ChipTuesday: MIDI-Syncing LSDJ

Written by Marc DeAngelis

Tuesday, 27 October 2009 08:30

The MIDI protocol was designed to allow for two-way communication between devices. Thanks to this forward thinking (the protocol was designed in '82), musicians can now daisy chain an ass-ton of devices and have them all communicate with each other. But what does this have to do with chiptunes? The Game Boy only has a standard audio output (or a patch cable output if you get a Pro Sound mod), so it can't communicate with MIDI instruments, right? Actually, with the use of a converter box, it can. Hit the link for some videos demonstrating a Game Boy loaded with LSDJ being controlled via MIDI.

This guy here is using a Roland 3003 rompler (the silver thing), and NES, a 1-Bit Groovebox, and a Game Boy loaded with LSDJ. The Game Boy and Groovebox are synced via a Firestarter box. More technical information on the Firestarter can be found here. Say hello to the '90s for me while you're there.

This is another Firestarter box, which is being used to sync LSDJ to a MicroKorg. This lets you use LSDJ's sounds, but you can play them on the keyboard, rather than sit there for hours and program everything using the sequencer.

Here we have a different MIDI box. This one is called "This Is Not a Bomb." It's linking the Game Boy loaded with LSDJ to a Korg Electribe EMX-1. This performs a similar function to the MicroKorg video, but the Electibe's physical interface is obviously different from a keyboard, not to mention it can do quite a bit that the MicroKorg can't. Want a This Is Not a Bomb? Keep saving - the deluxe version (the one in the video) goes for almost $400.

In this last video, the Game Boy is linked to a USB or Firewire MIDI interface, and is then recognized by the fantastic software, Ableton Live. This particular MIDI box is an AdruinoBoy, which can also be hacked to fit into a cartridge. As the musician explains, "LSDJ is running in "master" mode, and is sending clock data out which the Arduino then sends over USB. This is then picked up by a little processing app which I wrote which acts as an interface between MIDI and USB using the RW MIDI library (which I had to hack a little)." More technical information on the Adruino Boy can be found here.

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