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Putting my MeeBlip Micro inside my Korg MicroKontrol keyboard!
  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    Hi all, just received my MeeBlip Micro in the mail today - can't wait to start making some sounds!

    My plan is to somehow build by MeeBlip into my Korg MicroKontrol USB MIDI controller keyboard.

    (http://www.korg.co.uk/images/products/software_controllers/microKONTROL/hero_microkontrol.jpg)

    I've had the thing open and there's plenty of space inside, also each of the encoders'/faders' MIDI CC values can be altered so I should be able to use them to control all of the parameters rather than using external controls....right??

    Anyway, I have a few questions that I wouldn't mind some advice on:

    Power - the MicroKontrol takes power via USB, a 9V adapter or batteries. I was hoping that I might be able to somehow power the MeeBlip inside the keyboard from the same power (seeing as I'm probably only going to want the MeeBlip switched on when the keyboard is). Any ideas? I currently power the controller via USB so ideally it'd be using that power (but I think that's like 5V or something isn't it? Would that be enough for the MeeBlip?) but I guess an alternative is just using one of those 'daisy chain' 9V cables which I could plug into the controller and the MeeBlip (although, again, I'd ideally 'chain' the two internally....??

    MIDI - In its simplest form, I figured I could mount the MeeBlip with its ports poking through the back of the keyboard and then just link the keyboard's MIDI out/through with the MeeBlip's MIDI in (using a very very short MIDI cable!) but I'd like to think I could somehow do it neater - could I solder the pins of the keyboard's MIDI out internally to the MIDI in of the MeeBlip? That way it would be linked to the MeeBlip at all times but I could also use an external MIDI in from another keyboard/controller if I wanted to (or would this create some sort of cross-talk??)

    Patches - am I right in thinking that the MeeBlip Micro is not capable of storing presets like the other MeeBlips are? If this is the case, I wonder if I might be able to save patches as 'scenes' in my MicroKontrol (it allows for users to save up to 12 internal 'scenes' for use with different DAWs/VSTs etc) but I could feasibly save each of these 'scenes' as a different preset, where the MIDI CC data stays the same but the starting values for each CC are different, allowing for different sounds....right??

    Obviously I can just try all of this stuff and see how I get on, but I'd love any input you guys have in case you can save me some time by telling me things that won't work (or save my MeeBlip by stopping me doing something that will cause it to inadvertently set fire!!) :-)

    Thanks in advance and glad to be joining the community! :-)

  • meeblipmeeblip
    Accepted Answer

    1. Power: You can connect a 9V DC power source (like your keyboard power supply) to the two pads marked "9V Power (-) and (+)" on the Micro board. The voltage regulator and power filter will take care of stepping down to 5V.

    2. MIDI: There are a couple of pads underneath where the MIDI jack is mounted that can be used to connect to to the MicroKontrol MIDI Out without requiring a MIDI cable - a couple of jumper wires will do.

    3. It sounds like you're on the right track with your "scene" method of patch storage.

    Good to have you here.

  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    Hey man, thanks for the input! Good to know I'm on the right track.... I've just got to the audio/power/midi port soldering bit of the build and wondering whether to add the ports or just solder into the stuff already in the MK.... Does anybody know, if I were to solder the ports internally, does that 'cancel out' the external ports? For instance, if I were to solder the MIDI port to the MeeBlip, but also solder jumper wires to the pads on the MeeBlip and take these to the DIN pads on the MK, would it 'cancel out' the MIDI data coming from one in favour of the other? Or would it technically accept both at once? I know this could cause it to receive mixed signals....but it would work, right?

    Also, are you saying that the MeeBlip actually only needs 5V? Could I therefore attach the 9V power pads to a 5V power line from the MK's USB pads??

  • meeblipmeeblip

    The Meeblip needs a minimum of about 7.5V at the pad marked 9V to function properly.

    If you connect the MIDI Out of your MK to the MIDI IN on a MeeBlip and another device at the same time, you might get some pretty weird behavior.

  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    Okay - well I'll have a little play around and see what I can achieve. I've had it working and it sounds great (kinda 'bit-crushy'....normal??) and have managed to edit my controller's MIDI assignments to interface with the parameters so will see where I can go with it next! :-)

  • ArvidArvid

    would it be feasible to somehow power the Meeblip on 5V? (The Atmel runs 5V right?)

  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    Hmm...will certainly give it a try!!

  • orangebugorangebug

    I have managed to run my micro off of 12v in the past. Albeit the regulator ran a bit hot, but nothing else melted ;)

  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    Ok... so I've started the 'hack', but have only got as far as getting the MeeBlip powered off the Korg's power. The only difficulty was that the Korg's power socket needs 'centre negative' whereas I think the Meeblip needs 'centre positive', so I had to connect wires directly from the pins of one to the pins of the other (but it worked!). What I really wanted to do was connect it through the Korg's power switch (rather than straight to the power socket) so that the MeeBlip would only be 'on' when the keyboard was....unfortunately I'm a real novice at this stuff and even with a multimeter couldn't quite work out which pins to go through to make this happen (feels like I tried every possible combination!!)

    Photo of the work in progress here:

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2229266/KorgMeeBlip/Photo 10-08-2012 01 00 50.JPG

    So next - the other connections and working out where the Meeblip board will fit inside the Korg. It will fit in the opposite side of the keyboard but I'm still a little scared to drill holes in my nice keyboard for the connectors to poke through (!!), so I was deliberating whether to just hard wire the connectors (power, midi) internally and then just somehow make a small hole for an audio out... once the board was inside I (theoretically!) wouldn't have to ever see it again as all of the functions could be controlled via MIDI. But then it would lose some of its useability (being able to connect other controllers to the MIDI port...unless I just use the MIDI 'in' of the Korg to 'pass through' to the MeeBlip...)

    Again, if anyone has any suggestions I'd be more than happy to hear what people think - all of my 'theorizing' and questions probably show how new I am to this game!!

  • andrew.harperandrew.harper

    i have some concerns 1, I'm a real novice at this stuff 2, Korg MicroKontrol keyboard is a lot of money to buy 3 the wire you used is a bit over the top ..

    i would buy a midi controller keyboard off ebay for 25 to 30 pounds my self if i was doing a mod like this as i would not want to take a chance of killing it ..

    i am also a novice but lets see if i can help can you take a picture of the switch pins

  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    Put your concerns to rest my friend - all done! :) Got it finished last night; works like a charm. The 'wire' is standard audio 2 pair install cable; would have used some bog-standard Maplin stuff but this is all I had to hand in work...

    Decided to just add external audio and wire everything else internally:

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2229266/KorgMeeBlip/Photo 10-08-2012 17 00 51.jpg

    Had to hacksaw a bit of metal off the connector plate inside my MK (!!!!) but seemed to fit fine after that.

    Only used the centre three pins of the MIDI connector - hopefully that's all it needs?? Seems to work anyway! And connected the power to the DC jack as I think the switch might actually be switching one of those switch-mode power supply circuits rather than actually connecting to the power...

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2229266/KorgMeeBlip/Photo 10-08-2012 18 44 18.jpg

    Anyway, got 'er all neatened up and insulated/stashed the MeeBlip in the opposite corner of the keyboard:

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2229266/KorgMeeBlip/Photo 10-08-2012 19 04 48.jpg

    Programmed all the CC values on a PC editor and voilla!

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2229266/KorgMeeBlip/Photo 11-08-2012 01 52 06.jpg

    Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Right, so onto the questions/comments as usual:

    1. The sound is still quite 'low-fi', e.g. it has a kind of 'bit-crushy' tail to everything. I like this but am wondering if it's meant to be like that or if it's because i haven't soldered something correctly or something...

    2. I only had a TRS jack socket lying around, so without the use of several 'bodge' connectors (stereo to mono) I only get sound out of one side of my headphones. Anybody know how to wire a TRS socket in 'mono' mode? Is this even possible? I tried 'jumping' the ring and sleeve pins which I thought worked but when I put it all back together it seems to have gone back to one ear again...

    3. I took the list of MIDI controllable parameters and 'jiggled' them around a bit to make it a bit more intuitive for my fader/knob/pad setup. See the new 'order' here:

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2229266/KorgMeeBlip/MeeBlipMicroCCs.rtf

    Will post more 'thoughts' as I think of them, but I had a great time playing with this last night. Can't believe I didn't wreck my MK! But it's an old one so wasn't really too bothered.... Unfortunately it doesn't seem to output MIDI when its connected via USB (which might just be a software issue, I dunno...) but I assume the midi-in/through of the keyboard should work (if, for instance, I wanted to control the MeeBlip from another keyboard or from a computer etc...

  • andrew.harperandrew.harper

    ebay you can get cheap usb adaptors to midi cables ..also you need a stereo scocket for headphones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS_connector

  • meeblipmeeblip

    There shouldn't be a "bit crushy" tail to most sounds. Can you record a short audio clip?

  • peanutismintpeanutismint

    @andrew.harper yep I have a stereo socket in but the meeblip only has 2 audio output pins so I don't really know how to wire them to three pins of a TRS socket....?? Am I meant to bridge two pins? OR just connect one to a common ground or something??

    @meeblip yes will record a clip when I get back from vacation in about a week.

    Thanks for the continued help guys! :-)

  • andrew.harperandrew.harper

    so i guess you would like to wire the meeblip to a stereo jack socket well you need a socket with 3 connection the last one and the second to last are signal and the first one is earth connector---------------PCB

    tip------->Audio out ,Ring------>Audio out, Sleeve---------->Ground so wire the two audio outs together and connect the - to ground to gouund

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