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Evening Sun MC6: DIY Midi Controller for HX Stomp (and others)


MarshallArts
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Hi,

 

not quite sure where to put this, however, I though it was worth sharing. I am close to finishing a DIY controller for my HX stomp based on an Arduino nano. Building it is easy with some drilling and soldering skills, changing Midi commands (and sequences) according to your preferences is easy. It cant do all the things a morningstar MC6 can do, but it comes with a 4-line Display and 6 switches, so it may look similar. All you need is a Hammond 1590xx enclosure, an Arduino Nano, an LCD display, a midi Jack, a DC power jack, 6 momentary switches, and a few resistors. It's actually so simple, I am thinking of not even making a Circuit board for it. Overall costs will be around 50 €. I would provide the software for free, once it's done. If you would like to donate what it's worth for you, I would be thankful ;-)

 

Here is a picture of two Banks that are already working: Banks.jpg

 

What it can do:

  • Button Action: Single Press, Long Press 
  • Toggle Values of Blocks via Midi CC ("Toggle Solo Boost" in my example)
  • Activate/Deactivate Blocks via Midi CC
  • Change Presets (via Midi PC)
  • Activate/deactivate the Tuner
  • Change Snapshots
  • Change the Footswitch Mode on the HX Stomp (Snapshot Mode, Preset Scroll mode, Preset mode, Stomp Mode)

 

Downsides:

  • No webinterface - to change midi, you will have to change the arduino code (it's actually easier than it sounds)
  • No Midi in, so it's a one-way-street from the controller to the HX or Helix or whatever device you are using

 

Anybody interested?

 

And here is a preview of the enclosure (based on am Hammond 1590xx)

 

Enclosure.jpg

 

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I'm interested! Please post your code and wiring diagram to GitHub. I actually started planning my own Arduino midi foot-switch controller but I would be for Boss RC-5, way simpler as I just would have momentary switches without display and just send predefined CC messages. Anyway, are you planning to do MIDI thru as well?

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I will post the code in a few days, when everything is working and leave a link here. I am not planning to provide midi through but would be interested, what you would use this for (I assume more than one device and another one, that is lacking a through jack?).

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's done and it's working great! Besides the Arduino Nano and the LCD Display, there's only two resistors, six switches, a Midi Jack and a power jack - that being said, I decided to build this without any additional PCB. The wiring can be found below. I will wrap up the code and put it on github later this week. As a special bonus, I will provide the 3D-printed parts (the Nano holder, so you have access to its USB port and the display pcb standoffs/distance tubes).

If you build this, make sure you have some 2.5 mm nuts and bolts available (I bought this one: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B075WY5367/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Zwischenablage03.jpg
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Zwischenablage01.jpg
Zwischenablage02.jpg
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Zwischenablage04.jpg
Evening-Sun-MC6-Schematic.jpg
Nano-Holder.jpg

 

Sample Video: 

 

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I wrapped this up for my live rig:

 

IMG-20211028-111946-2.jpg

 

I will most likely stick with the configuration in bank one (3 Snapshots on the bottom row (buttons D-F), scroll HX presets up/down (buttons A/B) on the top row and a solo boost (Button C). This means, I will not change the code over in the near future, but document it well enough for everyone else to adjust it to their preferences. You can find it here:

 

https://github.com/mfunky/Evening-Sun-MC6

 

Dont hesitate to ask questions, if you have trouble getting into it.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey @MarshallArts, I'm gathering all the information to build the Evening Sun but still have lots of doubts. Is there a way to get in touch with you easily? 


My first doubt:
Can I use the "Arduino Nano V 3.0 Atmega 328 Rev3 R3 V3.0"?
Does the code works fine with "Oled 0.96 I2c Ssd1306 Lcd Arduino display"? It's a little bigger than the one you got. 
Another doubt I have.. Do I need something else to make it work or I just need to  wire it to arduino and get the touchdown?!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi... I sent you a pm with my contact information.

 

For the rest of the questions: The Nano should work fine. Changing the display means changing a library and getting into the code. You need some experience with programming to do this (it is absolutely possible, though). The display seems small, though and I have had bad experience with readability of those on stage or in sunlight.

 

You need an enclosure, the jacks, buttons, a display, the arduino, the 3d-printed holder, wire and solder stuff. No extra circuit board required.

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Awesome build! 

I built a simple two button MIDI controller based on the Arduino mini pro specifically for the Stomp (https://github.com/mattzzw/midi_muppet_hx_2btn). Feel free to check out the code, maybe you find something useful (e.g. midi channel switching and eeprom storage of configuration).

 

Regarding web-editing I was thinking to switch to an stm32 based board (black pill or blue pill) using webserial in the browser in order to build something similar to the MC3. On the other hand it would probably be way easier using a ESP8266/ESP32 providing wifi and bluetooth capabilities. Way too much cpu power for a simple midi switch - but hey, who cares, right? It's 2022 so a simple midi pedal should be capable of opening up a wifi access point, providing you with a nice web gui... ;-)

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  • 4 months later...

Thank you for the build idea!

Any reason for having the Midi Jack on Digital Pins? Your notes mention having to disconnect midi while uploading a sketch.

 

I am new to this and cannot find any info about what happens if I upload a sketch using the 5V and GND Pins on my Midi Jack.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Hey man! 

 

I have been working on building this exact same thing from your designs, and am just having a bit of trouble with the display. As far as I can tell, ive got the same screen as you, however its not displaying any of the info from the stomp, or the mode that the footswitch is in. Currently the display is lit up and just has 2 rows of blocks displayed at all times. 

 

Not sure if you're still active over here or whether you may know, but any pointers would be much appreciated! 

Cheers! 

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Well, I actually managed to figure out what the problem was, I had my LCD screen address completely wrong! Now that I have got that part sorted I am really looking forward to diving in and using it! The looper mode is really awesome, I just need to slightly alter some of the other preset banks to suit my own style. This is a great project though and I have really enjoyed working on it.

 

Cheers

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

hi, great works!!!!!! I have build this fantastic project!!!  It s a full progammable controller, so how program Pc and Cc change? 

 they are no menu to do this? thank you and great work again!!!

Edited by Smacmag
precicion
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  • 1 month later...

Hello!

I have the two button arduino based Midi controller. Since the 3.5 update, it doesn't work properly as it did. Some functions are gone. I'm planning to make this pedal, if it works properly after the 3.5 update. Do you have any experience? 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/5/2023 at 7:50 PM, aaskia said:

Hello!

I have the two button arduino based Midi controller. Since the 3.5 update, it doesn't work properly as it did. Some functions are gone. I'm planning to make this pedal, if it works properly after the 3.5 update. Do you have any experience? 

I'm curious what parts aren't working properly anymore. Did Line6 change any MIDI stuff in the 3.5 update?

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry for not being more active on this forum, I just came across this old project, as I did some research on the HX Midi implementation. Just wanted to answer the questions I saw above, not sure, if those are still relevant...

 

- First of all, after almost 3 years, this thing still runs in the original configuration on my pedalboard, so chances are, you don't need to get into the coding part, as it does what it does and it does it great. Dont change the display, stick to the instructions, get the correct components and you'll be fine.

 

- I might (!) add an expression pedal connector somewhen. If somebody has already done it, let me know!

 

- The reason for this is the following: The newest HX Stomp update has a feedbacker in it, so I will get rid of the FreqOut on my pedalboard and replace that with a dual footswitch (FS4 and FS5). I know, that I can have an expression pedal and a single Footswitch as well, but if I am doing changes to this pedalboard, I might also try to improve my evening sun midi controller.

 

- Yes, there were some changes in the midi implementation in the HX Stomp 3.5. update. Obviously, the evening sun works perfectly with the current 3.71 release.

 

- AFAIK Midi HAS to be on digital pins. Let me know, if you succesfully connected midi to other pins and were able to upload sketches without having to disconnect midi

 

- Web Interface and such... I could do that (similar to the morning star solutions), but I'd rather keep it simple. After all, the five presets provide more than I use already (I use ONE preset of the five to change between 3 HX snapshots, one button to boost the output for solos and two buttons to change presets on the hx stomp)

 

 

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Forgot one thing: I think I will update the documentation in the folder in the next days or so, as this controller seems to be of more interest than I thought. Maybe I can provide an enclosure model for 3D-printing as well....    

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am in the process of building a new version of the "Evening Sun Midi Controller". Given the new release of the Mornigstar "MC6 PRO" I will call this one Evening Sun "ES6 PRO" :-). Functions will be the same like in the first version with minor tweaks in the provided standard configuration (Preset up/down will be implemented via midi, not by emulating FS 4/5) and general cleanup of the arduino files.

 

I have designed a new 3D-Printed enclosure and need to build the first ES6 PRO in order to verify that everything fits in there. As I don't need two Midi controllers: If anyone is interested in this prototype build once it is ready and tested (3D-printed enclosure, everything else like in the original version), please send me a price offer...

 

Zwischenablage-03-26-2024-02.jpg

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