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First commit of the repo. Contents beyond the v0.1 simulator and layout: - Full Pico 2 W firmware (firmware/app, drivers, engine port, host test). - BANK page and 404 mode A/B removed; learned pads play exactly what was learned. - 404/MiniFreak renamed to KIT/SYNTH throughout (jacks, code, sim, docs, layout labels; wiring rebuilt). - ROLL returns to page select after a re-roll; a freshly learned track turns on. - LCD contrast 66. - ROOT and SCALE pages: 21 scales, AUTO = the seed picks; global and sticky. Intended music change: the scale table grew from 8 to 21 and AUTO picks from all of them, so every seed's scale changed. Vectors regenerated with npm run vectors, plus new key-override cases. Flash record is now version 2. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
60 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
# Seedbox
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A generative rhythm and melody machine for a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W. One 32-bit seed grows a whole tune: a drum part for any sampler or drum machine and a bass, melody and pad line for a poly synth, both over MIDI. Built and tested with a Roland SP-404MKII and an Arturia MiniFreak. You don't program steps. You pick a seed, turn tracks on and off, and steer it with two knobs.
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**Status: v0.1.** The engine and the controls are settled in a browser simulator that drives the real gear over Web MIDI. The stripboard layout has been checked by script and by an independent review. The Pico firmware is not written yet: that's the next step.
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## What's in the box
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| Part | |
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|---|---|
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| Brain | Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W (RP2350), powered and flashed through its own USB port at the back |
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| Screen | Nokia 5110 LCD (PCD8544, 84 × 48) |
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| Controls | Encoder with push, ENERGY and DRIFT pots, SEED button, 11 track buttons in a 4 × 3 grid, with the RUN toggle in its top-right corner |
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| MIDI | IN (for learning drum pads), OUT KIT (sampler or drum machine), OUT SYNTH. 3.5 mm TRS (Type A), MIDI 1.0 3.3 V spec. |
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## Repo map
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```
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sim/ the browser simulator: index.html, engine.js (portable engine), app.js (UI, Web MIDI)
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test/ golden vectors and the scripts that make and check them
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hardware/ layout.js (the stripboard, one source of truth) and check-layout.js
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tools/ bench pages: wiring.html, bom.html (tick-off parts list), panel.html (panel layout)
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docs/ concept, controls, MIDI setup, hardware (BOM, pinout, wiring, panel, SVG drawings)
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firmware/ the port plan for the Pico (C, Pico SDK)
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```
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## Run it
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The simulator is a static page. Web MIDI needs a secure context, so serve it over `localhost` or HTTPS rather than opening the file directly:
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```sh
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npx serve . # or: python3 -m http.server
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# open http://localhost:3000/sim/ (Chrome or Edge; Firefox needs a Web MIDI add-on)
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```
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GitHub Pages works too: enable Pages for the repo and open `/sim/`.
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Checks (Node 18 or later, no dependencies):
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```sh
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npm test # golden vectors + stripboard netlist
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```
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## Docs
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- [Concept](docs/concept.md): how the music is made
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- [Controls](docs/controls.md): the panel, the screen pages, the gestures
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- [MIDI setup](docs/midi-setup.md): kit and synth, learn mode
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- [Hardware](docs/hardware/README.md): parts, pinout, stripboard, panel
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- [Firmware plan](firmware/README.md)
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- [Design decisions](docs/decisions.md)
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## Licence
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None chosen yet. Add a `LICENSE` file before making the repo public (MIT for code and CC BY-SA for the hardware docs is a common pairing).
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## Credits
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The track model leans on Eric Lyon's paper "Techno Counterpoint", an analysis of Aphex Twin's tracking practice. The AMENIZER plays a re-voiced Amen break pattern (The Winstons, "Amen, Brother", 1969).
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