Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Dr. ISOTOP, Fri Jan 11 2013, 04:27AM

I use MIDIEditor for file playback and V.M.K. for testing with single notes.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Fri Jan 11 2013, 04:57AM

Hi koolksmart. I have the same MIDI interrupter. I use Anvil Studio as the playback software. Its free and very easy to use if your new to MIDI stuff. I download MIDI files and use this to playback the files, it can also be used to hook up to a keyboard, guitar, synthesizer, etc... And I use the M-Audio MIDI sport UNO USB device to interface between my laptop and the flexibrute midi board. The USB device is $40 US brand new, probably the most inexpensive and best route to playback files from your PC or laptop and/or interface an instrument.

By the way, did you properly set up your pulse width limits by following the PDF guide from the website? You MUST DO THIS if you have not. Some notes that are not suposed to be played can end up being played if you do not have it properly calibrated, which can result in bad things. Also, since you specifically asked for a "reliable MIDI software", be weary that many of the freeware's out there are not going to be perfect, including Anvil Studio. It can crash from time to time. And when you hit the pause/stop function, it doesnt always wait till the present note stops playing to stop the MIDI, which can result in that note being permanently played (this can be bad) and the only way to stop it is to unplug the power from the interrupter. You may or may not experience this in the freewares, but that is what I experienced at first. Personally, It just takes some getting used to I still use anvil studio despite the problems I've had with it.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Dr. ISOTOP, Fri Jan 11 2013, 06:27AM

I use this to interface between computer and modulator. They're kind of sketchy on the software end (among other things, no love from FLStudio) but they're dirt cheap and work.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Fri Jan 11 2013, 06:56AM

Thanks for all the quick help, guys!

I've got a USB-MIDI cable that I know works (I've used it with keyboards before), but I can't get my computer to detect the device. I'm running Windows 7. Is there a driver I need to download?

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
HV Enthusiast, Fri Jan 11 2013, 02:35PM

Koolksmart,

I sent you email last nite with some ideas. I'm not too familiar with the inexpensive USB-MIDI adapters available - I usually interface directly with a MIDI device such as a keyboard. But it sounds like your computer is just not recognizing the USB-MIDI adapter. The drivers for these should already be part of windows 7.

If you can access control panel and System Components you can see if you see the device in there and it will have an exclamation point next to it if the driver is not working. From there, you might be able to trouble shoot it.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Fri Jan 11 2013, 03:52PM

EVR,

Once again, thanks for sticking with me through all these e-mails.

I'm using a MIDI cable almost identical to the one Dr. ISOTOP linked to, but it's definitely a driver issue at this point. In my device manager, it shows an "Unidentified Device". I'm just not sure where to go from here since I couldn't even get the MIDI cable to work with a MIDI out keyboard (though I've only tried one keyboard...). I'll be trying others tonight.
Any ideas where I might be able to find the driver?

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Fri Jan 11 2013, 06:29PM

I had the same problem when I first bought my USB device. It came with an installation disk that didnt work, the installation always failed. All i did was went to the manufacturer's website and downloaded the most recent driver and it worked. So if you know the maker of your device, I would just try searching for the latest driver. To get your computer to recognize the device, I'm pretty sure you have to do that within the software itself. For example, with anvil studio there is a "MIDI devices/synthesizers" menu and you just go there and select your device.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
nixie, Fri Jan 11 2013, 07:29PM

Somewhat related to this thread; beware of those cheap USB>MIDI dongles.

I'd been having recurring hanging note, lockups, and lost note issues with the $5 ebay specials. Your mileage may vary.
It turns out there are many documented problems with them. Here's a thread about them on a MIDI device forum I frequent.

I eventually purchased an Alesis MIDI dongle based on advice from other experienced MIDI talent.

I've not had any of the above issues when using this device. I'm a believer now.
The material I play through it is fairly complex, and works flawlessly in driving two big DRSSTC's with Eric Goodchild's DR MIDI controller.
Here's one example video: Waltz in Black (The stranglers)

With regard to the various MIDI apps out there; freeware is totally great as long as you're not too serious about it.
Each app has a learning curve, and typically a load of bugs/issues along with it. Keep that in mind when you decide.


Regards, Jeff

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Sat Jan 12 2013, 06:33AM

Thanks for all the help! I got the computer to recognize the board, but I still can't output to it. I've managed to get a MIDI keyboard working with it, but when I hook it up to the coil: Nothing.
The guide doesn't mention anything about the PW limit, which I wonder might be the issue.
Any ideas? It's the last thing holding me back -.-

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Goodchild, Sat Jan 12 2013, 07:00AM

In addition to cheap dongles I have found also that improper grounding of the coil can also create latch-ups and other assorted problems due to the RF from the coil not being properly terminated. Just a thought to keep in mind!

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Sat Jan 12 2013, 07:46AM


Sorry, I meant R1 and R2. Make sure you have configured those using an oscilloscope and/or the pictures in the guide. Try switching your MIDI in and MIDI out. Some devices and synthesizers have been known to work either way even though, logically, it may be labelled wrong. Meaning the I/I and O/O or the I/O and I/O. May work one way or the other.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Sat Jan 12 2013, 03:29PM


That's the weird thing: I hooked up a speaker to the RCA output, and I heard the notes I was playing. I didn't have an oscilloscope, so I eyeballed it based on the manual's diagram. When I hook the MIDI interrupter up to the coils control board (RCA), nothing happens. The board doesn't hum. There's no spark.

By the way, I feel as though I should have mentioned that I'm hooking this up to the MicroBrute DRSSTC from EVR.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Sat Jan 12 2013, 04:12PM


I had a similar issue, and I solved it by slightly turning the settings of R1 and R2 up but only VERY SLIGHTLY. I am not using a microbrute though so I am not going to recommend you do that and put your tesla coil at risk. Talk to EVR, they might have some advice or have experienced similar problems they might be able to help you with. Also, those settings in the MIDI guide for the microbrute should be accurate (I would assume) for that tesla coil system, and your problem is probably elsewhere. Re-check your soldering of the controller, specifically around the modulator input area and that part of the circuitry. Has your RCA mod input on the controller board worked with other interrupters? If so, then you can probably rule that out too. Personally I have never used RCA so I really dont know how to identify that as a problem. It could be a handful of possibilties, perhaps even a setting on your keyboard/software.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Sat Jan 12 2013, 11:25PM


The interrupter out of the box with the Microbrute kit works with the RCA input, so that's not the issue. I can't imagine it's the soldering joins of the output since the speaker worked just fine soldered on to it, and I've inspected all the solder joints--All good. Voltage tests are perfect, and the board says it's receiving the signals and outputting.

Now that I think about it, though, the BNC light would seldom light up--only the FO (Fiber Optic) light would flash to notify that a signal was being sent out. Any idea what that could mean?

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
HV Enthusiast, Sat Jan 12 2013, 11:30PM

Make sure the speaker is removed before hooking up to the coil.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Sat Jan 12 2013, 11:33PM


The speaker was removed. Still nothing.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
dude_500, Sun Jan 13 2013, 07:35AM


If the FO light flashes but not the BNC light when the speaker is disconnected and nothing is hooked up to the BNC plug, then it is most likely a bad solder joint on the board, as those two outputs are fed from the same microcontroller output and the same driver chip. If it only stops lighting when a coil is connected, then the coil probably has a faulty input and is overloading the BNC driver on the MIDI controller. Connecting a speaker could also affect the LED, although I would think in most cases it shouldn't affect it.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
HV Enthusiast, Sun Jan 13 2013, 03:22PM


Thats a good point. You already know your microbrute is working properly as you mentioned in the email, so the input to the microbrute is working as it should.

The FO and electrical (BNC / RCA) come from same driver chip, so if there is a solder joint / short, or something that is pulling that one output down that could explain it.

Also, check to see the LED is not installed backwards, although this wouldn't prevent the output from working.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Tue Jan 15 2013, 04:36AM

Quick update: I've resoldered some connections, particularly the RCA ones. When I hooked the controller alone up to a keyboard, all outputs were flashing, which I take as a good sign.

I'll update you all again when I hook everything together. Thanks for all the help so far!

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Mon Jan 28 2013, 11:27PM

Sorry for the massive delay--didn't have much coiling time for the past couple of weeks.

I checked all my connections, and everything seems to be fine. I've desoldered and resoldered the output terminals multiple times. When hooked up to a keyboard, the BNC and FO lights illuminate *slightly*. I thought it might be some light reflecting from the MIDI LED or 5V LED, so I shorted those LED's and saw that the BNC and FO still slightly lit--the light is hardly noticeable but noticeable.
When hooked up to the coil, still no output.

Any ideas at this point? I'm stumped.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Tue Jan 29 2013, 01:48AM


I'm not really sure to be honest.. From the sound of it, the MIDI board is working fine and you know this because you tested it with a speaker correct? And from reading through the thread I recall you only got results when hooked up to a computer? It might be a problem with the keyboard you are using, or not necessarily a problem but a setting that needs to be configured/adjusted.

If you have components to try the connection via FO, try that.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
HV Enthusiast, Tue Jan 29 2013, 02:52AM


Do you have an oscilloscope to look at the signals? Do you still have 5V on the logic rail and its not shorted by something?

The output LEDs brightness is affected by duty cycle, so if the pulsewidth is low and duty is low, they won't illuminate very much. Also, if the voltage is getting pulled down, they won't illuminate very bright either. I would love to see the output on an oscilloscope to ensure that you are getting the full 5V output.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Tue Jan 29 2013, 05:34AM


Unfortunately, I don't have access to an oscilloscope. Is there a way around this? The duty cycle is set fairly low--should I up it? None of the connections are shorted out, and all voltages read as normal.

In response to Physics Junkie: I haven't been able to get any output from the coil, keyboard or computer, but the 8-ohm speaker worked like a charm.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
JayJayJay, Tue Feb 05 2013, 03:33PM

I had a similar issue where I ended up having solder short out the RCA connector on the board..It appeared I may have lifted a pad when desoldering.. Got a BNC connector and soldered a RCA cable to it.. Using this different connector resolved my issues.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
HV Enthusiast, Tue Feb 05 2013, 03:38PM


Hi JayJayJay,

Can you be more specific to where the solder short occurred? We'd like to know so we can improve the design if there is an issue with this.
Thanks again and glad you got it working.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Tue Feb 05 2013, 05:42PM

JayJayJay,

I'm still not sure exactly what you're saying. Could you clarify a bit more? Thank you!

EVR,

Would you have any recommendations at this point?

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Tue Feb 05 2013, 06:21PM



Assuming that your circuit is fine. It sounds like there is a problem with the way you are connecting your circuit board to the devices (keyboard/tesla coil, etc). Can you take pictures of how your are setting everything up? I would like to see your connections from keyboard/MIDI source->MIDI circuit board->tesla coil.

If its not the connections, then it may be that somehow you have your RCA output and ground backwards. The test speaker will work regardless of polarity. But if you have it backwards, that could also explain no output when you hook everything up.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
JayJayJay, Tue Feb 05 2013, 09:49PM

Hey EVR: I believe I flooded the 'PCB hole' with solder which then shorted to the other pad. The holes for that connector are a bit larger than the others due to the depth of the RCA connectors.. So, I just overdid it when trying to mount it. Thanks for your prompt responses!

Koolksmart: I chopped a RCA cable in half and soldered the wires to a BNC connector, leaving the female RCA jack off of the PCB entirely. Since it's the same circuit, it seems to work the same as if I was using a RCA-to-RCA connector.

Let me know if I can provide any additional info.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
JayJayJay, Tue Feb 05 2013, 09:53PM

Koolksmart: Also, I was able to verify the short by plugging in RCA cable to female RCA jack and test continuity between tip/ring on cable and solder points. The tip on the cable side beeped out with both solder points at PCB which verified short. The output to speaker worked regardless of short.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
JayJayJay, Tue Feb 05 2013, 10:17PM

Guys: In regards to the MIDI Interrupter Software question, I am using MIDI over wifi to connect to my computer's MIDI interface (MOTU MIDI Express) from my iPad! There are several free apps (search app store for MIDI) that work just fine. I haven't experimented with loading existing MIDI files onto iPad yet, as I am using software (Pro Tools) on Mac for that. Will provide an update once I get a chance to see if that also works.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Fish, Thu Feb 07 2013, 04:55AM

Out of interest, has anyone got any midi interrupter to work with either a usb->midi box from a laptop or a midi device without batteries? I built my own midi interrupter http://4hv.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?150253 which works perfectly with a speaker but dies when attached to my coil (also evr mB). If you get your usb->midi to work with a speaker ill be interested to know if you can then get your coil to play from a laptop.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Physics Junkie, Thu Feb 07 2013, 05:14AM

I use mine with my laptop. Ive tested it with the circuit I am building now with success. But im not done yet building the rest of the coil. I assume it works fine because I can hear my MIDI songs humming from the GDT's.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Goodchild, Thu Feb 07 2013, 06:50AM

Something I failed to do for some time is to build a "dry test" rig for testing my MIDI controllers. I finally made one and it made my life a whole lot easier, not just for testing new software but for also checking new songs without hooking up a coil.

It's not supper complex rather just a fiber RX unit and output for your scope and and output for a speaker! In the long run it will save you a lot of fuses and IGBTs!

Here is one I just built

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Fish, Thu Feb 07 2013, 11:26AM

Here is one I just built

wow, did you build that box by hand or CNC, looks very professional!

Playing with the coil all afternoon with no f***ing improvements to my midi player. I even ran my piano off some D cells and pulled apart an old receiver and used the toslink for a bodgied up fiber link - to no avail(link works fine, still interference with piano though). My RTTTL is still flawless so its not interference (e?)affecting the ucontroller directly, it has to be my piano.

-Making my midi controller I found that Yamaha has a *funny* MIDI stream-always sending signals regardless of note on/off event, so maybe Yamaha midi is somehow more sensitive than other brands. Pretty sure this hypothesis is ridiculous but I can't figure out what else it could be??

Has anyone had a midi player suffer ridiculously from a TC but at the same time have a ucontroller work fine?

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Goodchild, Thu Feb 07 2013, 04:23PM

Whenever I had trouble with the coil interfering with the piano it was because of one of two things:

1. you are too close to the Tesla coils with the keyboared


2.the coil is not grounded properly.


Both of these thing will cause extra interference to get to the keyboard and trigger keys.

The box is just a hand made thingy, thanks for the compliment!

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Fish, Fri Feb 08 2013, 11:34AM

Thanks Goodchild, sanded my ground stake, replaced the clamp and got some multi-stranded(more stranded than the house wiring i was using anyway) cable for my ground lead and found a 10m toslink cable. Finally some success!

Sorry for hijacking this thread, I'll start a new one for MIDI controller design problems if there are any objections?

My velocity 'handling' for my midi is very crude, PW is literally set to the velocity so 0-127uS. I was wondering what math people employ to get the maximum PW while taking into account the frequency and pw of other tone generators? Are there any good sites (wiki etc) that explain overlayed signals and the effective properties of the new signal? Unless I'm missing something simple I think that this must be fairly complex in order to get max PW while keeping duty cycles within limits??

Have people set PW way down in order to get a larger band width for their coils? I did not design my coil (minibrute) so I'm not 100% sure that this is entirely feasible? Thoughts

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
Goodchild, Sat Feb 09 2013, 07:03AM

A lot of people ask me how I handle velocity, well the simple answer is I don't. I ignore the velocity from the incoming MIDI.

Rather what I do is let the user set a base value on the interrupter and then the software calculates pulse width based on this base number, how many notes are playing, and how high in frequency the notes are.

It reduces PW on a logrithmic curve as frequency increases PW goes down. It's very similar to the response of human hearing. However I do it to get a handle on input power so that high notes don't draw excessive current from the mains.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
..., Sat Feb 09 2013, 07:47AM

see

the interrupter is connected via fiber to deal with the rf from interfering with the usb-midi cable, other than that everything is pretty strait forward, all of the details are on the kickstarter page under downloads.

Re: MIDI Interrupter Software
koolksmart, Mon Feb 11 2013, 01:08AM


I did your short test, and it didn't appear shorted. But I decided to buy a BNC-RCA adapter...It worked! The coil is firing as instructed.
The only issues I'm having now are: 1. The overcurrent LED is almost always tripped when using it, and I can tell that it's a pretty high current spark and 2. Sometimes the coil will just keep playing a note even after I've stopped, and the only way I can get it to stop is to play other notes...That may be an issue with the piano I was using. 3. I blew out the wall socket power supply that I got with the kit almost immediately, so I had to move on to a 9-V battery...Any idea why that may have happened?

Thanks to everyone who helped!