Here is how to install a full build of VCVrack onto a Raspberry Pi.
Go to Releases · hexdump0815/vcvrack-dockerbuild-v1 · GitHub and download the latest armv7 build(tar.gz).
Extrackt the archive (pun intended) into a folder of your choice.
cd into that folder in the terminal for example cd /home/pi/Documents/vcvrack.armv7l-v1
and then use ./Rack -d to run it.
Play around with the audio settings particularly the block size and sample rate to get rid of pops and clicks. Also if you change Engine → Threads to 4 performance is much increased.
It helps to not have any other programs open at the same time. Let me know if it works/doesn’t - I played around with many settings and I think I left them all at default but who knows?
Old instructions - miRack
Ok, here’s how to install VCVrack on a Pi(3+ or 4 seems to be recommended). I used miRack, a lightweightish port of VCVrack to ARM and iOS devices. Start with a fresh Raspbian image.
Open the terminal and paste in:
EDIT: If you have already installed this, then it’s ok, use it. If not, I’ve found the repository for ‘official’ VCVrack that I used on my corrupted SD card. Updated instructions incoming!
How well does it run on a Pi 4? How many modules could one expect to reasonably run?
Might be interested in making up a panel or 2 with 7" screens as kosmo modules… I suppose there would also need to be a small amplifier circuit to boost the audio signals from the PIs up to synth levels…
I’ve not pushed it to its limits but on a Pi 4, probably around 40 ish. My SD card decided to corrupt itself last week so this way seems a lot hackier than before but it works just the same.
I don’t have the original post but somebody from Facebook posted this a few months ago, super awesome! I think he/she said it was a cheapy display from AliExpress.
So, how is VCV and Pi interacting with your modulars or sound gear, or is it not?
I’ve had a poke around for audio boards or something that would give CV’s in/out and audio paths and still leave some basic IO for controls (rotary encoder, push buttons, and a small LCD or TFT), that I could build some small synth utilities with a Pi. There’s some opensource synth software (forgot the project, but I think O_C use it as do a few other super expensive small devices).
Looks good. Glad that MiRack is properly Free software now, they were being shady with the licensing for a while, leading to a dispute with the developer…
No, I don’t use it with the modular - I use it for experimenting with complicated modules so I can find how they work (mostly before buying/building eg Braids). I also use it extensively as a ‘hardware synth’ in my DAW so midi from laptop to pi and audio from pi to laptop. I can’t figure out how to do this with mirack as atm I’m using it as a temporary measure until I can get back my full build of VCVrack on the pi (sd corrupted ). I know mirack doesnt work with some 3rd party modules for VCV, but the few that I do need play along nicely.
With full VCVrack it is not so good, 15ish modules seems to be the limit for me at least. But @BratAttack there’s a limit to how many modules you can fit on 7 inch screens right .
ETA: New instructions now live!
With a relatively small processor you might have more fun using Pure Data, or even Max on Wine.
A hidden advantage here is that you can run Linux applications (including Wine) on a headless Pi and tap in using a laptop over X11. Connect some knobs and buttons to the Pi’s GPIO pins for extra tweaking fun.
Okay, so Norns and Teletype by Monome are both opensource, and can run on Pi. They also use Supercolider https://supercollider.github.io/ for sound processing… I would be surprised if many VCVrack modules didn’t use Supercolider.
They’re more interesting to me, as components in a rack vs emulating a rack
I made a small patch with 18 modules including audio out and recorder. It was a bit laggy when I added the last couple of modules, and recording was very laggy, but the final file turned out flawless. It didn’t help that I had firefox open at the same time though.
Yeah, by the time i got to 7" screen my thinking had already shifted to individual VCV guest modules in the rack. I hope they come out with that multi-soundcard support so we can just jam a bunch of cheap USB soundcards into a mini hub and spam the bottom of panels with jacks under a screen.
). I know mirack doesnt work with some 3rd party modules for VCV, but the few that I do need play along nicely.
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