MIDI Looper and Sequencer with capacitive touch and encoders

Rework Station Kit, SMD

USB C USB4105-GF-A

3D Printer (generic)

Adafruit ItsyBitsy M0 Express

Azoteq multitouch QS550 I2C

Encoder PEC11S

APTR3216SECK

N-PI55TATPRPGPB

24 pin I/O Expander: 2x PCAL6524HEAZ

EEPROM 512k I2C   M24512-DFDW6TP 

Precision Tweezer, Hand-Piece

Led Latch: CAT4016HV6G

Arduino IDE

LDO AP7215-33YG-13

<html><body>Hi all.I built a hardware sequencer to do stuff my existing Elektron, Polyend, and other hardware pattern sequencers cannot do.Its the little things, and when Dawless, that can make all the difference - at least to me.My favourite featuresof this are:- Composer Mode: Awesome for live music. Control multiple synths using your fingers on a keyboard (not a keyboard split). For instance, pinky on left hand can transpose bassline, all 3 fingers on left hand String/pad chords, middle finger left hand Lead 1, and right hand Lead 2, and all notes something else.- Chord Follower Mode: Put in a complex melody, and have it change (transpose) notes based on your finger position (not just shifting all up and down). With the ablity to press just one or two fingers to change only those notes- Recording using a pedal that starts only when note pressed: Just awesome. Hold the pedal, and (only) when you play a note does it start recording, and it stops recording when you release the pedal - automatically finding the correct loop point, and immediately starts looping on the beat - not halfway in. I really don't understand why this is not a common feature...- LPF and HPF on notes: Again, don't know why this is not common. So handy when playing live, to mute part of the sequence and bring in and out. Also is a great why to find the core of the melody and remove notes not doing anything.- Pitch Inversion: Kind of a cheat, but you set a reflection plane (note) and then turn the knob, reflecting (well - shifting) the notes with respect to this plane. A way to find new notes without messing with the rhythm of the melody.<figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjFpd8f3n0o"></iframe></figure>Anyway - the code is on Github: https://github.com/CaratacusPotts/Matrix-SequencerI specifically made this for Arduino to be easy (I am not a programmer - as you will notice looking at the code..), and in KiCad and EasyEDA for ease of copying.If you know how to solder SMD, you can do this at home and order the components and boards from your favourite PCB manufacturer (Pcbway etc) and Mouser/Digikey etc.Hopefully if people like this, we/you can evolve the code and make it better, a little less-buggy and with more features than I have the time to do (I really don't have the time to be working on this much, as I am involved in other things that take my time)Feel free to contact me directly if you are building it and need to figure something out, as a quick chat could save hours of de-bugging etc.Hopefully this could turn into a product if you are suitablably motivated, and keep the BOM and labour costs down (I might invest!)Operates in: Loop Mode, Song Mode, Conductor ModeCan be inserted inline to existing synth3U Rack compatablenote:The rows of partially lit LED's represent the black notes on a paino roll. And they also show the start and end points on the loop.The touch comes from the capacitance matrix build into the inner pcb layers, and using a touch IC to read out.Basic Functions (left row):Start/Stop: Play using internal clock or external midi clockBPM change using encoderLoop Start and End points via encoderRecord:Overtop: using Encoder buttonOn-Play: holding foot pedal, recording starts when first note played. Recording stops with foot off pedal. Automatically cuts loop to nearest beat, so loops nice.Clear notes (via encoder button)Mode select: Loop Mode, Song Mode, Conductor Mode and Chord FollowerCanon and Note Functions (right rows):Transpose (to scale, on/off beat, via encoder or key input)Phase (by multiples of loop, by amount in steps)Frequency (compress note sequence in time, in fractions of current loop length)Mirror Notes Pitch (with a user defined mirror plane, reflect notes in pitch axis)Mirror Notes Loop (with a user defined mirror plane, reflect notes in time)Note Cutofff Filter (mute notes like a LPF or HPF)Note Velocity (use finger to draw note velocity or encoder)Note Duration (use encoder to increase or decrease all note lengths)Additional Features:256 events (not bound by bars or specific steps)PolyphonicIntuitive (basic) scales when transposing. Just choose the notes you what it to transpose to - without having to know archaic names, such as Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian...Please see github for more info.I also made other variations, that are on the git, such as a basic in-line midi-looper.All the bestChris Malloy <figure><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CaratacusPotts/Matrix-Sequencer/main/MatrixV2/Images/img02.jpg"/><figcaption>undefined</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CaratacusPotts/Matrix-Sequencer/main/MatrixV2/Images/img03.jpg"/><figcaption>undefined</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CaratacusPotts/Matrix-Sequencer/main/MatrixV2/Images/img05.jpg"/><figcaption>undefined</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CaratacusPotts/Matrix-Sequencer/main/MatrixV2/Images/img01.jpg"/><figcaption>undefined</figcaption></figure></body></html>

Matrix V2 (encoder version)

MIDI Looper and Sequencer with capacitive touch and encoders

Intuitive interface for live jaming, with interesting features like composer mode and low-pass and high-pass note filters, Canon functions and lots of other goodies on top of loop and song modes. Connects via USB-C and 3.5mm MIDI jack