some junk we like
Archive for 2010
hey there. So Apple rolled out a new version of Java 6, and it appears to have solved the problems of it not letting compiled processing apps to launch. So! this is really good news because there are a ton of now deprecated setup steps that you can replace with just making sure system update has run and you have the latest java installed.
go get it here: http://beatseqr.com/downloads/roxor2_6.app.zip
Statistics: Posted by stevecooley — Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:51 pm
this means you don’t have to download the max5 runtime… you can just download the compiled executable app instead and skip all the extra steps. woot.
Statistics: Posted by stevecooley — Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:49 pm
great news! Derek got an executable version of steppa running, so you can go grab it here, along with the source code: http://beatseqr.com/downloads/steppa041.zip
Statistics: Posted by stevecooley — Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:48 pm
pending any kind of hold my board house may have for my order, I’m expecting a new small batch of boards to arrive in a couple of weeks. There are a couple of changes that I hope will translate to improvements.
1. the older style potentiometers that required headers, wiring, and holes drilled through the circuit board are now replaced by pcb-mount style potentiometers. I’ve tried really hard to get it right, so I’m hoping I did.
2. fader mounting holes are resized to be the correct size… or.. a better size. I’d made an error on the v3.1 boards in forgetting to fix the problem I saw on the v3 boards. So they should go in easy peasy now.
3. mounting holes are going to be fabricated by the board house. It took me a while to figure out that I can get them to do that for me. 
The net result is that a significant amount of work will be reduced to a couple of machining operations once I get the boards. The cost to get them to do the final machining operations was far outweighed by my ability to do it on my bandsaw in no time.
4. Electrical testing. This extra board house option will further increase my confidence in the product I sell. I could test the boards myself, but I’d rather be working on more creative things. I figured it was best to leave this important step up to people who are experts at quality control.
Hmmm. Need to rethink things. #beatseqr #
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man, I thought making beatseqrs was hard. Pfft, easy town compared to this:
http://www.archive.org/details/VisittoW1950_2
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Comin’ hardcore with sounds from another planet, Deadly Venomz presents us with the ‘Destination Mars’ release. He’s no newcomer to the scene though. The man behind this music, Mattski, is a local veteran in the San Francisco Bay Area with many years of DJ’ing and production under his belt. He always brings the sonic mayhem when it comes to Techno, and these four tracks do exactly that. So put your spacesuit on, step into the airlock and prepare for a sonic onslaught from out of this world.
Artwork by SK70-Mattski
I have beatseqr v3.1 unassembled kits available. The assembly is pretty straight forward, with only a couple of weird things you’ll need to do to undo some of the issues I’m reworking for the next version, whenever that ends up being. This version works, and aside from some slightly inconvenient assembly steps, it’s relatively easy work.
Fully built and battle tested with hard acrylic keys, acrylic case & knobs, $349
Kit with arduino mega, $249
Kit with NO arduino mega, $199
kit prices do not include buttons, case, knobs, or cables. contact steve@beatseqr.com for more info.
Derek made a great new overview video for our Maker Faire booth, check it out:
alrighty, then.. so I’m starting to get my bearings with how all the software works to run jobs through the blacktoe CNC router. I switched from cambam over to sheetcam and now I’m getting really good results. There’s still a certain amount of strangeness, probably all my fault, so I’m still learning what works and what doesn’t. Here’s a video I did to show how the blacktoe does with machinable wax:
The end result is a mold to use for casting translucent silicone into for use in my beatseqr project, as a replacement for the hand-cut-and-sanded acrylic buttons that I’m currently using. You never know how an experiment will really go until it’s over, and now that this experiment is over, I’ve learned a lot and will make a bunch of adjustments:
1. change the silicone product from tap plastics platinum cure translucent (way too wobbly for this application) to smooth-on sorta clear 40. I saw this product at the Maker Faire this past weekend and really liked the firm quality of the cured product. I think it will be a really good candidate. Smooth-on dragon skin 30 was my second-best candidate.
2. cut a new button mold using the techniques I’ve learned by doing this one.
3. adjust the height of the button to be not as tall as this test.
4. adjust the flashing surrounding the buttons to be not nearly as tall. I had it set to be 0.1″ tall, and that’s probably 0.08″ too much. all I need is for it to basically be thick enough to keep all of the buttons together, and that’s it.
5. think about how to diffuse the LED light going into the button… this new silicone is water-clear… so … I’ll need a way to adjust that quality so it looks good. maybe just a sheet of paper under the silicone flashing… we’ll see how that goes.
So… progress continues. I’ll post the result of the next prototype when it’s done.
