Standalone MIDI upgrade

[Andrew McPherson]

Hi everyone,

At long last, it's time to launch the TouchKeys standalone MIDI upgrade kit! The hardware design and the firmware are now done, and I have tested them on my own keyboard, which means it's time to move it out to wider testing and distribution.

You can find all the details and FAQ about this new option on this page:

http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~andrewm/touchkeys-midi.html

Here's a summary:

It consists of a new board with two 5-pin MIDI jacks plus a firmware update for your TouchKeys controller. It lets you control a MIDI synth directly from the TouchKeys, without a computer, by putting several commonly-used mappings directly into the hardware. The most common features are supported, but it is not intended as a complete replacement for everything the software does.

It works with any existing TouchKeys kit, whether from Kickstarter or the 2015 production run.

I intend to sell the upgrade for £69 for future orders. But for anyone who's already ordered a kit (i.e. most people on this list), it will cost £39. Add £5 for shipping outside the UK. This price basically covers the costs of producing the new hardware boards. For simplicity this price is the same inside and outside the EU. There's no VAT outside the EU, but shipping costs more in practice, so it balances out.

I plan to release this in two stages: beta test and wider distribution. (The beta testing slots may be limited.) There's no cost difference, but if you want to beta test, you can get your hands on it a few weeks sooner. In exchange, I'd ask you to help me out by documenting any bugs or quirks you might discover, and trying to characterise when and how they occur. Also for beta, I will initially distribute Mac software for downloading the firmware update (only needed once when you install). Later on I will release a Windows version. I estimate beta in early Feb, full release in March.

The capabilities are listed at the link above. Note that it gives you 5-pin MIDI jacks, but not USB MIDI. This is because the purpose of the kit is to eliminate the need for a computer; with a computer the software is still recommended.

Email me if you want to order one of these kits. Unlike the TouchKeys kit itself where I needed a pre-order, I won't take payment until it's ready to ship, so consider it just an expression of interest for the moment. Thanks for your patience on this project, which had to be put on the back burner during the teaching semester last year. I'm looking forward to getting this out to you and to getting your feedback.

Best wishes,

Andrew

P.S. It may take a few days for me to respond to emails, because of some other deadlines this coming week. But I wanted to share the details with you now.

[Ozan Yarman]

Kudos Andrew!

But what a pity that the Split Key (Experimental 24-tone Tuning) option is non-existent with this version of the stand-alone TouchKeys... :(

Yet, the road that you have traversed has already led to great accomplishments, and holds the promise for greater avenues still...

Keep in touch,

Dr. Oz.

✩ ✩ ✩

www.ozanyarman.com

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TouchKeys" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to touchkeys+...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[strm...@hotmail.com]

Hey Andrew. Ron here. Will Touch Keys be available again. Can't seem to find any info on availability. Would love to Mod my old ESQ1. They would work great together.

[Andrew McPherson]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the email. Yes, TouchKeys will be available again, hopefully later this year. I've had to put things on hold for a couple months for some internal university reasons, but the plan will be to first finish distributing the standalone MIDI upgrade kits, then look ahead to another production run.

When I'm ready to take more orders, I'll post again here and also share more info on the website, Facebook and Twitter.

Best wishes,

Andrew 

[strm...@hotmail.com]

Will be waiting with anticipation. Thanks for the response.