Here it is! It's at the point where I think I'm happy enough for folks to try it out. I only have a few PCBs available but plan to have more made. The firmware is in a state I consider it usable though I do have some future plans for it. The original concept is basically there albeit without a few creature comforts (on-module wave generation algorithms for example). But it sounds just as I wanted it to and I think folks will really enjoy it.

It pairs exceptionally well with the Doepfer Wasp (A-124) module since the intentional aliasing really seems to drive the resonance and bring out that signature wasp sound.

It's been a long road and there's more to do but hoping folks give this a look see! Available on our store now! (bitbybitsynths.com). Be aware there's a week or so turn-around time to assemble the module since I'm currently making these to order. In the future I hope to have a kit version so folks that are handy with an iron can assemble the through-hole parts themselves (the SMD parts will be pre-soldered).

#WaveBoy #Eurorack #Modular #NowAvailable #Chiptune #GameBoy #4bit #lofi

A new multi-color front panel for the WaveBoy!

It's not quite the GameBoy purple I had hoped. There's a purple from another filament supplier that might get me a little closer I might try. And/or it might look better inverted. But even so I'm happy with the lettering. If I'm able to make the panel in aluminum or FR4 I'll be able to shrink the font size more so spell out what each thing is which might be an ok trade-off for probably not being able to get the exact colors I would want for those.

#Eurorack #Modular #Wavetable #Chiptune #4bit #Noise #Prototype #WaveBoy

Launched an online manual for WaveBoy! While I will be putting together a video(s) over it as well, I wanted to have something that might be easier to reference.

Just arrived are more parts to build 4 more WaveBoy prototypes. Folks interested in trying one of these out can send me a PM for more information.

Still to do is sorting out more premium front panels (FR4 or aluminum) in addition to the 3D printed panels. I'd also like to add a few more noise modes and have some other fun features I'm thinking about (check the docs to know more!)

https://waveboy.bitbybitsynths.com to check out more!

#WaveBoy #Eurorack #Modular #Chiptune #4bit #GameBoy #Wavetable

Another short demo showing off a few new features. The display now has cursors to indicate which wave position you are on when modifying the wave via the module (instead of having to edit the patch file) and now has a fun cursor that shows you where the step sequencer is. Additionally all for step sequencer modes (forward, backward, ping-pong, and reverse) are working!

https://youtu.be/qmQnor9rPKc

To show off the sequencer, I ran the module's output through my Doepfer Wasp filter although this does stomp on the modulation of the wave frames a bit. Still it sounds pretty neat! In practice, when using this with our band stuff (@victimcache ) we added a slew to the step sequencer to round the cutoff changes a bit.

I think at this point this thing is nearly ready to use! I'd like to have a decent default patch set and have pondered adding more patch slots (there's currently only 16) but I think after that, since patches are just stored in a textfile on the SD card, having a way to generate patches on the module (like you can in LSDJ) is something I still very much want to do, but as mentioned previously, I will likely work on that externally via something like Python until I have all that working and then port that over to the module.

Reorganizing the codebase (basically switching over to C++) really helped clean up the code in ways that should make it much easier to add new features though yeah I think it's close to minimum viable at this point.

#Eurorack #Wavetable #4bit #chiptune #WorkInProgress #EurorackModule #StepSequencer #Modular

The photo doesn't really give it justice but I've been hard at work improving the firmware for my GB Wave Osc module. I've spent the last few days completely reorganizing the code to make it easier to add new features and improve the general usage of the module. One such new feature is adding direction options for the step sequencer as can be seen by the 'F" (forward). I plan on having forward, reverse, ping-pong, and random. The default will be stored within each patch.

#Eurorack #Wavetable #4bit #chiptune #WorkInProgress #EurorackModule

Here's a short demo showing off my updated GB Wave Osc design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQJh45K2S1k

I'm using both the audio out as well as the step out. The step out is controlling the Wasp filter's cutoff and is trigger by note on. I'm also flipping through the frames via the MIDI pattern effect in Renoise which is just going over as a CC over to my Mutant Brain.

The display shows the current waveform being used for both the audio output and the step sequencer. Currently the step only goes forwards but I would like to add an option to change direction and perhaps being able to specify where to start and end from and maybe a random option.

I don't have wave generation functions on the module directly yet but the patch and configuration data is written to the SD card via text files which can be edited. I plan on writing a Python script to generate some waveforms to put on the SD card and once I've figured that out in Python, I'll port it over to the module itself is the plan.

Enjoy!

#GameBoyWaveOscillator #4Bit #DIY #Eurorack #DCO #LoFi #Modular #NewModule

Woohoo! It works! It all works! The new step sequencer works as expected as does the SD card interactions. The module's config (currently only tuning adjustment) and patches are read and written to the SD card. These are stored as text files meaning one can edit both the config and patches via a text editor. That's no ideal for generating patches (ala LSDJ) but does at least mean folks can draw their own waveforms (sort of) without having to do weird stuff.

I'll try to make a proper demo of the module soon. I downsized my digital camera kit so need to sort out the best way to do that but worry not, I'll do my best to show it off very soon!

#Eurorack #4bit #wavetable #oscillator #GameBoy #chiptune

It's alive!

#GameBoyWaveOscillator #Eurorack #Modular #4bit #Oscillator

Update on the GB Wave Osc!

I had planned on finishing the soldering work and powering the thing up but I ended up one part short :/ I only had 1 spare encoder/switch from the first build and I thought I had more. So more of those are coming in the mail.... The SMD work was slow but really not bad - the micro SD card slot is slightly crooked but the pads still line up so I guess that'll be ok (it's along the backside so not seen in this photo). The new front panel design fit like a glove!

I put the old module next to the new one to show off how much smaller all the SMD bits are.

Hopefully I can power this thing up in the next day or two, and hopefully nothing is wrong with the schematic or my soldering. If both of those hold true then I can start working on the UI changes now that I have 2 push-button encoders and get the SD card stuff going.

#Eurorack #Modular #DIY #WorkInProgress #4Bit #Wavetable #SMD

PCBs just came in for my GameBoy Oscillator: SMD Edition. Time to get to work!

#Eurorack #GameBoy #4bit #Oscillator #DCO #Wavetable #SMD

Latest update to my Gameboy Wave oscillator! As teased it now has an micro-SD card slot (for patch storage), a step-sequencer which steps through the current wave via a trigger input, and replaces the left/right buttons with a second push-button encoder. The 2nd encoder has some pros/cons. I actually like buttons a bit more, but this makes menu navigation a little bit more intuitive. I was having trouble finding buttons of just the right size too and I think this makes better use of space for the feature set.

I'll be ordering the PCBs soon and making a prototype shortly after they arrive and assuming I didn't mess something up I can then work on updating the software.

#GameBoy #Eurorack #Oscillator #Prototype #PCBs #Modular #OSHW #Wavetable #4bit