! I use 2 HT SuperPro boards and communication seems fast enough to make all what I want. I use NXT-G only.

You can hear first recording of this LEGO Music Station here, it sounds good! :

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/chris ... tsynth.wav
The music in this file is generated by a NXT, 2 HT SuperProBoard and a Moog Audio Filter.

1-RHYTHM SECTION is very close to NXT-606 Lego Drum machine:




2-SYNTH SECTION: Substractive Synthesis method:

"Subtractive synthesis is a method of sound synthesis in which partials of an audio signal (often one rich in harmonics) are attenuated by a filter to alter the timbre of the sound. While subtractive synthesis can be applied to any source audio signal, the sound most commonly associated with the technique is that of analog synthesizers of the 1960s and 1970s, in which the harmonics of simple waveforms such sawtooth, pulse or square waves are attenuated with a voltage controlled resonant low-pass filter. Many digital, virtual analog and software synthesizers utilise subtractive synthesis, sometimes in conjunction with other methods of sound synthesis." (Wiki)

Synth section is made of two things for now:

-2 Hitechnic SuperproBoards:



- 1 MOOG Low-Pass Filter pedal. MOOG is a very well kwown synth manufacturer.



Moog pedal do not generate sound, it's a voltage controlled low-pass filter. Voltage input can control cuttoff and resonance.
Voltage control is very popular in electronic instruments, many effects or synths have such inputs, especially analog ones.

As real Substractive Synth, Hitechnic Superpro boards provides many waveforms on analog output: square, sine, triangle, DC power...
Each analog output can be configured to:
-play tune with a selected waveform (20-8800Hz)
-Control analog external device by generating LFO(low frequency oscillator<20Hz),or playing Step sequencer (DC power).

Many configuration can be done:
Chords: 3 analog outputs to play chords. 1 analog output to control Filter Cutoff
Lead: 2 analog outputs to play lead. 1analog output to control Filter Cutoff, 1analog output to control Filter resonance.
...

The only bad thing for now is about waveform start point. NXT-G Superpro block do not provides waveform reset button. When start, analog outputs play waveforms from where it has stopped before. It is a real problem to make nice low frequency oscillator synchronized with tempo, what is very important to make nice musical effect.
Loading other waveforms do not change things.

Do you have access to a reset (restart) waveform function in other editors ?

Peter.

Don't forget to listen: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/chris ... tsynth.wav

[HaWe]

very impressive indeed!

[afanofosc]

Super cool synth using the SuperPro. Have you spoken with HiTechnic support about whether it is possible to reset the waveform generator or not?

John Hansen

[peter-cocteau]

You're right John, I should try to talk to HT about this thing...but I don't think they will make another NXT-G block just for me...

Is there an reset waveform access on your own editor ?