Price Updates

I have beatseqr v3.1 unassembled kits available. The assembly is pretty straight forward, with only a couple of weird things you’ll need to do to undo some of the issues I’m reworking for the next version, whenever that ends up being. This version works, and aside from some slightly inconvenient assembly steps, it’s relatively easy work.

Fully built and battle tested with hard acrylic keys, acrylic case & knobs, $349
Kit with arduino mega, $249
Kit with NO arduino mega, $199

kit prices do not include buttons, case, knobs, or cables. contact steve@beatseqr.com for more info.

blacktoe cnc usage: silicone casting mold

alrighty, then.. so I’m starting to get my bearings with how all the software works to run jobs through the blacktoe CNC router. I switched from cambam over to sheetcam and now I’m getting really good results. There’s still a certain amount of strangeness, probably all my fault, so I’m still learning what works and what doesn’t. Here’s a video I did to show how the blacktoe does with machinable wax:

The end result is a mold to use for casting translucent silicone into for use in my beatseqr project, as a replacement for the hand-cut-and-sanded acrylic buttons that I’m currently using. You never know how an experiment will really go until it’s over, and now that this experiment is over, I’ve learned a lot and will make a bunch of adjustments:

1. change the silicone product from tap plastics platinum cure translucent (way too wobbly for this application) to smooth-on sorta clear 40. I saw this product at the Maker Faire this past weekend and really liked the firm quality of the cured product. I think it will be a really good candidate. Smooth-on dragon skin 30 was my second-best candidate.
2. cut a new button mold using the techniques I’ve learned by doing this one.
3. adjust the height of the button to be not as tall as this test.
4. adjust the flashing surrounding the buttons to be not nearly as tall. I had it set to be 0.1″ tall, and that’s probably 0.08″ too much. all I need is for it to basically be thick enough to keep all of the buttons together, and that’s it.
5. think about how to diffuse the LED light going into the button… this new silicone is water-clear… so … I’ll need a way to adjust that quality so it looks good. maybe just a sheet of paper under the silicone flashing… we’ll see how that goes.

So… progress continues. I’ll post the result of the next prototype when it’s done.

maker faire bay area 2010: thank you!

I’m at home, and I’ve had dinner, and I’m… exhausted! 🙂 We had such a great time showing off Beatseqr to hundreds of people this weekend! Thank you so much for coming and checking it out! I have some video coming soon to recap the reception beatseqr got…… soon. Maybe in a couple of days. 🙂 I’m pretty tired. Saturday was a 13 hour show day, and sunday was 11 hours, so… I’m going to go get to bed early tonight and sleep very very well, I think!

Anyway, if you want to get in touch with me, send email to steve@beatseqr.com

Haptic Synapses Upcoming: SubZER0 2010

Last friday night, we played at 1015 Folsom, opening for Joey Beltram. It was pretty friggen’ out of control if I do say so myself. MJ Gamez got some really awesome photos of the event… here’s a great one of us playing:

photo credit: MJ Gamez

So, that leads me to remind you that we’re headlining at South First Billiards during South First Friday, June 4th 2010. We’ll be playing from 12:00am to 1:30am, and there are a bunch of great musicians and crazy-awesome artists doing their thing as well. Outside of the billiards place is the SubZER0 festival, which is something you just have to see to believe. There’s going to be a whole gangload of interesting art+technology exhibits for you to see, experience, and interact with, so come check it out!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124142797605678

Sooooo much going on :)

Beatseqr #7

above: the first fully stuffed beatseqr circuit board, version 3.1

We’ve been radio silent for a while, but that’s only because we’ve been on overdrive getting ready for the bay area maker faire 2010. In addition to playing live gigs to further field test Beatseqr in the real world, we’ve also been ramping up our in-house production and prototyping capability in the form of a 24″ x 48″ CNC router. This new capability will (in theory) let us prototype new circuit and interface designs in house so we can move a lot more quickly to bake some concepts and roll out the products we want to use and think you’ll enjoy using too.

In the meantime, version 3.1 of the beatseqr circuit board is available. If you’re interested in a kit, there are a few options to discuss, so please fill out the form.