MIDI supplies

Hello All,

Thank for letting me join. I have a Conn 652 that I Plan to make in to a virtual organ, May I ask for recommendations for MIDI electronics please, Artisan, MIDI boutique etc, thanks

Colin

Welcome to the forum!

Looks like they used IC's and matrices for the keying, so you should be able to use most modern products at 5v for them. Artisan or Midi boutique would both work, the choice coming down to how much you want to pay and how complex you want the project to be. There is also North West Midi (John Kinkennon) that makes some very useful boards, as well I have published some code on my Arduino hub page: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/La ... ans-f3756c. Have a look at the prices and how they need to be wired up, and if you have any questions we can answer them. There's pros and cons to every system, as well as different prices and different required skills as to how you need to wire them up, whether or not they output USB or serial Midi, etc.

Thank you Larson2,

Thats very interesting. You Arduino option looks very good. And I guess it would always have some spares. Can only one of these units do everything? Is it possible to have an output board that allows switching of SAMS too please?

Kind Regards

Colin

You wouldn't be able to use just one Arduino, but two of them should be able to cover the organ, at least for switch sensing. All you would have to do is change the midi channel assignment in the code, then daisy chain the two by grounding them together, and wiring the Tx from one arduino to the Rx of the other. My latest code has the midi thru, so that would be all that is needed. You'd have to wire them to compatible matrices though, or adjust the code so it fits the matrices you have.

Driving the SAMs is a whole other matter though. My Arduino design would be able to sense the switch state, but not drive them. John at NW midi has a lot of experience with this, and he may be able to provide you with the right boards. Sometimes you can reuse the capture action power supply that it currently has. Otherwise, you need boards with speciaized transistors and one or more power supplies to make it work. Those you can get at Midi Boutique, but there may be others as well. Adding the tech to drive the SAMs is more complicated, and can always be added later.

Does the 652 really have SAMs, or just stop tab switches? I ask this because on the Miditzer forum someone commented some time ago that converting to SAMs would be physically difficult because of the metal stop rail.

Does the 652 really have SAMs, or just stop tab switches? I ask this because on the Miditzer forum someone commented some time ago that converting to SAMs would be physically difficult because of the metal stop rail.

Hello,

You are correct, switches at present, I’m hoping to fit SAMS, I don’t have my console at present. So I have to see what is possible,

Kind regards

Colin

You wouldn't be able to use just one Arduino, but two of them should be able to cover the organ, at least for switch sensing. All you would have to do is change the midi channel assignment in the code, then daisy chain the two by grounding them together, and wiring the Tx from one arduino to the Rx of the other. My latest code has the midi thru, so that would be all that is needed. You'd have to wire them to compatible matrices though, or adjust the code so it fits the matrices you have.

Driving the SAMs is a whole other matter though. My Arduino design would be able to sense the switch state, but not drive them. John at NW midi has a lot of experience with this, and he may be able to provide you with the right boards. Sometimes you can reuse the capture action power supply that it currently has. Otherwise, you need boards with speciaized transistors and one or more power supplies to make it work. Those you can get at Midi Boutique, but there may be others as well. Adding the tech to drive the SAMs is more complicated, and can always be added later.

I have emailed john, no reply at present, maybe he’s on holiday?

I am in the process of closing my newer website, as selling a few boards has required a larger amount of support time than I had anticipated. The global parts shortage contributes to the problem as well.

I do intend to publish the latest designs within a couple of months at http://www.kinkennon.com so that anyone can order the circuit boards directly from their favorite PCB fabricator. I will include the ethernet backbone designs as well since they are working great in the 5-manual Allen console.

I went with MidiBoutique for my project back in 2013. It was plug & play for 110 drawknobs, 26 rocking coupler switches, 21 toe studs and 4 expression/crescendo shoes. The plugging part was many hours of soldering/wiring which resulted in a console that functions very well. The 4 keyboards are from Classic Midi so, other than getting them mounted in the keycheeks which was handled by the brother of a church member, were just drop in and go.

I don't know how that would compare to some of the other solutions offered here for effort and cost.

Of possible interest, for the SAM power supply I went with an 85A RV Inverter which cost $140.00. It has probably 20A of headroom so isn't being stressed and has really worked out well. The purpose built supply through a local pipe organ builder was quoted at $500.00.