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MIDI Goblin

Created by Andrew Crawford

A hardware Patch Librarian for synths and midi controllers, arpeggiator, sequencer, chord generator, midi LFO, message monitor, controller, scale generator, patch morpher and completely hackable.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Update - github, wizard, updating your goblin
about 2 months ago – Fri, Dec 20, 2024 at 05:38:55 AM

Hi everyone, just a quick update here - The source code for MIDI Goblin is up on github 

Also I've written a tutorial on how to update your MIDI Goblin to the newest version. Its a pretty easy process. It can be found HERE

The Wizard is also available for download HERE and there's a tutorial written for how to use the Wizard HERE

More tutorials are in the works. Still working on videos (been very very busy since the last update) 

MIDI Goblin shipments are slowly trickling out, Im sending them in batches every monday right now. For those of you that have already received your Goblins - updating to the newest version of the firmware will fix a bug (sending patches with names over 16 characters long was an issue, and patches can be sent with the yes or encoder button throught the patches menu now)


 

Strike update, starting to ship, bonus feature added...
2 months ago – Tue, Dec 10, 2024 at 01:13:03 PM

Hi everyone, thanks for being patient. I just want to give a couple quick updates.

The Canada Post strike has yet to end. This is causing pretty significant issues when it comes to shipping in general in Canada. Just to give those of you not living in Canada what the situation looks like - UPS and Purolator actually stopped receiving orders to handle packages that have been piling up last week as a result. Many small businesses that sell online are really getting hit hard. 

Shipping overseas (to Europe for example) is pretty much impossible with the only current options being fedEx or DHL and as a result, shipments that would normally cost $11.50, would cost $58 - paying the shipping for those orders would end up costing more than half the amount of all the funds raised for the midi goblin project (and I'm paying for the majority of shipping out of pocket) so shipping overseas will have to wait until the strike ends. It stinks but it is the reality of the situation. For the record: I do support Canada Post's right to strike but..whew, bad timing. 

Now for some positivity....All the MIDI Goblins WILL be shipped to all the backers - it'll take time - but they will be shipped. 

For the backers who messages me and paid additional to have their rewards shipped - expect to receive a tracking number within the next 24 hours....I should note that %100 of those backers are from Canada or the USA (no one living overseas was willing to pay the much higher rates - and I can't blame em!) I will be using a smaller carrier for these orders and will be using that carrier to ship orders within Canada and to the USA while the strike is ongoing...again, paying for shipping out of pocket so they wont all ship at once, but I am officially starting to trickle these midi goblins out.

Also,  I added a transpose function to the arpeggiator when an arpeggio is latched...its pretty dang fun! 

One more update regarding shipping (Canada post strike)
2 months ago – Sun, Dec 01, 2024 at 12:59:47 PM

Hi everyone, just a follow-up update for those of you who have offered to make additional payments to help cover the cost of shipping (there's a surprisingly large number of you!)

As some of you may know, Canada Post is on strike - this is not a major issue for shipping items in Canada or to the USA since we have many other delivery options (most of which are much cheaper)

It does however complicate things for backers who live over seas. Canada Post typically offers the cheapest option for shipping over seas by a wide margin. There are other options like DHL, UPS and FedEx but they can be significantly more expensive.

If you do live overseas, and want priority shipping - reach out to me using the midigoblin.com contact form. I can get quotes for shipping and let you decide what route you want to go. If you want to avoid the DHL/UPS rates, I can always email you when the strike ends and we'll work out shipping via Canada Post.

Shipping, website,code, plans for the future
3 months ago – Sat, Nov 30, 2024 at 02:30:17 PM

Hi everyone, sorry about the delay!

I wanted to take a couple days to allow for people to comment/message me about how they would prefer the midi goblins be shipped out (trickled out starting December or wait until I can afford to ship them all at once)


Then I got really busy with work...then quite sick!

Anyways - Sorry for the delay - I was intending on making a video response but its crunch time so text will have to do.

First off, I'd like to give a big "Thank you!" to everyone who has left a comment here, Instagram, YouTube or through midigoblin.com's new contact form.

I'm relived so many backers understand the predicament and was surprised so many people offered to pay extra or even donate to cover the shipping costs.

Based on the responses I've received I have decided to trickle the goblins out starting December 10th!

If you are one of the backers who offered to pay extra for faster shipping (or are one of the nice people who offered to make a donation) - Please get in touch through midigoblin.com 's contact form (write "shipping" as the subject) Ill be able to respond to you directly via email.  

But to be clear - no additional payments are required from any backers or pre-orderers. Your pledged amount was intended to cover shipping and your goblin will be shipped - but it may take a while for all 230 goblins to be shipped.

As for the midigoblin.com website and documentation - I will be updating the website through December (slowly due to my current workload) so documentation may be a bit sparse during the first few weeks. 


I'm working on some short instructional videos on how to use each of the midi goblins "apps" which should answer most questions. A written manual (pdf) is expected to be hosted on midigoblin.com before the new year - until then, if the video tutorial shorts do not answer your questions, feel free to contact me directly through the midigoblin.com contact form or comment in the tutorial's YouTube comment section  (I try very hard to respond to every comment and getting feedback will help a lot)


As for the source code - it'll be quite messy early on. I was planning on working on organizing and commenting functions throughout November but gathering funds to cover shipping and getting sick really threw things WAY off course. 

All of the midi goblin's code was re-written after the hardware was re-designed (in august) and I had to choose between making things work or making them approachable for the tinkerers. 


If you're a tinkerer whos excited about jumping into the source code - just a fair warning, its messy. Everything works, but it is without question a "work in progress" - please excuse this for the time being if you can, I'm a self taught, entry level programmer. 


There will however be a pinout diagram/schematic made available online on December 10th  and the entirety of the source code will also be hosted online as well as a rather large, Arduino sketch. I'm opting not to make the Gerber for the PCB available online at this point in time...but with the info provided, its entirely possible to create a custom goblin with alternate layout if that's something you're interested in trying!

 Smaller, easier to understand sketches are planned for next year and some entry level programming tutorials videos are planned as well but right now the main priority is just getting goblins out to everyone, getting the website up to date and making everyone happy. 

On that note - tinkerers/programmers who backed the project/pre-ordered: How many of you are actually out there? 
 

project update!
3 months ago – Wed, Nov 06, 2024 at 03:01:55 PM

Hi everyone, I've made a short project update video - please do watch if you have the time. 
In the video I speak about the goblin wizard, new website, shipping and budgeting, as well as the future!