Damien di Fede sports a silver (early 2012) MeeBlip SE. Add it to Reaper, and you can get some serious control. Including, yes, making some acid. Photo courtesy Damien.
Whether you’ve got a MeeBlip micro and are looking for a way of controlling it, or any MeeBlip and want some automation of sounds, some devoted members of our user community have been building solutions. With free tools for Reaper and Ableton Live, you can get some serious control – and make some serious acid techno, too.
Both downloads are free.
Add this for Max for Live and you get a handy MeeBlip Device inside Ableton. micro users will love it, but SE owners may find it useful, too.
Sometimes, focusing on one synth can be a creative booster.
And so we love this work by sonicuprising, among other creations on YouTube. The artist works entirely with MeeBlip. The track is dubbed “dubstep,” but it sounds a little cheery and un-dubsteppy there. Let’s call it Chipstep. Or just enjoy. From the description:
A track made entirely with a DIY meeblip synth. Sounds have not been processed by effects and the track was sequenced in ableton.
Good fun to make and versatile to program. You can get all sorts of sounds out this bad boy!!!
If you have MeeBlip-made music, we’d love to hear it. Contact us directly or join us on the forums: The MeeBlip audio demo thread
A look at the MeeBlip micro Black board. Click for a bigger version. USB connectivity, easier, knobbier, pre-assembled and ready for your projects. We’ll have the final schematics up on GitHub soon.
We believe in making two kinds of MeeBlips. One is ready to plug in and play, complete with a travel-worthy housing. The other is a DIY model you can customize, so you can make your own case or build your own custom synth projects. That second model is MeeBlip micro, and it’s time to talk about it again, as we get ready to ship the new MeeBlip micro Black.
MeeBlip micro has been more widely used than we imagined, with applications from talking to plants to winding up in a rack with control voltage inputs for analog connectivity. It allows you to make MeeBlip into what you want. That can mean custom housings and knobs, or something as adventurous as wiring up installations and custom sensors. (Arduino goes great with micro, too, for an open source hardware combination.) And so we’ve redesigned micro around the feedback we got from you. The micro Black does what the old micro did – and retains the MeeBlip sound – but does those things better. New:
A compact, surface-mount design. Keeping micro little is a big goal. We’ve added features without expanding the footprint. As you can see in the image, that has meant squeezing a lot onto the board.
A USB port. MeeBlip micro still has standard DIN MIDI connections, but it adds USB. That means:
MIDI over USB. You can now connect to a computer without the need for a separate interface. (Class-compliant support means the iPad works, too, via a Camera Connection Kit.)
Easier programmability, over USB. The USB port also works for modifying MeeBlip micro’s firmware, so you can hack your micro or use firmware updates from us and other users – no more need for an additional hardware adapter.
Knobbier than ever. 16:1 multiplexing now lets you add more knobs – you can have one for each parameter and still have knobs left over. We have direct switch inputs, too.
No more lost patches. A snapshot save button writes the current patch to memory so that it’s saved when you turn off MeeBlip. You can change the default MIDI receive channel with that button, too.
Us musicians complain about MIDI now and then. But it sure can be useful. Having a simple MIDI input port opens up the MeeBlip to working however you like, and with hardware old and new.
Ashley Elsdon has been writing about mobile music since long before the days of iPhones and iPads. His blog is “Palm Sounds” for a reason – that’s Palm as in the old PDA, as well as the palm of your hand. And so, when Ashley got his MeeBlip SE, he connected it to a “vintage” Palm PDA. miniMusic BeatPad remains a clever little app, controlling parameters with a stylus. Oh, and that old Palm screen should also perform nicely in direct sunlight when your fancy smartphone is a glaring mess. Quick results:
2012 was a really important year for us on MeeBlip. Making new things is exciting, but there’s a special pleasure to refinement, to solving problems and making things better, which is what we got to do. And around the holidays, we got an unexpected gift: MeeBlip SE made a number of appearances in guides to gift buying and the best of 2012.
If you want to give a gift to yourself right now to fight the January blues, your timing is perfect – shipping is free or reduced until the end of the day January 13.
And that’s not to brag: it’s you MeeBlip users who have made this all possible. Here’s the latest:
Not just for synth geeks, DJ sites take notice, too – like Gina at DJZ:
“The MeeBlip SE is an affordable piece of hardware for makers and musicians alike. It’s got a gritty sound that can range in timbre from a conventional analog synth to the Dorito of the chiptunes.”
“The MeeBlip SE has come into its own as a truly unique-sounding piece of kit that delivers either digital grunge or analog-style swagger, depending on how you set up its panel of 16 switches and nine knobs.”
(PS, whatever comments may say, we’re very pleased with the company we’re in – like Wolfgang Palm, a synth hero of ours, Moog, Dave Smith, and Arturia’s lovely Minibrute! Been having fun with the iPolySix this week, too.)
Shipping in Neukölln, Berlin. (Don’t worry, we didn’t get hit by any fireworks.)
We’re excited to bring MeeBlip SE into 2013! And now, we’ve managed to clear the massive shipping slowdown that afflicts the post around Christmas and New Years holidays.
What better way to celebrate than shipping for free?
If you live in the European Union (or most European countries), United States, and Canada, shipping is free.
We’ve also added tracking information to European orders. (Tracking isn’t available in Germany, but those orders arrive quickly.)
Of course, if you just got MeeBlip, we want to hear sound samples! In January, we’re upgrading and improving the forums and doing more for the sound community – stay tuned!
“So what do I do with a MeeBlip – it’s, like, a sound module?”
We actually get this question a lot. MeeBlip is designed to be useful when connected to other tools. It doesn’t take much – even an inexpensive Rock Band “keytar” keyboard controller, now available for not much more than US$50, will let you play. Here, we meet some of Peter’s Berlin neighbors, the fine folks at boutique analog hardware maker Koma Elektronik. Their analog delay in particular sounds terrific with MeeBlip’s own unique sound. And for MIDI, we turn to the brilliant step sequencer for iPad, Phaedra.
This is one example. But any number of MIDI sources and effects will work – iPad owners, all you need is a MIDI connection, typically a supported USB MIDI interface and Apple’s own USB Camera Connection Kit. (iOSMIDI.com will help you find what you need.)
We had a lot of fun jamming with this combination. Here’s what happened:
Hey, Europe! Now every MeeBlip SE comes with a power adapter in the box, including tips for both Europlug and UK – so if you travel between the UK and the Continent, you’ll always have power. (Sample unit shown here.)
Now you can buy a MeeBlip SE Limited Edition and have it shipped to most parts of the world. It’s the same open source hardware, the same unique personality, the same black-and-orange paint scheme and retro knobs, 30 patch memories, and onboard MIDI – only we’re shipping it faster to you.
United States and Canada
US$149.95 plus US$9.95 shipping (USA) $11.95 shipping (Canada).
Includes North American power adapter. Buy now.
European Union (€)
€149.95 plus €9.95 shipping. (DHL – ships fast, direct from Berlin)
All VAT and duty included, prepaid – so you don’t have to worry about it.
Includes power supply with Europlug and UK adapter (swappable, perfect for Easyjet tours!) Buy now.
If you’re in Berlin, buy via this link and you can pick up in Berlin Neukölln, near Hermannplatz, at Mainzerstraße 58 EG. (We’ll send pickup details and times Monday – Saturday.)
United Kingdom
£119.95 + £7.95 postage (DHL, quickly crossing the Channel from sunny Berlin)
All VAT and duty included.
Includes power supply with Europlug and UK adapter. Buy now.
The rest of the world (as much of it as we can ship to!)
US$149.95, plus shipping.
You supply your own power adapter for wherever you are (and that keeps shipping costs low). (Note, you will be responsible for applicable tax/duty in your country.) Buy now.
We can’t wait to get these MeeBlip SE to you. Shipping now in North America; Berlin shipping to Europe (including the UK) begins 6 December.
The sun sets over LA – perfect moment for tracks like this, from an LA-based MeeBlip owner. Photo (CC-BY) Dominick.
Synthesizers are limited as instruments only by the musicians using them. And so, continuing our survey of the wonderful music coming from the MeeBlip community, here’s our favorite ambient track. “On the Edge” is eerily transcendent, a gorgeous track that will leave you soothed and reflective. (At least, it did me.) And, incredibly, it’s all MeeBlip, using only Ableton Live for mixing and reverb.
Well, except the birds at the end. I’m fairly certain those are not made by MeeBlip, though play music like this, and they may gather at your studio window.
MeeBlip users are constantly reminding us why we love synths. Even beginning with a fairly classical synthesizer design, you constantly make surprising music and sounds, endless in variations.
So, we’re pleased to begin a series featuring some selected tracks from you, the MeeBlip community. You can also drop in on our MeeBlip demo thread on our forum, have a listen, and share your own additions.
To kick things off, let’s have a listen to a terrific, fun-loving track called “Squid Racing” by an act known as MEGA SYNTH (Darren M. Mittermeier). It’s a tune that would be at home on a retro game – but also has a quirky personality all its own.
MeeBlip is a 16-bit synth and is capable of sounds that don’t sound like so-called “chip music.” But if you do want those kind of raw timbres, it can do that, too – and here, MEGA SYNTH makes it sound better doing it than James or I could. Continue reading »
