A firmware modification for playing LinnStrument "vertically"

[Vranq]

Ok, (unexpectedly) had to find out myself. It works exactly like I have estimated in the question above. I think column offset would be a great addition to the regular firmware.

[Roger_Linn]

Hi Vranq,

On the LinnStrument FAQ page, I explain why LinnStrument's rows always consist of consecutive semitones:

https://www.rogerlinndesign.com/support ... ument-faqs

It's the first FAQ under the "General" tab.

However, you can set LinnStrument's Row Offset to No Overlap so that all pads will have a unique Note Note. Then you can reassign every pad however you wish with a MIDI remapping utility.

Also on the FAQ page, "General" tab, I explain my guiding principal for feature additions. It's the FAQ "Can you add this feature: __________?" There are many features that appeal to a small number of people and I prefer not to make the operation confusing by including many special-case features.

[mr Bien]

i did columns set to 2 and rows set to 5 and changed the mpe to 24. the layout is isomorphic!!! and really nice for scales and melodies. this is so very good! i feel that other than guitarists and bassists who know the original layout like the back of their hand this is a winner. (i was really liking row offset -6 so every octave stacks, but it has a pretty high learning curve (for me anyway))

thanks for this custom firmware!!! just fantastic. And for mentioning it on the Zoom call Roger. i feel on the verge of a new relationship (and the other one who sometimes plays it, absolutely loves it)

[drake-n]

Hello,

According to our discussions in this earlier post

viewtopic.php?f=263&t=559271

I made an unoffical modification to the firmware in order to make it possible to use LinnStrument "vertically". This may help some people use the LinnStrument for piano pieces that need a large range.

Yin, any chance you could make a quick step by step guide post on how to install this firmware (and how to go back to the normal firmware after)? I want to try this out, but don't want to accidentally brick my Linnstrument (if that's a possibility).

[drake-n]

i did columns set to 2 and rows set to 5 and changed the mpe to 24. the layout is isomorphic!!! and really nice for scales and melodies. this is so very good! i feel that other than guitarists and bassists who know the original layout like the back of their hand this is a winner. (i was really liking row offset -6 so every octave stacks, but it has a pretty high learning curve (for me anyway))

thanks for this custom firmware!!! just fantastic. And for mentioning it on the Zoom call Roger. i feel on the verge of a new relationship (and the other one who sometimes plays it, absolutely loves it)

Does this mean your linn is doing this layout? viewtopic.php?t=596407&hilit=midimech

And sorry are you using Yin's firmware or is this some other firmware?

[FranklyFlawless]

i did columns set to 2 and rows set to 5 and changed the mpe to 24. the layout is isomorphic!!! and really nice for scales and melodies. this is so very good! i feel that other than guitarists and bassists who know the original layout like the back of their hand this is a winner. (i was really liking row offset -6 so every octave stacks, but it has a pretty high learning curve (for me anyway))

thanks for this custom firmware!!! just fantastic. And for mentioning it on the Zoom call Roger. i feel on the verge of a new relationship (and the other one who sometimes plays it, absolutely loves it)

Does this mean your linn is doing this layout? viewtopic.php?t=596407&hilit=midimech

And sorry are you using Yin's firmware or is this some other firmware?

No, this is Yin's custom firmware, where you can offset both rows and columns to discrete values.

[drake-n]

Just as an update I got this firmware working. I had missed @Vranq 's comments.

He's right to install it using Windows all you have to do is replace the "linnstrument-firmware-2.3.0.bin" in the official firmware updater with the "linnstrument-firmware-2.2.2-x (XY-tuning).bin" from yinwang0 's folder you can download here: https://github.com/yinwang0/linnstrumen ... ing%29.zip

(Note I removed the "(XY-tuning)"from the name...not sure how that naming would load in the Linn)

This is an awesome update. Just shredding with the +5 semitones per row, and +2 semitones per column layout (similar to the Wikki-Hayden layout which I found with flipcoder's midimech) (and setting mpe to 24)! In just two days was able to perform a very fast piece that I had been fumbling on the standard and tritone layout for many weeks.

Any chance this tuning tweak can be updated to the current firmware? I use the custom lighting feature all the time so it sucks to lose that.

[FranklyFlawless]

Any chance this tuning tweak can be updated to the current firmware? I use the custom lighting feature all the time so it sucks to lose that.

No chance of that happening as-is, since it is not backwards-compatible. It would have to be rewritten by Geert to avoid conflicts with the LinnStrument's functionalities, or a pull request has to be tested by them.

[drake-n]

Any chance this tuning tweak can be updated to the current firmware? I use the custom lighting feature all the time so it sucks to lose that.

No chance of that happening as-is, since it is not backwards-compatible. It would have to be rewritten by Geert to avoid conflicts with the LinnStrument's functionalities, or a pull request has to be tested by them.

I was actually meaning if @yinwang0 could make the same tuning tweak to the current firmware, but an official version with this feature would be great.

I don't see why there would be no chance, @yinwang0 indicated it was a simple tweak.

[FranklyFlawless]

I don't see why there would be no chance, @yinwang0 indicated it was a simple tweak.

Some of the issues are already mentioned in this thread:

• Pitch slides are locked to the X-axis due to hardware design, so most vertical layouts cannot effectively use them.
• Roger acknowledged that anyone interested in playing vertical layouts can use the custom firmware. There is no need to implement it in the official firmware, especially considering the limited X-axis issue.

The only way to deal with the hardware design limitation is to use a touch sensor sheet that has the spacers in a vertical orientation instead of a horizontal one. The firmware may need some more development done for Y-axis pitch slides to work with vertical layouts.

[Roger_Linn]

Hi all,

On my "LinnStrument Tips & Tricks" page (accessed from the LinnStrument Support page), I have added the tip "Playing LinnStrument in a vertical Orientation", which provides information about all current methods of doing that, including links to this forum thread.

[GZBeatz]

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Hello,

According to our discussions in this earlier post

viewtopic.php?f=263&t=559271

I made an unoffical modification to the firmware in order to make it possible to use LinnStrument "vertically". This may help some people use the LinnStrument for piano pieces that need a large range.

This modification allows the user to set a column offset parameter, which can enable the vertical tunings. The user can switch between the usual way of play and the vertical way from the settings menu.

I uploaded the modified firmware code and documentation to my GitHub fork of the firmware:

https://github.com/yinwang0/linnstrumen ... /xy-tuning (https://github.com/yinwang0/linnstrument-firmware/tree/xy-tuning)

Make sure to checkout xy-tuning branch. There is a modified updater app in the updater directory, which you can just run directly without building the source code yourself.

https://github.com/yinwang0/linnstrumen ... uning).zip (https://github.com/yinwang0/linnstrument-firmware/blob/xy-tuning/updater/LinnStrument%20Updater%20%28XY-tuning%29.zip)

The version number is changed to "222x" so you can verify that on the LinnStrument.

Here are some examples:

A vertical fourths tuning similar to Jesse Washmon's playing (row offset: -1, column offset: 5):

IMG_2813.jpeg

Vertical thirds tuning (row offset: -1, column offset: 4):
IMG_2816.jpeg

Horizontal tuning similar to Janko keyboard (row offset: 1, column offset: 2):
IMG_2814.jpeg

It seems a lot can be expressed by the combinations of the two offset parameters, some of which may be useful.

I tried to make the user interface as convenient as possible, but some things may not be as refined yet. You are welcome to try it and give me feedback.

Hi Yin, I can’t open this firmware updater — the system says it’s damaged. I tried some methods I found on the internet, typing some commands in the terminal, but it still doesn’t work. So I’m replying to your post to let you know about this issue, to remind you that the program and this firmware might need an update. Also, I noticed that Roger released the latest firmware 2.3.3 in 2023. Do you have any plans to update your version of the firmware based on this latest release?