ELECTROBOX for the Nord Electro 5/6
Arduino and the development of ElectroBox
I already had experience of Arduino when I built a drawbar controller to use with Hammond apps like VB-3 and B-3x. The original code for this came from GMLabs D9U project and Guido Scognamiglio posted all the info on GitHub:
https://github.com/ZioGuido/Crumar_D9U
I have implemented an LFO which cyclically adds or subtracts values from the Pitch Bend data. This is basically a software generated triangle wave LFO that is added to the Pitch Bend output. Crude but effective. The LFO is generated from a wavetable so it would very easy to have a number of different waveforms such as square or saw. The pots are programmable and there is an input for an expression pedal.
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| Pitch Wheel option with expression pedal input |
ElectroBox V2 - joystick version
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| Thumbwheel/Joystick version housed in a stompbox enclosure |
Feature list:
- Joystick X-axis for Pitch Bend +/- 2 semitones
- Joystick Y-+ve axis for Modulation (vibrato)
- Assignable control of one parameter on the Nord using the Y -ve axis of the stick
- Assignable control retained in memory
- Triangle wave LFO with rate control
- Mono/Poly switch - with last note retrigger in Mono Mode
- Split switch - freely split Internal/External zones on the fly
- Flip Split switch - sets external to lower and internal to upper
- Program Advance input - requires a foot switch
- Bypass switch - bypasses all functions except Program Advance
- MIDI in/out on 5pin DIN
- Extra MIDI out for external synths
- Extra channel can be set from 1-16 and is stored in memory
- Control knobs for CC71 (res) and CC74 (cut off)
- USB powered
- High quality aluminium stomp box style enclosure
- Original Nord knobs
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| Note the 2 rotary pots for additional control |
I picked up a Roland bender on eBay last week. I always preferred the bender for performance despite being less versatile than 2 wheels. I tried to fit into the PW box but there wasn't space.
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| Roland Bender |
So.... thinking outside the box!
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| Bender fitted in place of the Pitch Wheel |
At some point I will rehouse it in a proper enclosure.
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