I looked at a few different options for polyphonic MIDI control of the alfa4 system. I knew it had to be digital (it will be the only part of alfa4 that is!), so I explored various chips, considered writing something for Arduino, but realised that I have exactly what I needed in my main system already: the Midimuso CV-12. I was hoping to build this system entirely from scratch from my own designs, but this seemed a no brainer really. The CV-12 is great and it can do 4 voice polyphony with velocity, which is exactly what I need and it’s super cheap. It will also fit exactly into the space I had planned for a MIDI converter.
I didn’t want to use the one from my main system, so I grabbed another kit.
I made up a temporary panel to match my prototypes (eventually these will all be replaced with anodised aluminium I think).
Pretty much matches my design 🙂
I quickly built the kit up, added a power connector and wired up the panel.
With hindsight, I should have mounted the board the other way round as the MIDI sockets are directly above the voltage regulators so it’s ended up quite deep – not an issue as the rest of the modules will be a similar depth anyway.
I haven’t implemented the MIDI thru yet as I’m still working out the best way to do it, but it’s a less important feature, so I’ll get to it at some point. Probably.