A firmware modification for playing LinnStrument "vertically"

[yinwang0]

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

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

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.

[hesitz]

Nice job, that looks really interesting.

I'm not quite clear on how the usual Linnstrument touch functionality works on this revised layout.

For example, how do I press a note to get vibrato? How to do a slide (of 1 semitone, 2 semitones, 3 semitones)? How to modulate timbre?

[yinwang0]

Nice job, that looks really interesting.

I'm not quite clear on how the usual Linnstrument touch functionality works on this revised layout.

For example, how do I press a note to get vibrato? How to do a slide (of 1 semitone, 2 semitones, 3 semitones)? How to modulate timbre?

Thanks you for your interest

I haven't changed anything about pitch slides, modulation or vibrato. The only thing changed is the notes' positions. So after turning the LinnStrument 90 degrees, pitch slides will still work in its old way. This means that you need to slide up/down instead of left/right for pitch slides.

Modulation will also need this psychological switch. Maybe it is possible to change modulation's direction with software, but it seems the hardware limits the pitch slides, so you can only slide on that direction.

[mrspiral]

Well, it's still cheaper than buying a Harpejji

Actually, the Janko layout looks kind of intriguing; naturally we're going to have to whine and complain and stamp our little feet until Roger builds us an 88-column Linnstrument to get the most out of it....

[hesitz]

I haven't changed anything about pitch slides, modulation or vibrato. The only thing changed is the notes' positions. So after turning the LinnStrument 90 degrees, pitch slides will still work in its old way. This means that you need to slide up/down instead of left/right for pitch slides.

Pitch slide is the part I'm unclear about. With your new configuration you can apparently still slide exactly one semitone. But it seems you then lose the correspondence between "note you've slided to" and "note your finger is positioned over". They will be different, while with default configuration they're always the same.

That is, in your new configuration if you slide one semitone up the pitch ends up going up a semitone, but at the same time the finger is now positioned on a note that may be a fourth above the original note. This seems like a big problem for some types of playing.

[yinwang0]

Pitch slide is the part I'm unclear about. With your new configuration you can apparently still slide exactly one semitone. But it seems you then lose the correspondence between "note you've slided to" and "note your finger is positioned over". They will be different, while with default configuration they're always the same.

That is, in your new configuration if you slide one semitone up the pitch ends up going up a semitone, but at the same time the finger is now positioned on a note that may be a fourth above the original note. This seems like a big problem for some types of playing.

That is right. You end up in some other note fourths above or below. Unfortunately that can be a problem for some types of playing. There doesn't seem to be a way to change this because Roger said LinnStrument has paddings on the rows of sensors, so physically it can only slide in X direction.

You may think of this modification only for those who need a large range for piano style playing, where they don't have pitch slides. I found it can be more responsive if I turn off PITCH/X when playing piano music.

[yinwang0]

I just uploaded an 2.2.2 Updater app with the bin file replaced with the modified firmware. I changed the version number to 2.2.2x so you can tell. You may just run this updater without building it from source code, it should save your settings.

https://github.com/yinwang0/linnstrumen ... uning).zip

If you don't like it, you can use the original updater to switch back, and feel free to let me know any problems and what you think about it. I may improve this again.

[alx6070]

Just a quick note from a tech perspective:

Please don’t use the same version-number-space as the official firmware. It’s really confusing if we want to switch back and forth (in case there will one day be a 2.2.3 version from Roger). A common convention is to add a variant in the name, e.g. 2.2.2-yinwang-vertical . There are many other conventions which work too. Perhaps Roger has a preferred one...? but from a user’s point of view, don’t clobber the main version number tree please!

[yinwang0]

Just a quick note from a tech perspective:

Please don’t use the same version-number-space as the official firmware. It’s really confusing if we want to switch back and forth (in case there will one day be a 2.2.3 version from Roger). A common convention is to add a variant in the name, e.g. 2.2.2-yinwang-vertical . There are many other conventions which work too. Perhaps Roger has a preferred one...? but from a user’s point of view, don’t clobber the main version number tree please!

I chose 2.2.3 because I didn't know that LinnStrument can display letters in version numbers. I see in the official GitHub the version is already 2.3.0, so it's unlikely to be 2.2.3 again. But it indeed looks confusing.

Now I know that LinnStrument version can display letters. I changed the version to 2.2.2x, so you will see "222X" inside LinnStrument.

[88thman]

Thank you so much @yinwang0 ! This should be one of the default features dear Roger.

[Roger_Linn]

Thank you so much @yinwang0 ! This should be one of the default features dear Roger.

But for those who wish to play their LinnStrument sideways, YinWang has kindly already provided us with the feature. Thank you, Yin.

[GruvSyco]

Not that I’m seeking this but, every time I look at this vertical format it makes me wonder about tuning like a Chapman Stick with a bass side and a treble side with the lower notes going down the middle columns.

[Roger_Linn]

You can do that. In the Panel Settings page, Global Settings tab, search for “ Independent Row Tunings”.

[Vranq]

I wish someone would make a step by step guide how to install such modifications. I am afraid I could damage the Linnstrument if making a mistake. To know exactly which (Windows) software I have to use and which files are required would be a great help. For me it is hard to figure it out myself. Github is not compatible with average computer users.

[Vranq]

Would it work by copying the linnstrument-firmware-2.2.2-x (XY-tuning).bin-file from yinwang0's archive to the same directory as the LinnStrument Updater.exe (from the 2.3.0 firmware package) after removing the linnstrument-firmware-2.3.0.bin file and then simply running the updater?