[Nederlandstalige versie]

<So>

This musical robot consists of an old Bb sousaphone with an automated playing head and automated valves. Wind supply is also automated. Controlling this robot is realized using a standard midi protocol. Two PIC controllers take care of the translation of the midi commands flowing into the quite complex command set the instrumental hardware requires. The sound generating mechanism mimics human lips and does make use of the normal mouthpiece of the instrument. A moving coil valve activates a leather pad (actually one taken from the lowest keyholes of a tenor saxophone) that opens and closes the air traject through the mouthpiece. We did spend a lot of research time in finding a mechanism producing a realistic tuba sound. Hundredths of attempts using solenoid valves failed, because the magnetization of the iron alloys used is way too slow to open and close any kind of valves at speeds exceeding 40 Hz. Hence we decided to use a moving coil mechanism in a permanent magnet, much like the action of a regular loudspeaker, where the moving coil is mechanically connected to the paper cone. This mechanism is controlled by a switching signal of a frequency corresponding to the note to be played. At the same time the valves (activated by bidirectional solenoids) are pushed such that resonance through the instrument does occur. We dismissed the return springs in the original sousaphone valves as we found we could get more silent operation from the valves by pushing and pulling them under solenoid action. Wind pressure, derived from a smal axial compressor, is applied to the artificial mouth assembly. The pressure is variable between 0 and 75mm H20. In fact, this pressure is lower than what we calculated to be necessary (350mm H20 is what brass players build up by their lungs in fff passages...), but we could not find anywere in the industry small and silent operating blowers in this range. (Forget about vacuum cleaners...). As a consequence we had to foresake the implementation of ff and fff (cuivré) playing in this robot.

Dynamic control is not an easy matter, and requires at least two interdependent parameters: wind pressure and signal amplitude. The valve membrane amplitude diminishes and the center point of movement symmetry shifts with frequency, when pulsed DC is used. Thus to compensate for the lower valve excursions at higher frequencies, the wind pressure has to be increased. On theoretical grounds it would have been better to adjust the distance between valve seating and mouthpiece in function of amplitude and frequency, but this posed us way too many mechanical problems. Thinking along this path, in the first version of this robot, we went for a DC pulse steering for the lower notes and transformer coupled AC steering for the higher notes in the compass. As a consequence for the user, note velocities for notes 39 and higher had to be derated with maximum values of 63 (for note 39) to 9 (for note 47). In the 2007 version, we used a dsPIC and attempted to set the DC shift point (and thus the mouthpiece aperture) for the moving coil completely in the PIC firmware. By generating asymmetrical waveforms, the DC shift required to change the membrane position can indeed be realized. However, <So> still sounds best in its optimum range: 15-39.

In the 2007 version of <So> we implemented pitch bend over a range of nearly a semitone around any note played. With this it is now also possible to score <So> in quartertone music with perfect intonation. However, do not forget to send the appropriate pitch bend command for every quartertone you want to get played. Also, note that for quartertone music, it will definitely make a difference when you have the choice between say note 36,5 played as 36 raised a quartertone up, or note 37 lowered a quartertone, since the instrument will always use the valve position for the 'normal' basic note. The valve combinations for notes 36 and 37 are indeed different! Our advise to composers wanting to write quartertone music for <So> is to experiment first with a few testscales using the different possibilities. It is possible as well to use <So> with non standard fingerings in order to get sound color variation. Refer to the detailed midi implementation for <So> given further on this page.

We do realize that composers wanting to use this robot, at first sight might be overwhelmed by the prohibitive looking amount of degrees of freedom , expressed in a corresponding amount of midi controllers to set and steer different parameters of the sound production. At the other hand, to achieve really musical -and not caricature-like- results with just about any monophonic instrument, it seems unavoidable to me as a designer to introduce quite a lot of the musicians craftmanship in the controls of the instrument. Intelligent composers therefore will have to be knowledgeable about brass instrument playing if they want to get convincing results from such robots. Definitely so, if they want to get results surpassing the possibilities of human performers. Of course we know that in reality there are lazy composers around, without this desire for precision and surpassing human capabilities. Composers that like to have fast results, even though dirtier than possible... Cartoon composers, so to speak. With those people in mind, we have made some compromise ways of controlling this robot, implementing some quick and dirty 'off the shelve' settings in the form of program changes, corresponding to musically acceptable presets. These presets are documented in the midi implementation table below.

The overview of the circuit boards (2007) used to construct this robot looks like:

The dsPIC circuit is pretty simple, since we use only a single output and its complement (however not necessarily symmetric, since we wanted DC shift to be possible) for the wave generation. The 16-bit dsPIC controller takes care of the pitches generated as well as of their amplitude and enveloppe. These controllers offer complementary PWM outputs and thus allow very precise control of the movements of the moving coil driver around its mechanical symmetry point at rest. The circuit was first designed with a high power op amp (LM12) in a differential configuration, as output driver: Later -for version 2.0- we changed it for a more traditional ILP HY30 driver, since the power available from the LM12 was way too high. Note that a high quality audio transformer is used to coupled the wave generator output to the analog amplifier driving the moving coil head. The whole circuit around the dsPIC microcontroller looks like:

Eight bits (two separate nibbles) are used to steer very large 7-segment displays. This feature we added to facilitate communication with musicians and dancers in the M&M orchestra context. The displays can be midi controlled.

The solenoids used to strike the valves were replaced with Laukhuff bidirectional types already in 2005, merely because of the fact that our sousaphone is rather old and mechanically worn out, meaning that the valves did not operate as smoothly as they should. Hence we mounted these much stronger types (24 VA) and got rid of the return springs as well. If a new sousaphone were used, the old circuitry indeed works very well. Details of the midi input circuit and the solenoid drivers using another PIC microcontroller (18F2525 type from Microchip) are given in the technical and maintenance section at the very end of this page.

Power supply voltages and currents:

• 5V dc: required for all logic boards and displays, 500mA.
• 24V dc: required for the valve solenoids (3A max) and the foot stepper (420mA). So we used a classic transformer - rectifier power supply rated for 24V , 5A
• +17.5V/-17.5V analog power supply for 2007 coildriver circuit. (30VA) (up to version 2.0, replaced with a +35/-35V power supply for version 3.0)
• 132V ac, three phase current for the radial compressor , delivered by the motor controller (up to version 2.0, removed for version 3.0)

Midi Mapping and implementation:

Midi note range: (0 -14) 15-39 (40- 47), or in musical notation:

The notes between brackets do not sound the best, so for best ('realistic') Sousaphone sound, restrict notes to the non-bracketed range. This range corresponds to what 'normal' sousaphones can produce. We have extended the range on the low side up to midi note 0. The note range 0-11 should be used only for special effects and will never sound realistic since they cannot normally be produced by the instrument. The footstep is mapped on midi note 48.(the force is proportional to the value of the velocity byte sent). It is not required to send separate commands for the pistons, since these commands are handled automatically in the firmware. The white lites are mapped on note 49, the colored lites on note 50 and the 'logos' display on note 51.

Pitch-bend is implemented, with a range of +/- 60 cents. Pitch bend commands do not change the valve combination used. Pitch bend is cancelled for every new note on. Only msb is relevant and should be used. However, the circuitry as well as the firmware supports full 14 bit resolution. If you want a note to be raised a quartertone, send pitch bend value 118 for the msb. To lower a note by a quartertone, send pitch bend value 10 for the msb.

Controller 1 is used for wind pressure. The motor frequency is displayed on the motor command panel. The minimum rotation frequency is set to 10Hz, such that a reasonably fast response is possible. An optimum setting for normal playing corresponds to midi value 50 (frequency 42Hz). For real good forte and fortissimo on low pitched notes, value 127 should be send. The lower the pitch requested, the more wind you should provide. For high pitches, wind pressure has to be somewhat reduced. Note that when using the program changes, (0 or 120-126) wind control in function of the note played will be automatic. When in such a preset, the lookup setting can be overridden using controller 1. To re-enable the use of the lookup tables, send the preset (program change) again.

Controller 7 is used for volume scaling. It can be used to change the amplitude of playing notes. This controller sets the maximum amplitude value attainable with the velocity byte of any note. The setting for this controller is also important if you want to use the attack control. For very strong attacks, the level for controller 7 should be set pretty high and the velocities for the notes played, to very low values. The dynamic range of the attack equals the difference between the setting for controller 7 and the velocity byte accompanying a note on command.

Controller 13 changes the lookup table for the valve-pitch correspondence. The default is 0 and conforms to an empirical mapping of valve combinations for optimal resonant sound. Value 1 selects the theoretical valve combinations calculated after simplified acoustic theory, values 2 and 3 select user programmable (sysex) lookup tables. Higher values can be used to send just any valve combination the user wants te see used for any note. The table below gives all details:

Ctrl 13 Value	-1/2t	-1t	-2t	remarks
0				default empirical [detailed mapping]
1				acoustic [detailed mapping]
2				user table 1 (sysex programmable)
3				user table 2 (sysex programmable)
4	off	off	off	4-7 valid
12	on	off	off	12-15 valid
20	off	on	off	20-23 valid
28	on	on	off	28-31 valid
36	off	off	on	36-39 valid
44	on	off	on	44-47 valid
52	off	on	on	53-56 valid
60	on	on	on	60-63 valid
other				invalid

 

Controller 14 sets the functionality of the display (values 0-3): With value 0, the display always shows the midi note the sousaphone is playing. With value 1, the displays show the value sent with controller 15 (value range 0-99), with value 2, controllers 16 and 17 can be used to display numbers and signs (0-15) to each display independently. With value 3, the displays will we completely off. Other values for this controller are disregarded. The default setting for controller 14 on startup is 0. The displays are fully functional, regardless the value for controller 66 (on/off).

Controller 15: if controller 14 is set to value 1, controller 15 allows you to send a numeric value 0-99 to the displays. Note that it is up to the user to limit the number to 99 (use count MOD 100, in your code). For higher values, strange signs do appear on the displays...

Controller 16: if controller 14 is set to value 2, controller 16 allows you to send a nibble to the msb of the display. For values larger than 9, the display shows 'strange' signs. It is up to the user to limit the range.

Controller 17: if controller 14 is set to value 2, controller 17 allows you to send a nibble to the lsb of the display. For values larger than 9, the display shows 'strange' signs. It is up to the user to limit the range.

Controller 18: sets the duration of the attack in the sound production. Default is 64. Refer to the diagram below to understand the functionality. If velo equals volume, the setting for attack will have no effect at all, the amount of attack being a function of the difference between volume (set by controller 7) and velo. For strong attacks, very low values for velo and high values for volume should be used.

Controller 20: Tuning. Defaults to 0, for an A=440Hz tuning. The tuning can only be raised. The range extends up to a quartertone.[454Hz]

Controller 21: Sets the amount of second partial in the driving waveform. [for advanced usage only]. The second partial is not exactly equal to the octave (2f0)

Controller 22: Sets the amount of third partial in the driving waveform. [for advanced usage only]. The thirth partial is not exactly equal to the duodecime (3f0).

Controller 66: on/off: switches the motor and enables the sound production. Note that setting this controller to zero will make sound production impossible. The valves may still work however. The displays can work as well.

Controller 123 switches all notes off. Resets the wind to a minimum value. Releases the valve solenoids.

Note Off commands are required. Velocity is implemented and has a wide control range. Very soft notes do not sound very natural, since no real tuba is able to produce those. (see tables below for reference).

Program change commands are implemented and can be used to change the velocity scaling and other parameters at once. The lookup tables used can be programmed using sysex commands. Program change with value 0 will return you to the default setting at start up. Program change with value 127 is reserved for research, development, debugging and advanced use. Valid program changes are mapped on values 0 and 120-126. We implemented these as presets such that lazy composers have a quick-and-dirty way of getting reasonable results without having to send many controllers for precize musical control of every single note. In case these presets are used, no controllers at all have to be send to <so> in order to play the requested notes.

Preliminary documentation on the meaning of the program change commands:

Pitch Bend:

Pitch bend implemented. The range is limited to a semitone, thus a quartertone up or down. Pitch bend can be used for microtonal music as well as for vibrato control. The coding follows from the example below, given for a fragment of the highest range of a quartertone scale:

Most good sequencer software (such as Cakewalk or Sonar) use the signed 14 bit format. To convert fractional midi to the msb only pitchbend to apply follow following procedure: if the fractional part is <= 0.5 then msb= 63 + (FRAC(note) * 128), if the fractional part is larger than 0.5, we should switch on the note + 1 and lower the pitch with msb= (1-FRAC(note)) * 128.

Optimalisation tables for good sound production: [program change 127, advanced users only]

Program change set to 127, for research. This table is for velo on maximum and gives the usefull and legal range for controller 7 (volume) Note that with velo on maximum, the attack time controller (18) will be irrelevant.

The next table is for volume (ctrl 7) set at maximum and gives the usefull and legal range for the velocities.Note that now we can change the attack using control 18.

[to be added]

Sysex implementation:

Sysexes are implemented but are not meant to be used by composers, except technically very advanced ones, understanding thoroughly the internal guts of this robot. The implementation is documented here for our own collaborators, for researchers and for completeness sake. Using sysex commands, different aspects of the workings of the <So> robot can be (re)programmed:

1. Sysex tables for the valve combinations used to play the notes. Two tables can be programmed (accessible with controller 13, values 2 and 3). The pincode for these sysexes is 'sova' followed by the midi channel, the number of the list (2 or 3) and a list of 48 bytes wherein the valve positions are set or reset in the lowest three bits. (details: see maintenance section at the end of this page)
2. Sysex tables for the air pressure. Eight tables can be programmed. They are activated with the program change commands with the values 0,120,123,124,125,126. The pincode for the sysexes is 'sowi' followed by the so channel, the number of the table (0 or 120-126) and a list of 48 bytes with the optimal wind pressure for each note for the preset requested. (details: see maintenance section at the end of this page)
3. Sysex tables for the ds-pic. These are activated with the program change command with the values 120 to 126. The pincode is 'sods'. (details: see maintenance section at the end of this page)

Technical specifications:

• size: base 700mm x 700mm, heigth 2200mm (For transportation, the sousaphone bell can be taken off)
• weight: ca.70kg
• power: 230V ac / 240W peak, nominal 85W.
• Tuning: based on A = 440 Hz (within 1%) - tuning is programmable.
• Ambitus: midi note 12 to midi note 45 ( to 47 with carefull adjustment of playing head, velo and volume settings) (mouthpiece pulses can be generated using notes 0 to 11.
• Insurance value: 12.500 Euro.

Design, research and construction: dr.Godfried-Willem Raes

Further collaborators on the construction of this robot:

• Kristof Lauwers (Standard midi to specific So-midi conversion software, 2003 version; lookups 2007 version)
• Leonaar Degraeve (tuba advisor 2002)
• Moniek Darge (painting)
• Xavier Verhelst, Sebastian Bradt: composer/user advisors. (2007)
• Johannes Taelman (PIC coding 2007)
• Lara Van Wijnsberghe (2020)

Music composed for <So>:

• Godfried-Willem Raes "So What" (premiered on august 21th 2003)
• Godfried-Willem Raes "GestroSo"
• Godfried-Willem Raes "SQE v STO 4 QR" (premiered on september 9th 2003, revised 01.2005)
• Kristof Lauwers & Moniek Darge "King So" (premiered january 14th 2004)

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Nederlands:

<So>

In het M&M robot orkest hadden we behoefte aan wat meer variatie in de heel lage basinstrumenten, niet in het minst voor de verklanking van de opening van mijn apero <Technofaustus>. Alleen de <player piano>, <bourdonola> en <Qt> beschikken over een in de laagte redelijke bas. Nu is het maken van lage instrumenten op zich eigenlijk technisch eenvoudiger dan hoge vanwege de geringere eisen gesteld aan de precizie bij de bouw, maar, de afmetingen ervan swingen werkelijk de pan uit. Om midi noot 24 voort te brengen met open luchtkolommen bvb., heb je gauw een bouwhoogte nodig van ca. 6 meter... Tongwerken anderzijds klinken wanneer ze klein worden gemaakt, gauw erg nasaal en uiterst boventoonrijk, waardoor ze niet goed als dragende bassen aan te wenden zijn. De bezoekers van de <M&M> koncerten zullen dit ook wel al hebben opgemerkt bij het horen van de klanken van <Vox Humanola> en van <Krum>. Vandaar het idee om werk te maken van een geautomatiseerde bastuba. Een tuba, het instrument bij uitstek voor de verzorging van sterke dragende bassen, hadden we wel niet in onze instrumentenverzameling, maar een (helaas erg versleten) Sousafoon, ooit eens op de rommelmarkt gekocht voor een prikje, hing nog ergens in onze traphal sierraad te wezen. Nadere inspektie leerde ons dat het om een Sib instrument ging voorzien van 3 ventielen. Automatisering van die ventielen bleek een erg eenvoudige klus, maar het vinden van een adekwaat klankvormingsmechanisme had heel wat meer voeten in de aarde. Na heel wat research met namaaklippen in rubber, silikonen en neopreen, kleppen in koper, mica en teflon, kwamen we terecht bij een reeds in de 19e eeuw bekend mechanisme voor toonopwekking: dat van het diaphane register in sommige britse orgels. Het toongat, in ons geval het mondstuk van de sousafoon, wordt daarbij door een zachte en juist sluitende klep heel erg snel geopend en gesloten. Dat klinkt zo'n beetje zoals je met de palm van je hand op het mondstuk slaat: een zachte slaptongue op het instrument. Nu was het zaak deze klep tegen de juiste snelheid, overeenkomstig de resonantiefrekwentie van het instrument, te laten trillen. Elektromagneten bleken hopeloos te traag: we haalden nooit snelheden groter dan ca. 40Hz. Dan maar de zaak omgekeerd aangepakt: vaste magneet en lichte beweeglijke spoel. Zo hadden we ei zo na opnieuw de luidspreker uitgevonden natuurlijk... Hier echter, wordt niet een membraan in beweging gebracht door de spoel, maar uitsluitend de in silikonenrubber uitgevoerde afsluitklep voor het mondstuk. Deze klep vormt eigenlijk het equivalent van de lippen waarmee het mondstuk bespeeld wordt. Dit bleek prima te werken en liet ons de mogelijkheid ook lucht opgewekt door een radiale kompressor aan de achterzijde toe te voeren. De sousafoon wordt op die wijze ook echt aangeblazen. De pedaalnoten (midi 15 tot 22) bleken met ons op deze wijze opgebouwd artificieel hoofd uitstekend speelbaar: voor menselijke spelers zijn die tonen zo goed als onhaalbaar). Alleen om snel van lage naar hoge noten te kunnen overgaan, konden we geen snel genoeg reagerend drukventiel verzinnen. De radiale kompressor is weliswaar in druk regelbaar gemaakt, maar door de inertie van de schoepen, reageert die eerder traag op winddrukkommandos. De tessituur zal dus beperkt blijven tot de diepere regionen van de muziek (tot hooguit, en niet zonder moeite, midi noot 47).

Als speels extraatje hebben we onderaan deze robot een houten leest -aan de onderzijde met ijzer bekleed- gemonteerd, die bekrachtigd door een elektromagneet, de maat kan tikken op de grond; 't heeft voorwaar iets menselijks zo... Ook enkele LED-spotjes werden toegevoegd om de visuele attraktiviteit nog iets te vergroten.

De <So> robot werd op het 21 augustus 2003 koncert van het Logos <M&M> ensemble voor het eerst ten doop gehouden. In de daaropvolgende weken werden nog vele verbeteringen in de werking van de robot aangebracht. Hij groeide zowaar op. In 2005/2007 onderging <So> een komplete 'redesign' en upgrade, waardoor hij nu ook naar een standaard midi protocol luistert en ook de ventielen grotendeels van bijgeluiden werden ontdaan. Het was zijn puberteit. De derde bouwfaze met verdere verbeteringen werd na heel wat research en experimenteel werk, afgerond in de zomer van 2007. In deze upgrade werd <So> voorzien van tooninflektiemogelijkheden (via pitchbend), klankkleurmogelijkheden, en van een groot 2-digit display voor kommunikatie met live musici en/of dansers in het M&M orkest. <So> kan van nu af ook worden gebruikt in kwarttoonsmuziek en heel wat 'extended' techniques zijn nu ook mogelijk geworden. De korrekte en muzikale besturing van <So> vergt evenwel vrij veel inzicht en begrip van koperblaasinstrumenten van de komponist. De robot kan zeker niet beschouwd worden als een midi-synth waar je zowat eender welke kommandos kan op loslaten. De volledige dokumentatie van de midi-implementatie is opgenomen in de engelse tekst op de <So> webpagina en zal zeker door belangstellende komponisten moeten worden doorgenomen. Om komponisten toch enigszins op weg -en in toom- te houden, voorzagen we <So> van een heel grote analoge meter waarop het vermogen toegevoerd aan de mond kan worden afgelezen. De naald van deze meter mag nooit tegen het maximum (10) aanlopen. Overtredingen hiervan kunnen de robot ernstig beschadigen.

Voor 'quick-and-dirty' komponisten en eerste vlugge schetsen, voorzagen we <So> ook van een aantal gestandaardiseerde presets, geimplementeerd als program-change kommandos onder midi besturing.

Godfried-Willem Raes

The left picture shows the original circuitry, version 1.0, operational up to june 2007. The picture in the middle shows version V2 finished in august 2007 and version V3.0, 2020, is on the right.

Construction and research diary:

• 15.03.2001: first ideas and practical sketches.
• 12.09.2002: Proeven met rotatiemechanismen voor de klankopwekking, voortbouwend op experimenten opgezet door Christoph Schlaegel. Het probleem is het vinden van stillopende motoren met extreem hoge toerentallen en uiterst geringe traagheid...
• 18.10.2002: Principle design of control electronics.
• 01.07.2003: Design of a UART decoder for non-standard midi control in robots.
• 02.07.2003: PC board design finished and sent to Digit printservice. This is a design without any microcontroller.
• 03.07.2003: Tests and experiments with compression drivers (as used on Autosax). The sound is not very pleasing and quite electronic in nature. So this path was rejected.
• 04.07.2003: Test lucas ledex solenoids on valves (same type as used on Vibi).
• 05.07.2003: Design of sound synthesis part and vibration mechanisms.
• 06.07.2003: part placement and soldering of UART pc-boards. Testing UART boards with midi input.
• 07.07.2003: part placement and soldering of DEMUX circuit boards.
• 08.07.2003: part placement and soldering of power Mosfet driver boards.
• 09.07.2003: Welding of playing head assembly with artificial lip mechanism. (modified Sonics SLE60 moving coil operated valve)
• 10.07.2003: soldering driver boards. Test artificial mouth mechanism. Now behaves somewhat like a 19th century diaphane register in some British pipe organs.
• 11.07.2003: start construction wheelbase for <So>. Software written to calculate the valve lookup table. Artificial mouth welded and soldered. Speaker driver mounted. Procedure GetInstrumParams in g_file.dll prepared to return the correct values for <So>.
• 12.07.2003: Welding day... Basic construction, wheelchair model, completely welded together. Plasma cutter gave up... Murphy being the way he is, we also fall without argon gas...
• 13.07.2003: Mounting of sousaphone on base construction. Artificial mouth connected to sousaphone. Solenoids mounted on valves.
• 14.07.2003: Plasma machine to repair (Welda) . Argon gas ordered (A-Gas center). Frame for PC boards welded. Frame mounted (movable) in instrument base. Soldering divider synth board. Base plate holder in glasfiber epoxy cut out.
• 15.07.2003: Rescue came: Fresh Argon gas! Replacement plasma machine available... PC boards mounted on base assembly plate. Start soldering AND- mosfet driver boards.
• 16.07.2003: Piston solenoid circuit designed, using large cap and power series resistor, to limit dissipation. Practical RC values used and soldered in (cfr. circuit diagram): 15 Ohms and 4700mF.
• 17.07.2003: construction of piston solenoid board and mounting. Assembly mounted under left arm. Further soldering on note driver boards (connectors). Low level driver code added to gmt in module g_midi.inc compiled to g_lib.dll.
• 18.07.2003: power DAC circuit built and tested.
• 19.07.2003: wiring boards. Woodshoe model found on flea market. A 'leest' in dutch.
• 20.07.2003: more wiring of boards
• 25.07.2003: design foot assembly. Wiring valve solenoids
• 26.07.2003: further wiring board assembly. Power supplies connected.
• 27.07.2003: bs2 code written for wind controller. Test program written in GMT and added to g_gorgel.exe compilation for our midi controlled robots.
• 28.07.2003: construction and mounting of foot mechanism, using a Laukhuff electromagnet. Software adapted to implement wind controller (using channel pressure command) and foot mechanism (now mapped on midi note 71).
• 29.07.2003: hardware/software debug session. 8 IRL640 power mosfets gone to heaven because of error in our software... Replaced with BUK101-50 types (moving coil drivers on latch 7). Mapping of foot mechanism can now also be on notes 48,49,50 or 51.
• 30.07.2003: design of power DAC appears to be faulty. The gates may be exposed to way to high voltages. When the mosfets have protection diodes, the AND gates will die since they will see up to 24V on their outputs... New power DAC designed used relays.
• 31.07.2003: Rescue: 74HCT93 counters found at Gentronics electronics store, so we could finish the synth board. The relais we planned to use, appeared to be bistable types. Problems finding 24V dc coil types that fit onto the sockets on our PC board...
• 01.08.2003: Bad luck day: artificial head burned out. 8 mosfets gone to heaven. So, we have to start all over again with the construction of the artificial mouth. Wiring bugs removed. Foot mechanism is now up and working.
• 02.08.2003: debug session of driver code. Specific low level code written and tested. Bug discovered in g_mus.dll: GetLowestNoteInHar and GetHighestnoteinHar had an offset error. This bug repair may affect many existing compositions. Still hardware problem with note 24. Artificial head replaced. (Sonics SLE60 driver). Wind inlet welded on the back of the head. BS2 controller programmed and placed in the circuit. So played its first notes today!
• 03.08.2003: support welded for radial compressor. Assembly of compressor finished. Polishing of valve interiors for smooth operation. Cleaning of Sousaphone. Regulating mechanism made for valves. Springs tuned. We still have problems with notes higher than midi note 30. Maybe we have to AC couple the mouth assembly.
• 04.08.2003: Those awfull holidays seem the be finally ending, so we could get the missing components again at our regular stores. 24V relais ordered.
• 13.08.2003: Zero cross relais (Crouzet type) for motor control (wind pressure) added.
• 14.08.2003: For notes higher than midi 28, AC signals work better on the mouth assembly. Transformer coupling tested. A diode appears essential now. This makes the very low notes less natural sounding however. Maybe we need a much heavier 1:1 transformer with very good low frequency response, or, a low pass filter on the output. We still have a problem with note 24. Probably a short on the PC board. Higher windpressure would also greatly improve the sound.
• 15.08.2003: 74HCT08 burnt out: this caused the failing note 24. Support added for external drive, mapped on note 8. Transformer replaced with a 50W type toroidal witch burnt out 230V primary but intact split 2 x 12V secondaries. Head assembly painted red.
• 16.08.2003: very short experiment with 24:24V transformer. Seems to work better. No time today to really figure it out...
• 17.08.2003: transformer changed again. (20V:24V), series resistance should be > 8 Ohms. For good low basses it is better to use DC on the speaker, whereas for higher pitches (midi 39 and above) transformer coupling sounds better. So we will have to change the circuit with a relais mapped on note 50 to switch between AC and DC excitation modes.
• 18.08.2003: wiring AC/DC circuitry. Software extensively checked and debugged (in g_midi.inc, part of the library g_lib.dll). Our circuits still seem to suffer from inductive spikes. We may have to add many more bypass caps.
• 19.08.2003: Bypasses added. Spikes seem to remain. Trying to solve it in software. Mosfets on notes 40-47 replaced with IRL640 types.
• 20.08.2003: Rattle in compressor repaired. <So> would work better with a Laukhuff blower (tested!). Gray code based latch adressing applied. Spikes seemed to come from the inherent deficiencies of the 74HCT154 demultiplexer chips (Why does'nt our elecronics industry produce improved versions of this 25 years old chip...). Thanks to Kristofs GMT midi fileplayer, So played its first midi pieces: a Tango by Cardel and my own '2bv-2b'. We also implemented support for <So> in 'Wandering Quadrada Space'. The public premiere is scheduled for tomorrow...
• 21.08.2003: First public concert with So. It worked nicely, but in order to overcome the glitch problem we are causing a way too large midi stream resulting in a delay larger then needed. So further research is required here.
• 22.08.2003: Redesign of adressing scheme of latches. Now we should only have two bits changing on each transition.
• 23.08.2003: New wiring applied to <So>: latch adresses are now: 1,2,4,8,16,17,32,48. DLL revised. We now solved the problem with the data stream, but still have glitches on the AC/DC transitions.
• 24.08.2003: Software fine tuning.
• 27.08.2003: Ventola blower delivered from Laukhuff.
• 28.08.2003: mounting of Ventola blower in So. We have a 6dB sound level improvement now! Also, this blower is in itself a lot more quiet than the type we had mounted at first.
• 29.08.2003: construction of holding and steering bar in 3/4" tube. Painting. CEE male power socket mounted.
• 07.02.2003: previous design-file for So placed under the \so\directory on the site. Click here for consultation.
• 15.12.2004: <So> piece "So What" published on CD LPD012 (More automats).
• 08.02.2005: UART circuitry redesigned using PIC's. This to avoid glitch problems that arrised on high midi data rates. At the same time, solenoids for valves redimensioned. In the new design we will use bidirectional types.
• 16.02.2005: Valve solenoids replaced with bidirectional Laukhuff types. Carrier structure rewelded and enlarged. Now there is no danger any more in burning out the solenoids on long sustained notes.
• 29.11.2005: research on driving the Ventola compressor as a 3-phase motor using a Siemens Micromaster 410 motorcontroller. This technique can be applied to <So>, <Harma>, <Ake>, <Autosax>.
• 15.01.2006: The Micromaster is no longer in production. We will have to go for a Siemens Sinamics G110 instead.
• 09.11.2006: DS-PIC board testcode added to GMT module, for the moving coil driver.
• 15.12.2006: New type Siemens Sinamics controller G110, 0.12kW has arrived.
• 16.02.2007: design of yet another circuit for the moving coil driver.
• 19.04.2007: Kist gemaakt voor transport van de klankbeker van <So> naar Vilnius. So speelt mee in Vilnius op 25.04.2007.
• 14.07.2007: <So> speelt een hoofdrol in het M&M maratonkoncert op de gentse feesten in de spiegeltent.
• 18.07.2007: Uitsnijden nieuwe basisplaat voor de <So> elektronika in 5mm dikke aluminium plaat. Ontwerp schikking komponenten daarop. Plaatsing nieuwe grote voltmeter en Siemens motor controller. Antieke Britse aan/uit schakelaar in stalen kast gemonteerd.
• 19.07.2007: Research on tone generation with analog drive of the moving coil assembly. Pitch bend implementation worked out. This is new in the 2007 implementation. Midihub board soldered. Missing components ordered from Farnell. Circuit drawing added to maintenance sectrion at the very end of this webpage. Note that the motor on/off function requires an external 1.5k (1/2W) resistor as pull up.
• 20.07.2007: Motor on/off pull up mounted on midihub board. dsPIC boards designed. Research into functionality of the very large 2-digit 7-segment displays. Large rectangular hole cut out for Siemens Sinamics motor controller. Midihub board completed and finished.
• 21.07.2007: dsPIC board hand assembled on perforated prototyping PC board. The midi connector is an output and is intended to be used for PIC-firmware debugging only. The yellow LED will be lit as soon and as long as the +5V power is connected. The small red LED is for PIC monitoring and debugging. The PIC programming connector (6 pin SIL strip) is soldered below the small red LED. The 3-pole Weidmueller connects to the midihub board and powers the dsPIC board as well. The large 7-segment display boards with 10mm LED's can be fed from 12-15V unstabilised.
• 22.07.2007: Circuit drawing for the display boards added to maintenance section below. Pull up resistors added on 7-segment decoders on dsPIC board. Recalculation power sypply requirements: 24V unstabilised DC at 5A should be plenty. Each valve solenoids draws 1A, the displays consume maximum 250mA and the footstep another 500mA. For the logic, we use a small Farnell transformer 230V primary and two secondary windings, rated 6V each.
• 23.07.2007: Assembly of main components on aluminium front panel.
• 24.07.2007: Wiring works. Meter circuit finalised. We used an old selenium bridge rectifier for the meter because of the unsurpassed low forward voltage drop (<300mV), typical for these antiquities. Hole in the sousaphone water valve closed with a piece of form-shaped brass.
• 25.07.2007: Wiring finalized (except lites). Motor controller programmed. Filter circuit designed on the output of the dsPIC. We use a 1:1 Bourns transformer (600 Ohms, dc resistance 80 Ohm), type LM-NP-1001.8.
• 26.07.2007: All electrical and hardware tests performed. Construction of LED spotlites (red) mounted on the base plate. Valve combination software extracted from GMT and placed in a new so-design code module to generate the lookup tables required for pic programming.
• 27.07.2007: PIC programming session with Johannes Taelman. Hub pic version 1.0 done. No lookup's for valves as yet. Voltmeter added for read out of the 24V power supply voltage.
• 28.07.2007: Wiring bug mosfet foot repaired. Output config for dsPIC changed. We now use pins 26 and 24 instead of 26 and 25. Further programming session on dsPIC with Johannes. Circuit drawings updated. Hardware bug discovered in display decoder circuit: it displays the negative of the numbers we send to it... We should have used a 74LS249 chip instead of the 74LS247 we used. However, a search revealed that the 74LS249 is since long no longer produced nor stocked anywere... The only solution seemed to be to insert a couple of octal inverting bus driver chips. Fortunately we still have a few of those in stock. Hence the addition of the 74HCT540 chips in the circuit drawing. Software bugs reported sofar: dsPIC does not listen to all notes off command. It does not yet refuse sound production when controller 66 is off as it should. There seems to be a bug in the pitch bend implementation such that on start up, <So> is a semitone out of tune. The default startup value for pitch bend ought to be 64 (msb). Controller 7 modulation (volume controller) after a note off, starts up the sound generator... Pitch bend is not reset after each new note as it should in our implementation.
• 29.07.2007: driver circuit modified. We now use a top quality Altec Lansing audio driver transformer (type 15335) in an octal vacuum tube socket. This type does'nt show up any distortion even for frequencies as low as 10Hz. After the modification with the octal inverters on the outputs of the BCD to 7-segment decoders, the displays work to perfection now. First parameter reference tables measured and checked. Problems with pitch stability: doubts as to the exactness of the pic-code twelfth root of two implementation.
• 30.07.2007: Derivation of equations for the parameters of So. Pictures on site updated. Bug fixes in PIC code by Johannes Taelman: ctrl7 no longers triggers notes now. Pitch bend bugs killed. The range for pitch bend is now a little less then a semitone up or down. Controller 66 now also disables sound production. Controller 123 implemented on dsPIC board. Bug with <So> starting up with the wrong diapason now fixed. Now it will start up on diapason 440Hz.
• 31.07.2007: Evaluation and measurement session. Functionality of program change commands worked out.
• 01-02.08.2007: Research on lookup tables for the program changes by Kristof Lauwers.
• 03.08.2007: Revision of PIC specs. Tables made by Kristof Lauwers converted to standard comma delimited list format.
• 04.08.2007: PIC programming session with Johannes Taelman. Controller 13 implemented: value 0 = empirical table, now extended down to midi note 0, value 1= theoretical valve table after acoustic theory. Values 4,12,20,28,36,44,52,60 for individual valve combination settings. User programmable lookups still to be done. Controllers 21 (second partial), and 22 (thirth partial) added to midi implementation.
• 05.08.2007: Test run for Piazzolla, Contrabajando. File adapted with all controllers.
• 09.08.2007: PIC programming session. Pic 1: sysex for valves with lookup tables implemented. Wind sysexes still to be done.
• 10.08.2007: Test runs with <So> in our ancient music program prepared for 22.08.2007.
• 11.08.2007: Further development works in PIC code: Program changes for pic1 (lookup tables for wind pressure) implemented. Display mode controllers 14-17 implemented on the ds-PIC. Controller 20 (tuning) now can tune <So> up to a quartertone upwards. At value 0, the tuning is 440Hz.
• 12.08.2007: Evaluation. debug and test under GMT. Sysex structure for dsPIC worked out.
• 13.08.2007: Test sequence files updates and adapted to new firmware.
• 17.08.2007: So sysex kode toegevoegd aan GMT door Kristof Lauwers.
• 31.08.2008: Upgrade van de GMT testkode.
• 24.11.2008: Documentation on the implementation of microtones added in manual. (Midi implementation in the english text above).
• 22.11.2011: Glissando playing now fully implemented under GMT
• 02.11.2012: So suffers and wears out quite a bit by using it in pop music contexts. In particular, if it is used with the wind controller turned off... If we would want to allow such use in the future, we should consider changing the design and use a membrane compressor driven by an ARM processor (as done in Klar and Fa).
• 11.04.2013: Flight case for the <So> horn finished.
• 19.04.2013: <So> lost a wheel (due to a loose nut...) during its transportation after the concert in Glasgow. A temporary fix was required. We will finish the repair on his return in Ghent on 22nd of april.
• 22.04.2013: Wheel repaired. This wont happen again! Nothing else was damaged.
• 18.10.2015: Transport and concert at Dok19 with Kristof Lauwers.
• 19.10.2015: Check-up on <So>. Everything seems o.k.
• 26.09.2016: <So> transported to Berlin for participation in the 'Wir sind die Roboter' Festival.
• 02.10.2016: <So> returned safely from Berlin. No failures reported.
• 28.10.2016: <So> on the road to Brugge for Iedereen Klassiek.
• 30.10.2016: Safe return from Bruges.
• 01.08.2017: <So> on the road to Liepaja (Letland).
• 09.08.2017: <So> returned safely from Liepaja. The attachment of the wind tube to the compressor got loose. We repaired it with a new gasket in transparent silicon glue. New short mains cord made with a CEE plug just to save a bit on cluttered wires in our setup.
• 22.11.2017: <So> joined the party at euRobotics in Brussels. Found o.k. on return.
• 13.07.2018: <So> played the opening of the Ghent Feasts at Sint-Jacobs. It returned safely.
• 14.07.2018: Horn polished and cleaned.
• 26.10.2018: Shaky french made weidmueller connector (black) replaced with an original Weidmueller orange connector.
• 02-06.05.2019: <So> on the road to Koeln for a WDR recording with Sebastian Gramms
• 30.07.2019: <So> returned safely from Tomorrowland. Due to the high humidity, we had to polish the sousaphone again. The flightcase for the detachable horn was ruined on return: it must have been in the rain for a long time. All wood panels are warped. We need to make a new flightcase. The tracture operating the foot was found bend such that it didn't work. Mechanism readjusted and tested again.
• 08.08.2020: <So> doesn't do what it should do in the register 24-47 anymore. The mouth driver must have been subjected to a lot of shocks. Readjustement, or worse, is needed.
• 08.02.2020: Start of yet another resivion of the so robot. Considering to use a membrane compressor now and taking advantage of the experiences gained in the design of the <Flut> robot...
• 09.02.2020: Disassembly of the lip-driver revealed it to be completely worn out. The original Sonics SLE60 driver no longer being produced, we cannot replace it, so the only option left is to change the design. We started by making a new compression driver coupled to the tuba mouthpiece. Here we used an Atlas driver, type PD60A, rated 60W, 16 Ohms, 100Hz-3700Hz. The radial compressor was removed as well as its Siemens Sinamics driver and all related electronics.
• 10.02.2020: New power amplifier mounted, using an LM12CLK power opamp: It's a PCB we designed back in 1991 for use as a laboratory DC-amp. We only had to change the 0 Ohm bridges on R1 and R2 to 500k (1%), to get the input sensitivity required here. As this module is somewhat larger than the original one, we had to find another place for the RED LED spotlight as well as for the Jenssen transformer. The transformer guarantees us that the driver will never get DC, as that would ruin it right away. Construction of a new crook in copper and brass to replace the rubber hose we had hitherto.
• 11.02.2020: GMT coding adapted for version 3.0. Potmeter added to set maximum volume to protect the Atlas driver. In fact we need a far more powerfull driver here... This is the look of the front panel now: First tests: it plays again, but the sound quality is not too great. In particular the pedal notes (15 to 22) do not sound well anymore. So we should consider a new sound generator board as well as the design of better low frequency drivers.
• 12.02.2020: Start design of a new sound generator board for the compression driver, taking off from the example of the <Flut> robot. However, if we do this and also extend the range for <So> up to note 69, we need to change the firmware for the hub board as well... If we want to implement the delay between valves and sound production, we even need another hub board. Features we certainly want to implement are: a formant filter, full ADSR controll, wind noise, vibrato, tremolo, pitch bend, tuning. Here is the design for the waveform generator: The PCB had to be redesigned, as the maximum board size should be 130 x 100 mm instead of our usual eurocard format. PCB design finished, exposed, developed and etched right away. Here is the PCB at 200%: All components soldered. Missing ones, to be ordered, are 100mH inductor, OP27 or OPA627 opamp, 22k log potmeter. But even without these components, the board starts up and can be programmed right away. We can test already by using a TLO71 instead of the OP27. With the introduction of this board, the midi implementation will undergo major changes...
• 13.02.2020: Start coding firmware for the newly made board.
• Left to be done:.
• programmable lookup tables for note/volume/velo/waveform scaling
• drive spectrum controller implementation (ctrl 21, 22)

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Maintenance notes and further technical documentation:

Detailed circuitry for PIC1 on the midihub board:

Detailed circuit for the two large 7-segment display boards:

Valve solenoids: bidirectional August Laukhuff, 24V - 24 VA (24 Ohms per winding, 1 A nominal at 100% duty cycle).

Power Supply: 24V - 5A (unloaded, 29V), 33mF buffer capacitor. Fused. The protective cover over the power supply module is to be removed to get access to the fuse.

Detailed circuit for the waveform generator:

Removed 09.02.2020:

Motor: August Laukhuff mini ventola. triangle connected, 3x132V - 0-75Hz, 70W, 2800 rpm at 50Hz. Laukhuff oder nr.: 6 121 50.

Wiring: These motors are delivered by Laukhuff for monophase operation on 230V ac, using an AC capacitor. Modification for 3-phase operation requires a modification of the wiring as shown in our drawing.

Programming information and settings for the Siemens Sinamics G110 motor controller:

Wiring motor controller:

Audio transformer specs:

Altec Lansing Products, Anaheim, California. Type 15335 bridging transformer, 15k:15k. Socket: octal, vacuum tube type. Internal screen connected to pin 8. DC resistance of the windings: ca. 600 Ohms.

Compression driver:

• Atlas Sound PD60A
• Note on low frequency protection

Power amplifier components: (Since 10.02.2020, <So> version 3.0)

• LM12CLK , National. Datasheet
• SSM2141, Analog Devices, Datasheet
• Circuit:

LED spotlite specs:

• Red: 80mA @ 12V and 160mA @ 17V. Type LAMPL12R MR16-GX5.3 - 18 LED's. The two red lites are connected in series.
• White: Type LAMPL12W - 18 LED's. Two lites connected in series.
• connectors used: Weidmueller 2pole, screw terminals.

Detailed structure for the sysex commands:

Valve lookup tables:

&HF0, &H7D, "s", "o", "v", "a", channel (14), table nr (2 or 3), 48 bytes of data [Note 0 Valve combination (3 LSB's) Note 1 Valve combination (3 LSB's) Note 2 Valve combination (3 LSB's) Note 3 Valve combination (3 LSB's) .... Note 47 Valve combination (3 LSB's), &HF7

byte count: 57 bytes for each table

Wind control tables: [ obsolete since 09.02.2020]

&HF0, &H7D, "s", "o","w","i",channel(14), preset nr.(0,120-126), 48 bytes of data [Note 0 Wind pressure (7bit like CC1) Note 1 Wind pressure Note 2 Wind pressure Note 3 Wind pressure .... Note 47 Wind pressure] &HF7

byte count: 57 bytes for each table

Coil driver tables: [under investigation]

&HF0, &H7D,"s","o","d","s", channel(14), preset nr.(0,120-126),

byte1: max.amplitude, byte 2: max.velo, byte 3: attack value, byte 4:f1 amplitude, byte 5: f2 amplitude. byte 6: dc offset (or assymmetry) , byte 7: freq dev, byte 8: f1/f2 deviation

[48 lines of 8 bytes with data (8 bytes for each note in the order as documented above)]

&HF7

byte count: 393 bytes for each preset. Total size: 3144 bytes.

Last update: 2020-02-23 by Godfried-Willem Raes