MOTM

OK, flat rail development is behind me, panels and all that 822/831 stuff
will be shipping out of here soon, the next round of behind the sceens work
for Stooge panels round 3 has already started, and my pedal interface is
finished and under evaluation at the secret labs of Synthesis Technology.
So, I am looking over the list of 25 other things I would like to "play"
with.  Of course, there is not enough time to get to hardly any of it.  But,
I'm have to work on something to solve this need to "learn from my
failures." <snicker>  So, I thought I would run an idea up the flag pole for
comments and feedback.

Something that Paul has said (in the past) he has no plans for is a ribbon
controller.  I have some ideas (and sources of material - some originally
designed for NASA) that I think might make a dandy ribbon controller.  So,
I'm gonna buy some stuff and start playing with it (get started early on
figuring out what won't work).

Now, assuming one gets past the technical part of making the ribbon work,
the next BIG issue is what format to build the thing in.  I imagine there
are as many different ideas as there are people on this list.  So, if you
have some suggestions, please send them my way.  I have a buddy who does
wood work.  So, I can think of lots of different formats.  I can see a long
slender thing that lays on top of a keyboard (KW style).  I can see
something more "stand alone-ish" like a guitar shaped strap on. I can see a
basic "strip" that each person can customize into their own format.  I see
this connecting with a single cable back to a module in the rack with the
electronics, controls, and jacks.  And, since we all have 2 hands, It seems
to me that 2 ribbons or zones on the ribbon should be a feature.  Maybe one
is long and horizontal, while the other is short and vertical near the end.
Maybe there are two long ones in parallel.  Anyhow, it seems like 2 separate
CVs are a must for any decent ribbon controller.  What about gates or
triggers?  Seems like a controller should produce one or both.  I had a
couple of concepts in my initial thought.  1- a gate out that starts when
you depress the ribbon and stops when you release pressure.  2 - a separate
"tap" pad for fingers on the opposite hand.  Or, perhaps running parallel to
the ribbon for thumb tapping.

Anyhow, any comments concerning format, features, etc that you would like to
share with me would be greatly appreciated.

Stooge Larry
(not actually qualified to design any electronic circuits)

In a message dated 8/12/2001 9:39:14 PM, iron butt writes:

<<Now, assuming one gets past the technical part of making the ribbon work,
the next BIG issue is what format to build the thing in.  I imagine there
are as many different ideas as there are people on this list.  So, if you
have some suggestions, please send them my way.  I have a buddy who does
wood work.  So, I can think of lots of different formats.  I can see a long
slender thing that lays on top of a keyboard (KW style).  I can see
something more "stand alone-ish" like a guitar shaped strap on. I can see a
basic "strip" that each person can customize into their own format.  I see
this connecting with a single cable back to a module in the rack with the
electronics, controls, and jacks.  And, since we all have 2 hands, It seems
to me that 2 ribbons or zones on the ribbon should be a feature.  Maybe one
is long and horizontal, while the other is short and vertical near the end.
Maybe there are two long ones in parallel.  Anyhow, it seems like 2 separate
CVs are a must for any decent ribbon controller.  What about gates or
triggers?  Seems like a controller should produce one or both.  I had a
couple of concepts in my initial thought.  1- a gate out that starts when
you depress the ribbon and stops when you release pressure.  2 - a separate
"tap" pad for fingers on the opposite hand.  Or, perhaps running parallel to
the ribbon for thumb tapping.

Anyhow, any comments concerning format, features, etc that you would like to
share with me would be greatly appreciated.

Stooge Larry
(not actually qualified to design any electronic circuits)
 >>

Surprisingly enough, I'd like to see an analog ribbon controller -- I can't 
have mentioned this more than ten times here. My preference would be for a 
very thin "top O the keyboard" approach. I do like your idea of two different 
ribbons (especially one long and one short at the left end). I also think 
gate and trigger should be generated with each touch of the ribbon. 

Two things which I'd add as ideas are: 1) a rotary (Paul gasps) range switch 
to reduce the range to as little as one octave. 2) a scale switch to cause 
the mid point of the ribbon to generate zero volts with the right side 
positive, and the left side negative.

Hey Larry, is it your wife or your boss who gave you that nickname iron butt 
(not to be confused with iron butt-erfly I presume)?
JB

Larry,

This is a very cool project!  Sorry for the late response - I just wanted to
think a little first.  I'm definitely interested in the outcome of your
experimenting, and would be very interested in picking one up if it ever
makes it to "stooge-kit" form.  Now that I've been using the MOTM system for
a while, I'm beginning to look for more interesting ways to control it.  The
foot pedal is also highly anticipated.  :)

The following is a few of my thoughts/preferences.  (Some of these have been
echoed before.)

1) I like your idea of two ribbons with separate CV outs, one for x-axis and
one for y-axis.

2) As for format, I like the idea of individual strips with mounting holes,
with a single cable back to a module.  That I believe would support the most
flexibility, and it would leave the mounting as a DIY project for the
synthesist.

3) Gate/Trigger control could be configurable.  Based on settings, either
the x or the y ribbon (or both) could be used to produce a gate when
touched.  A trigger could be generated along with the gate, and addl.
triggers might be produced whenever the gate-producing ribbon is currently
being touched, and the other is tapped.

4) Support for what I'll call "CV Range Mode".  That is to say, what the
initial CV value is when a ribbon is touched, and how the CV is modified as
you move across the ribbon.  Off the top of my head I can think of four
basic modes.  Mode 1 is "static-full", in that the CV range is equally
distributed across the ribbon, with the zero point in the middle, most
negative to the far left (or down) and most positive to the far right (or
up).  Mode 2 is "static-left0", in that the far left is 0v, and the far
right is most positive.  Mode 3 is "static-right0", in that the far right is
0v, and the far left is most positive.  Mode 4 is "differential", in that
the zero point is were you initially touch the ribbon, and the CV goes
increasingly negative when you move to the left, and increasingly positive
to the right (like Moe described).

5) A CV polarity reversing switch for each ribbon might prove useful.

6) It might be useful if there was a way to control the overall range of CV
for each ribbon.  Possibly  something like fixed range vs. variable range.
Fixed range could support 1, 2, 3, ... octaves; variable range would have a
range adj. control.  (However, since most modules have attenuators on their
inputs, variable range may not be absolutely necessary; a full range
selection may be sufficient.)

7) Individual CV bias settings might be good.

8) It also might be useful to support either linear or exponential response,
based on settings. (I believe JB suggested this.)

Man, this sounds like a lot of stuff for one controller.  It may be better
to find a way to support the x-y ribbon scenerio via two separate ribbon
controller modules - using some sort of "link"  feature.

Cheers,
George