I wanted to share with you my take on the Arduino sequencer. I took a slightly different approach than @analogoutput (great work!), such that this design can easily be tiled into 16, 32, 64 or even more steps.
Below is the current state of the schematic and a few photo’s from my own (8-step) build. The Arduino sketch and the up-to-date version of the schematic can be found on my github page: https://github.com/TimMJN/Arduino-Sequencer
I made some esperiments with an ATmega328 programmed asa simple 8-step sequenzer but in my test I didn’t use an external clock. Instead I hooked up a potentiometer to the ATmega in a way that I could change the speed but also turning the pot one way the sequenzer went UP and turning it the other way the sequenzer went DOWN.
However sequenzers are GREAT stuff so I will look into this design. Maybe use something like it to generate trigger signals.
This circular arrangement looks cool for 8 steps, but I think it gets pretty impractical for 16 or 32 steps. A linear arrangement is much more space efficient
I think it’s something to do with ‘trust levels’. Maybe spend a couple of minutes reading the forum? @Caustic and @fredrik have magic powers - they can help.
Just received my PCB & Panel set today (nice work on the super fast shipping) and I have a few little questions about the build before I dive on in and start working on that lovely blank canvas of a panel.
First, what are the dimensions on the knobs you have used on your demonstration panel? Just wondering which ones I want to go for, and knowing the sizes you have used will be helpful. Second, the Scale pot’s are listed on the board as B200k, can I use B250k’s or am I going to need to find an actual 200k pot? If so, where did you get yours from because Thonk doesn’t carry them. And third is that a 74HC595N you are using for the shift register? I can’t quite make out the markings on the photo.
Great PCB, it’s a lovely layout - looks like it’ll be a nice easy build once the parts all show up for it. Until then… time for some artwork
I had the BOM up whilst going over the board, but the shift register is just listed as a 74HC595, so if you’re doing notes it might be worth adding the ‘N’ as there are a few variants I found when googling. Going with the ‘N’ ones almost halve the price of the part. Great news on the 250k’s that will be a massive help because I can just stick 'em on my thonk order.
As for the knobs, that is going to be a massive money saver for me, because it means Rogan RB knobs will be too tight on the spacing and I can’t just say ‘screw it’ and buy expensive Buchla knobs, lol. I had priced those up at nearly £50. I’ll probably just go with the same (or very similar) ones to yours - it’s a shame I can’t use Sam’s original style ones, as they would be a little too big to fit comfortably from the pics. I do have a load spare though, so I’ll mock it up once I get up to my workshop and double check.