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Vimana

Categories: Hardware Prototypes/Non-Commercial products

Submitted by:Guilherme Martins

24 May 2023

Elevator Pitch

Vimana

Vimana Sequencer is a personal interpretation of a Multi-track Midi Step Sequencer with an Open Philosophy regarding the User Interface

Product Description

Vimana

Vimana 16 Track Polyphonic Midi Step Sequencer Fully Functional Prototype Vimana is a personal interpretation of a multi-track Step Sequencer. I have been working on this project during the last 4 years, and today, I'm presenting it to the world as it is right now. Below is a list of the main features that are implemented: 16 independent MIDI channels/tracks Main clock, division/multiplication per track Step parameters: pitch, velocity, gate, retrigger, repeat, chord, inversions, sustain Play mode: forward, reverse, pendulum, random, drunk Built-in Quantizer with many different scales, and also the possibility of setting a custom scale. Euclidean Generator More updates will follow in the future. Credits: Concept: Guilherme Martins Electronics: Guilherme Martins, Tarquínio Mota Software: Guilherme Martins, Tarquínio Mota Beta Tester: Ricardo Webbens

How It's Innovative

Vimana stands upon an open philosophy regarding the physical user interface. As a developer and a musician, I wanted to be able to build multiple instruments according to the need of the project, or the moment. For this I have created a modular user interface from the physical point of view, but also from the software point of view. Let’s say that we need a step sequencer with 5 steps and 3 tracks only, or a gate sequencer for drums and rhythms with as many steps and pages and tracks, it is all possible with this system, it’s just a matter of changing variables and voila. CPU is the limit here, and since we have a Teensy platform as the brain, we have a lot of free ground to play with.

See MIDI Innovation In Action

Most Inspiring Use Cases

It’s inspiring to see how people use it, and how intuitive it can be. It doesn’t have a front plate with labels and icons because the user interface is not closed yet, but even so, our friends that have tried Vimana, jumped into it and started to have fun in the first moments.

Expansion Plans

Eurorack compatible: Sync in/out, CV and Gate outputs per track. Connect an external MIDI keyboard to be able to record tracks on the fly. Record and Recall presets. Add more randomness, probability rules and bernoulli gates. Play with different formats and sizes for different needs, Trigger Sequencer for Drums, Melody sequencer for melodies. To be able to program sequences in the computer and upload to the sequencer. Use the sequencer for unconventional uses, like lights control and robotics, kinetic installations.

Commercialization

As soon as we are able to finish a version 1.0, we intend to start selling units worldwide. Our main challenge right now is the hardware side, to find the best components, the best buttons and pots, the display, front panels, and casing. As soon as all this is solved we intend to build small batchs and accept pre-orders.