I’ve done such thing too with an Allen 2 manuals(the console is 10years older than me). It is quite some work and takes patience. But it is like my child. Thank you for sharing your progress, lovely to see a fellow .
@@DCTOnline thank you for your reply. It just came to my mind. did you manage to drive the “rock tab” ? Could you please teach me how to do it? my console has 54 tabs, and each takes about 0.5A instant power the moment they are triggered. I already have 2 PCBA to Handle high current(some MIDI decoder), but I am stuck at the power supply part, I check the market, there are plenty AC/DC power, but many of them are just 12A or so in output, I don’t know how to set it up and design the circuit. Could you share with me some ideas? Thank you.
Hey Thomas - it's a good question and something I grappled with for a bit. At this time, I've opted not to wire them in (although I have the components to do this at a later date). I'm currently using a combination of a Novation Mini, along with two X-Key 16 (www.keyboardspecialists.co.uk/products/xk-0981-uck16?_pos=2&_sid=0aed0e0e1&_ss=r) as thumb stops (one general located under the Great keyboard, and a divisional located under the Swell keyboard) I *may* later wire in the rocker tabs, but the wiring method I'm using is the same as the keyboards, and goes into the same PCB - that is diode based - and so it has the power control sorted as a single unit.
@@DCTOnline thank you for your reply. I understand the rocker tabs will be wired in such way to send MIDI signals back to MIDI scanner just as any key on a keyboard, but let’s say you trigger a general piston, the registration is now changed, but your rocker tabs haven moved to reflect that new registration, you will need to power their coils right? And such power is much higher than 5V that a small LED need( my rocker tabs coil seem to need 24V DC to drive them), so the power unit is different from the signal/control unit, it will take command from control unit, but draw higher current from DC power source to drive the coil, and it is this power bit got me stuck. But yes, I’m using touchscreen and pistons at the moment, it is just that I was hoping the console is fully functional with every control, haha.
I have very much respect for the great work you've done. I'm just very sorry that you and much other people who wants to midify an organ console, are not familiar with the products of Gino Midi in the Netherlands... Take a look on his website and you will be amazed how much easier it can be! Good luck!
Thanks for your kind words Johan - and wow, thank you for introducing me to Gino's work! It's a thoroughly comprehensive website, both from a products and directions perspective! Should I find myself creating another midi organ interface, I'll definitely have Gino in mind!
As much as it was a lot work, it was even more fun, especially when it worked 😁 I used the beta version of Sweelinq VPO for testing - and it is impressive!
Thank you James! It's been a slog, but we're nearly there - waiting on some switches to some in from overseas so I can wire in the rocker tabs, and then work out how to get the swell shoe going.. but even without these, it's been so much fun at home!!
I'm about to start working on a project of my own, this has really helped motivate me more. And what piece are you playing at the beggining of the video.
Sorry for the late response Joseph - but good luck with the build!! I found it pretty intense and a big time-sink, but loved every moment of it :) The music at the start was an improvisation while testing to see if connections were working etc - the software I used (at that time) was the beta of Sweelink. Please take photos and document your journey - I'd love to check in!
Thank you! 😊 I found the console on Facebook Marketplace, and then doctored it - but it was an exercise in patience waiting for the right one ... I hope something becomes available for you some time in the near future - it really made a difference to my performances being able to practice more regularly than once a week ♥️
Hey Magnify! I used the Universal Midi Encorder from Hauptwerk Hardware (www.hauptwerkhardware.com/universal-midi-encoder/). Bob was really good to deal with, and provided some excellent instructional videos on what parts were needed, and how to wire the keyboards. You can watch the vids on his channel here: ru-vid.com/show-UC_4bvCEJ8Dwn7DmFok_KQgw
