Arduino Nano based MIDI true bypass looper in the works

ADAOCE

Well-known member
Hey guys I’m working on a concept to build a bypass looper with stacked jacks probably like 6 loops that will house an arduino nano and have a midi in port that will control all the loops. Kinda based off the Morningstar ML5. I’m not going to do any learn functions or anything just a controlled looper. I’m also still planning to include switches to manually activate each loop.

Likely going to try and out this in a 1032L enclosure but might go smaller if possible. This could be great underneath a board if you were fine controlling all through midi. Mine is going to go right on top where my old TB looper goes.

What do you guys think? The nano has enough pins if I use multiplexers for the leds, switches and relays. I’m working on the schematic and pcb now.
 
I think that's a great idea! Of course I'm biased because I've been casually (aka extremely slowly) working on something similar. 🤣

You might want to look into the Teensy (or one of the larger Arduinos) if you want MIDI over USB.
 
I think that's a great idea! Of course I'm biased because I've been casually (aka extremely slowly) working on something similar. 🤣

You might want to look into the Teensy (or one of the larger Arduinos) if you want MIDI over USB.
I was looking at the teensy but it only outputs 3.3v signal. I was going to use the kemet relays that the basic relay bypass uses.

I’m also working on an MC8 style midi controller using an arduino mega. The nano looks like it will have the pin capacity if I use multiplexers smartly the one drawback is I think the flash and RAM are limited on those chips but I haven’t started testing this yet.

I will probably focus on the midi controller first as that seems like the logical first step with these two projects. Once I get some results I’ll post threads to see what you guys think. I just ordered a 4x40 lcd display so once that comes in I’ll start messing with it
 
You don't want to drive the relays directly with the Arduino (or shift registers) anyway, they can't handle that kind of current.

You'd drive them with a transistor that is controlled by the Arduino/Teensy/whatever.
 
Take a look at the Latching Basic Relay Bypass for example.

Q2 / Q3 are doing the heavy lifting, the 555 is just sending a low current control voltage.

This of course can be simplified if you're using standard non-latching relays, but the concept is the same. There are ICs specifically designed for driving relays/motors, or you could use a transistor array IC, or plain old transistors.


1677853503076.png
 
Take a look at the Latching Basic Relay Bypass for example.

Q2 / Q3 are doing the heavy lifting, the 555 is just sending a low current control voltage.

This of course can be simplified if you're using standard non-latching relays, but the concept is the same. There are ICs specifically designed for driving relays/motors, or you could use a transistor array IC, or plain old transistors.


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Awesome thank you so much for the advice. I will start messing with this idea and researching the right components. Being able to use the teensy would make things much easier!
 
An Arduino Nano is perfect for this job if you use shift registers. One for the switches another for LEDs in case you dont hook up LEDs to the relays directly. Then another for the Relays. As Robert pointed out there are specific ICs for the relays. You could go with a 74HC595 and a ULN2803A or only one IC a single TPIC6C595 which has the driver included. Then there are still pins left for a display and Midi.
 
An Arduino Nano is perfect for this job if you use shift registers. One for the switches another for LEDs in case you dont hook up LEDs to the relays directly. Then another for the Relays. As Robert pointed out there are specific ICs for the relays. You could go with a 74HC595 and a ULN2803A or only one IC a single TPIC6C595 which has the driver included. Then there are still pins left for a display and Midi.
Thanks so much for the info! I’ll remember this when I inevitably have more questions. For now I’m focusing on the MC8 type controller I’m making with a Mega.
 
I built exactly the same thing a while ago, using shift registers, an ATTiny and a 7-seg display to show the bank. Also with MIDI in. I can support you with some code if you get stuck.
 
I built exactly the same thing a while ago, using shift registers, an ATTiny and a 7-seg display to show the bank. Also with MIDI in. I can support you with some code if you get stuck.
Thanks man I’ll keep that in mind. For now I’m plowing ahead as a learning experience but I definitely know when I’m out of my depth.
 
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