Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 20:51:06 +0200 From: E.B.S. To: analogue Heaven Subject: [AH] Groove Electronics TR 808 midi interface instructions Hi list, This message is more meant for the archives. (don't know how to get it on Music Machines) About 2 months ago i acquired a tr-808 with the Groove Electronics kit installed. It wasn't clear to me how the kit worked so i asked it here (after checking the archives and more...). Thanks to the nice people on this list i've now got together the info. :-) Since Groove Electronics is out off business and it was kinda hard to get, i thought this must be valuable information for the archives. Hope it helps somebody, Cheers, ERiC Groove Electronics TR-808 midi interface instructions INTRODUCTION ------------------------------ Welcome to the wonderful world of MIDI, now you too can realize a myriad of possibilities with your MIDIfied TR808...blah,blah,blah (...). The midi mod. provides the TR808 with MIDI IN and THRU, the MIDI spec. is as follows; 1. Responds to KEY-ON and VELOCITY data..........TRIG MODE 2. Responds to MIDI START, STOP and CLOCK data...CLOCK MODE It is possible to switch either mode on or off. In TRIG MODE the MIDI receive channel may be assigned 1-16 and the Octave in which the voices are triggered may also be set. Velocity response is set to one of 16 levels, however some sounds are more responsive than others (Snare is good, while hand clap is poor). The sounds are spread over an octave as follows: C-BASSDRUM C#COWBELL D-OPEN HIHAT D#-LOW TOM/CONGA E-CLOSED HIHAT F-SNARE DRUM F#-CYMBAL G-MARACAS G#-HI TOM/CONGA A-RIMSHOT/CLAVES A#-MID TOM/CONGA B-HANDCLAP This spread may be rearranged (by changing pins in a connector), with the exception of Handclap which must stay on the same pin, this will probably be done by us when we install the MIDI. For CLOCK mode to function the TR808 must be switched to INPUT at the switch on the rear panel, next to the DIN-SYNC socket. NB. the TR808 itself will now not respond to selecting new patterns without a MIDI clock running- note that the LED's stop flashing. OPERATING THE TR-808 MIDI INTERFACE ------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITING MIDI PARAMETERS To enter EDIT press the M.S. Switch, mounted on the end cheek next to the midi sockets, once. The LED's on step keys 13-16 will all light to let you know that you are in EDIT MODE. All edit functions are performed with the step switches and displayed on the step LED's. At power up the following parameters are installed: *TRIG MODE on *CLOCK MODE on *RECEIVE CHANNEL =1 *RECEIVE OCTAVE =5 The receive octave refers to the octave in which the tr-808 sounds will respond to MIDI NOTE ON commands, octave 5 starts at MIDI note 60 (Bass drum) and ends at 71 (Handclap) In edit mode the display is as follows: LED's 1-4 show the receive CHANNEL (1 - 16) LED's 5-8 show the receive OCTAVE (0 - 9 ) LED 9 shows the CLOCK MODE (on / off) LED 10 shows TRIG MODE (notes) (on / off) Receive channel (1-4) and receive octave (5-8) are displayed in "reverse binary" (unfortunately!) and so to convert this to decimal use the following chart, where 0 = LED off or flashing, 1 = LED on (Note that some LED's flicker dimly; this should be interpreted as LED off ): 0000=0 0010=4 0001=8 0011=12 1000=1 1010=5 1001=9 1011=13 0100=2 0110=6 0101=10 0111=14 1100=3 1110=7 1101=11 1111=15 Hence the values 0 - 15 may be displayed, so to correctly read the MIDI channel add 1 to the value shown. Example: 0>1 / 1>2 / 2>3 / 3>4 / ........15>16. To change these values, INC / DEC keys are provided as follows: Receive channel INC = step key 14 DEC = step key 13 Receive octave INC = step key 16 DEC = step key 15 To turn the CLOCK / TRIG MODE on or off, simply press step keys 9 & 10 respectively and these will toggle between on & off. To exit edit mode simply re-press the M.C. switch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------