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YummyFuzz, you’re the best. Good work. Congratulations. Well done. Thank you for your detailed report. It will be helpful to others.
Regarding presets: this functionality is only accessible / useable with the MIDI mod. It is documented in the MIDI Owner’s Guide on our website. You can set up the pedal just as you like, apply a mysterious sequence of button presses and knob twists, and save the pedal’s configuration. The pedal holds up to six presets, but you can only recall them by sending the pedal a Program Change message through the optional MIDI interface.We have updated the GitHub repository and the instructions in the README. We are (fairly) confident we have it all right this time. Thanks for your patience and please let us know if you have success. We are very interested to hear if you are successful in modding the software to your needs.
Wow, YummyFuzz, you are brave and dedicated! I am sorry about the apparent loose ends in the Quaverato documentation there on GitHub. One error I see is that the Quaverato sketch wants the MiniCore library, not MightyCore. HEREare the instructions for incorporating MiniCore into your Arduino installation using the Arduino boards manager. I will meet with my software guy in the morning to review what pieces are missing.
You can post an image that is hosted elsewhere (eg, Facebook, Vimeo, Google Photos, etc). Click “IMG” above the Reply window, then paste the link to the image. Fear not; we’ll get you fixed up.
Peter, thanks for writing! Brach, the Quaverato’s designer, is out of the lab for a couple of days. Please expect to hear from him soon.
Glen
JG, thanks for writing! What you are describing is something we hear from time to time. Sometimes it is fixed by re-flashing the Quaverato software. Apparently the software sometimes becomes corrupted during handling of the microcontroller. Re-flashing with the latest software is super-easy with the free ZDL Updater App for PC. You will also need a not-free piece of hardware called a USB-Tiny Programmer. Any Arduino nerd you know has one of these. If there’s an electronics shop or maker space in your area, they will have boxes of them. Or you can get one from us. Re-flashing the software often fixes these issues, but I will ask the Quaverato designer, Brach, to weigh in when he is back in the Lab on Wednesday.
Glen
Yup, that’s a bad pot for sure. Happens about once in 2,000. I’ll send you a new one. Shot an email to info-at-zeppelindesignlabs=dot=com. Include your serial number if you’ve got it, and shipping address.
Meanwhile you can confirm the pot is bad (and check out the other wave forms) by gently pressing down on the pot stem while turning. That should put the wiper in contact with the little carbon strip inside.Patrick, sorry about the trouble with your Altura, but thank you for the video! That is very helpful. I see two significant things going on: the sensors are facing the table, and the knobs do not appear to be functioning correctly. So one at a time:
1) The sensors sense over a wide, cone-shaped space. Laying on the table as in the video, they are both sensing the table at all times and transmitting a static, default, minimal value. This will tend to confuse the display. For testing, please flip the sensors over so they face the ceiling, and tape them to the table or something. In most contexts, only the left sensor affects the display. Set the first two knobs (Data far, Data Near) to full opposite positions and move your hand in and out over the left sensor. What do you see? You should see (in most contexts) numbers spinning by. Nudge the third pot (Function). As it moves, you should see numbers 1-7 scroll by. If not, leave the knob at the 9 o’clock position, which corresponds to 2 or 3.E 5 is not an error message. It means you are playing in the key of E in mode 5, which is phrygian or something.
Even if the display remains unresponsive, please plug the Altura into a MIDI device (a synth). Do not run it into a DAW or other computer system at this point; just run it straight into a MIDI IN jack. Set the last two knobs to 12 o’clock, which sets the Altura to play over one ocatve right in the middle of the keyboard. Wave over the right sensor. Hear anything? Is the MIDI light flickering on the synth? This is testing whether the device is transmitting data.
Finally, check the Articulation mode. Turn off the device, turn all knobs full left, turn on again. What do you see? The display should read 2.1.2 (the latest software version), then change to a number which is a multiple of 15 (the articulation setting).
2) At 1:25 in the video, I see the more compelling issue: When you twiddle the knobs like that, you should see more action on the display. It may be different when the sensors are face up, but I am guessing this will not completely solve the issue. I think we have seen this once before. I will consult with my partners this morning and follow up.
What you describe is a known issue. The keyboard will become increasingly unstable as the voltage from the battery drops. Try a brand-new name brand alkaline battery. Further, the keyboard is sensitive to grounding. It generally works better the more stuff you plug into it — headphones, line-out, power supply. You will notice that the keyboard behaves better when you have a finger touching the far left or right edge. It will work better when your hands are sweaty, or if you lick your fingers.
Another user recently experimented with adding a ground plane by placing a piece of aluminum foil on the inside bottom of his Macchiato cabinet, and connecting it with a bit of wire to the PCB. Some time soon I intend to post his procedure to this forum.
That cabinet model to which you refer, if memory serves, leaves room for improvement. We do still hope to publish some models one of these days.AZ, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is, the Github page instructions appear to be out of date and misleading. The good news is, the current instructions are super-easy. The latest Macchiato release v1.1.3 (Macchiato_Mini_Synthv1_180109.ino) was compiled with Arduino 1.8.4. Try adding MIDI.h and Mozzi to your 1.8.4 libraries as described; then compile the sketch with no further file editing or configuration at all. Flash it to your synth and see if it works.
When my software guy is in tomorrow, I’ll review the Github with him and we’ll update the README with corrected instructions.Thanks for writing JRK! You need to set the Altura transmit channel to match the Macchiato Receive channel. It’s easier to set the Altura Transmit channel, so start there. Set Function = 7, and twirl the far left knob (Data Far). You should see numbers 1-16 spin by. One of these will match the Macchiato Receive channel, and when you hit it, the Macchiato should spring to life.
If you need to set a specific Macchiato Rx channel (eg, to resolve a conflict with other devices), do the following (BTW, these instructions are covered in the respective Owners Manuals):
1. Set your Altura to the Transmit channel upon which you wish the Macchiato to
receive, and connect its MIDI OUT to the Macchiato MIDI IN.
2. Turn off the Macchiato.
3. Turn all the Macchiato’s knobs full right, except Volume. Leave Volume wherever you like.
4. Turn the Macchiato on.
5. Play a note with the Altura by waving your hand over the right sensor to send a Note On to the Macchiato. The Macchiato reads the channel number from the first MDI event it sees, and permanently sets itself to receive only on that channel henceforth. This setting remains in place until such time as you change it again.Of course, it’s also possible the Altura is not actually transmitting data, or the Macchiato is not actually processing the received data. Do you have another synth with which to confirm the Altura is transmitting? Another controller with which to confirm the Macchiato is receiving?
Let me know what you discover.
Glen
