3D Printing

[ManFromGlass]

Isn’t yomping a variation on the Swedish "jumping"?

Oh sorry . . . .

[Sam Spoons]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9W6Ux4xgw

[BigRedX]

I got a call from Webster's to say that the KX5 was ready for collection...

...now, like I say, these are general electronics repair types, A/V mainly. I wouldn't expect them to hook the thing up to MidiOX and check the output - I just asked them to get it to power up reliably. Which they did.

Unfortunately though, although the thing now turned on and could vaguely trigger notes, it produced all kinds of MIDI garbage when you flexed it even slightly, or tried to use aftertouch. And that's hopeless. Because I don't want to cradle it like a Fabergé egg, I want to jump around and swing it like Korg lady.

I nearly gave up at this point, but after another coffee I sighed heavily and dismantled it for the umpteenth time. And I found that it had been reassembled in such a way that a couple of circuit boards which should sit in a groove, weren't; they were sitting beside the groove. So I sorted that out...





...and, amazingly, that made the rogue data go away.

(I don't blame them for this faux pas. To be honest I wouldn't say that Yamaha left no stone unturned in the pursuit of engineering excellence when they designed this thing. It's a bit gimcrack frankly.)

There were still some stubborn keys that were triggering wrongly, or not at all, but another hour or so fettling the contacts eventually settled them down.



(Great word, "fettling". I picked it up from the Northumbrian smallpipes community; they're always fettling things.)

And...yay! It finally works like a charm. Happy days.

If you do want to be able to leap up and down with this you will need to do something about the MIDI output socket. As well as transferring MIDI data the socket is also part of the power circuit. You can’t switch on the KX5 without a DIN plug inserted in it. Unfortunately this also means that the slightest movement of the plug in the socket will cause momentary power glitches and interruption of the flow of MIDI data. On mine this resulted in numerous stuck notes. Within a month of buying mine, had replaced the DIN socket with an XLR and bypassed the power switch on the socket, meaning that I had to remember to use the actual power switch to turn the KX5 off and couldn’t simply unplug the MIDI lead to disconnect the power.

[BJG145]

If you do want to be able to leap up and down with this you will need to do something about the MIDI output socket...On mine this resulted in numerous stuck notes.

...right...I did wonder if that was contributing to the problems. Thanks for the tip!

[EnragedDeveloper]

[quote="BJG145"]

This thing only runs from batteries, no PSU input, but I've ordered what I hope will be a compatible replacement battery holder to hold half a dozen AAs in the narrow channel. (In fact, I ordered five of them, because that was the minimum quantity available for the only one I could track down in the UK which looked compatible. But still, only a couple of quid each.)

The saga is extremely like the KX5 key repair blog I mentioned before...KX5 turns up with six keys broken in one characteristic way:





...and in the course of fixing them, a seventh breaks in a different characteristic way.



I did procure an aluminium rod for the first type of repair, looked at it for a while, then remembered I don't have any tools or DIY skills and pushed the button on the Chile dealer. I'll probably go through a similar process again for the newly broken key, though I might have a quick go because I think that pointy bit might be just a guide for seating the key, rather than the hooky bit which is more tough and structural.

******************

A couple of things:
That Key looks fairly simple and could probably be printed as a 2 piece clamshell so you could fit the springy steel into the retention mechanism before bonding the halves together.

South of that, If you have the broken pieces of the keys look on YouTube for baking soda and (CA) superglue plastic repairs. Apparently it is a very easy and reliable way to reconstruct functional plastics that are hard or impossible to obtain.

If you want an easier path than burning a dozen batteries a day, 6x 1.5V LR6 AA batteries connected in series yields 9 Volts and at full discharge, a dozen batteries are consumed after 4-6 hours. You could modify the Battery area to use Li-Po batteries with a small area reserved for a charging circuit. ( You can buy one pre assembled with over charging protection.) A typical remote car toy battery is 11.1V which can be stepped down to 9V with a buck converter for a cost of about $0.50. If you add multiple batteries and wire them in Parallel (keeping the Voltage at 11.1) you will get a lot more play time before a recharge is needed.

Another Power option is to wire in a receptacle and an on/off/on switch which would allow you to run a DC converter from the wall into the device and turn on batteries, mains or nothing. Combined you could also use the DC jack to charge the LI-Po batteries.

[BigRedX]

Regarding the power problem. If had been using mine for more than a gig a month, plus full band gig rehearsals I might have looked at fitting it with a socket for an external PSU. Probably another locking plug and socket, or maybe a 5-pin XLR for both MIDI and power along with a suitable cable.

However for about 4-5 hours use a week rechargeable batteries were more than sufficient.

[BJG145]

Feeling stoked!

This thread kind of bifurcated...the KX5 thing is more or less done now (although I noticed that one of the keys had dislocated again *sigh*...there's a retaining strip, it needs to be glued but not too glued...I'm thinking, Copydex? Does anyone make that anymore...?)

Anyway, back to the present fork - I'd been hoping for an update on the DigiGurdy situation, which arrived today.



"The first six". Kind of reminds me of: "The final five".

(...any Battlestar Galactica fans here? No...? Oh well...)

I couldn't help wondering if Nigel Eaton was also one of the First Six. But of course, it doesn't matter. So...yes, I asked. And indeed he is.

So now I'm wondering if I should suggest serial numbers. It seems silly; trivial. But then...

Ladies and gentleman, I present...the final five! Sorry, I mean the first five. Six...

[Wonks]

Copydex.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=copydex&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

It's more of a fabric glue than anything else, so won't stick to plastic that well.

[BJG145]

Copydex.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=copydex&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

It's more of a fabric glue than anything else, so won't stick to plastic that well.

OK! Thanks Wonks. (I seem to remember it's pretty good fun peeling it off your fingers though? So I might get some anyway.)

[Wonks]

Maybe use a hot glue gun? The standard white glue is strong but not too strong.

[BJG145]

FIrst batch of six DigiGurdies apparently now complete and ready to ship...

[BJG145]

Digi-Gurdy arrived this morning. Love it.

This is a very rough demo but I needed to get in first before Nigel Eaton got warmed up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piyTyu4 ... e=youtu.be

[Folderol]

Sounds pretty good, but I can't help thinking that a good part of the experience is the sight of the real thing.

[BJG145]

...yes indeed, this is mainly a practice thing. There's a lot of faffing around with rosin, cotton wool and tuning pegs to get a real one working. (Not to mention the racket.) But they're wonderful instruments. (My dream gurdy would be a Mousnier Olive.)

[zenguitar]

One of the reasons I crave a decent workshop again is because I’ve long dreamed of creating an electric hurdy gurdy. Complete with custom pickups for the drones and melody. A nice Marshall for the drones, a Vox/Marshall/Tweed for the melody, two pedal boards, and a pair of volume pedals.

That has the potential to be utterly ridiculous

Andy

[ManFromGlass]

and very cool!

[Folderol]

One of the reasons I crave a decent workshop again is because I’ve long dreamed of creating an electric hurdy gurdy. Complete with custom pickups for the drones and melody. A nice Marshall for the drones, a Vox/Marshall/Tweed for the melody, two pedal boards, and a pair of volume pedals.

That has the potential to be utterly ridiculous

Andy

... and therefore a marvelous bit of kit to wow the audience with... before you even play it

[BJG145]

One of the reasons I crave a decent workshop again is because I’ve long dreamed of creating an electric hurdy gurdy.

I'd like to see that.

John Dingley has launched his design via the Nerdy Gurdy Builders Facebook group, and it's a good place to catch up on discussion of gurdy-hacking; mainly based around a specific customisable DIY kit called the Nerdy Gurdy.

My favourite gurdy luthier, the aforementioned Philippe Mousnier, also makes a solidbody model called the Artus which sounds a bit closer to what you're planning.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vQURO4Vwz0

[Folderol]

Interesting. Very interesting

[zenguitar]

I was sure plenty of people would have had the same idea. Thanks for the links.


Andy

[BJG145]

It's International Hurdy Gurdy Day, apparently...!



All the gurdy forums are buzzing with it, if you'll pardon the pun!!

I haven't noticed much impact on the rest of the media? Strange. But I thought I'd celebrate by uploading some more random ambient noodling on my new DigiGurdy. I don't need much of a pretext.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igu-i9IH2e4

My videos are now trending quite high on YouTube searches for "ambient MIDI hurdy gurdy". I guess I'm a, what do they call it, "influencer"...?

[Folderol]

Strange. I can't find it on any of the search engines

Soooo, if you're an influences does that mean you get lots of product placement money?

[BJG145]

...ah, you noticed the Gringos! **



https://www.gringofairtrade.com/mens/trousers/

** Moderators - please feel free to delete if this breaches advertising guidelines

[Martin Walker]

...ah, you noticed the Gringos! **

** Moderators - please feel free to delete if this breaches advertising guidelines

No, I'm happy to leave this in place to shame your lack of sartorial elegance

Martin

[ManFromGlass]

I like those trousers! Only I’d be totally lost with what shirt would complement them, so I’ll pass.