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'The MIDster Punch '  Punches music rolls and book from MIDI files  

 

Build your own machine using our step by step guide & software !

The mail order booklet gives full instructions and diagrams and is sent to you together with the MIDster PUNCH software.

The booklet describes how the machine is built; it gives information on stepper motors, construction of the electronic interface, how the software operates and much more. It has pictures and drawings together with circuit diagrams and charts of various music scales.

Email Bob Essex directly for details, including price and mailing address.

 


 

 

The MIDster punch  was originally designed for the amateur to punch Raffin-style 20 note and 31note rolls and also the extended Alderman and Jaeger und Brommer 26note rolls.

However, any size or format of punched roll or book can be produced by amending the physical dimensions of the machine.

With suitable modifications the machine can be built to punch piano rolls and even to mark out cylinders and barrels. Punching John Smith 20 format music, with its irregular hole spacing, is easily accommodated by simply replacing the usual 3mm. punch bit with a 4mm. bit. All of the format changes are made in the software.

Connection is made from any DOS or Windows PC by a standard printer cable. Computer connections are all optically isolated from the machine.

Stepper motors control the punch-head traverse and paper increments. The small electronics board in the machine and its power supply unit are designed for simplicity of construction and use components which are easily obtainable ( such as from an old photocopier or electric typewriter ).

The clever design of the paper punch is clearly described in the booklet. It gives consistent clean results in both single and multiple copies. The MIDster PUNCH software controls all the movements of the punch machine.

Optical sensors are used to locate the hole positions in the paper to an accuracy of one hundredth of a millimetre. Other sensors check the action of the punch for sticking or misoperation.

Software

The software program is written to professional standards. On the diskette which accompanies the booklet are three program suites.

The first two contain default parameters for punching 20/26 note rolls and 31 note rolls respectively. The third suite contains default parameters for the John Smith 20 note format.

Each software suite has an executable roll-punch file and an .ini file which contains the variable parameters. An Editini.exe file allows the user to enter and store the parameters for the music roll to be punched. These would need to be set up only once, but could be changed if necessary.

A simple menu system gives ease of access to the suites and their setup and run facilities 

 

Software parameters :                                                                           user variable: - Enter details in Editini.exe - Auto save.

LPT : The printer port being used

MIDI Channel : The channel in the MIDI file to be read (Which must be saved in MIDI Format 0)

Number of notes : (on the tracker bar). There is no upper limit.

Hole #1 thru #n  : enter the MIDI note numbers for each tracker bar hole at the prompts. This method permits non-chromatic scales and non-sequential positioning if required (e.g. as in the Alderman scale).

Hole spacing : in motor steps. Up to a total of 1 billion steps can be specified to traverse the paper.

Baseline relative to edge : This is the number of steps from the optically sensed reference or check-point to the edge of the paper.

1st Hole offset  from the edge of the paper, in steps.

Carriage movement limit : Carriage stepping speed.

Number of steps per paper increment

Paper increment speed

Increment step time : This determines the intervals at which the MIDI file is scanned.

Punch solenoid operate time. 

N.B.   The Editini.exe for all suites allows absolute individual positioning for each hole in the scale, relative to the edge of the paper.

 

  Other Software Features

 The software detects the output of the optical sensors that give a baseline reference point for the movement of the punch carriage. Any variation from this reckoning, due to missed pulses or to sticking, is corrected each time the punch head passes the baseline.

The software program ensures that the baseline is always approached from the same direction in order to read the reference signal. This is to allow for any small amount of backlash in the drive mechanism.

Optical sensors detect the correct functioning of the paper punch. Any malfunction causes an alarm to sound and pauses the action of the punch machine.