adding real keys to a korg monotron ribbon keyboard...

[jamiewoody]

how should i go about this? i do not want to ruin it...

is there a common to tie (real) key grounds to? do i just stick a wire under the right pitches under ribbon and tie to the positive terminal of keys?

i can find NOWHERE online where someone has done this yet...

[Dylan]

I'm not sure, but you may want to contact Collin Cunningham

SX-150 button mod

[jamiewoody]

?

[Dylan]

Ack, for some reason I thought you were talking about that gadget. My bad.

[tbone]

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/12/how-to-sx150-button-mod.html

it may be a different device but the principle is the same.
simple combination of buttons and resistors. give it a try.

[jamiewoody]

i sort of understand the deal with the resistor ladder. but, how does that apply here> i mean, if the pitch points are already established in the ribbon, should'nt i just be able to hook up the keys?

[tbone]

so do you mean more of a mechanical solution pressing the ribbon down in the right place as opposed to an electrical solution?

[SynthularModulus]

On the Monotron the ribbon is simply a variable resistor. Thats why you can get non-chromatic pitches on it. On the DUO, it has a quantizer that achieves the pitch quantization, but again, the ribbon itself is just a variable resistor. So what the Monotron is looking for to control its pitch is a resistance on the ribbon controller. So if you wanted to use bottons or keys, those keys need to switch between different sets of resistors to provide the monotron with different resistances.

A much simpler solution (though perhaps it's "cheating" from a circuit bender's perspective,) would be to just use the CV pitch point on the monotron, and feed it a CV from a keyboard or controller that has a CV out. For example, a Roland A-01k, or if you have a Arturia BeatStep Pro, you can send it midi from a midi keyboard, the BSP will convert that midi to CV, and then it is a very simple modification to the Monotron to give it a CV in jack.

Having CV ins on Monotrons is a beautiful thing. If you have any CV gear such as Eurorack stuff, Korg SQ-1, Roland A-01k, BeatStep Pro, etc., you can really open up the possibilities of the Monotron, with the simple CV-on modifications that can be done.