Some questions for building a new instrument

Hello everybody,
thanks for accepting me in this forum.
SamplerBox is an ingenious way to create a musical instrument, thanks to all developers !
Therefore I decided to build one, the main focus should be piano and harpsichord.
I will build my own MIDI-keyboard based on a Fatar TP40M/76keys.
After all I read in this forum, I will use this Raspberry Pi 3 Modell B Plus:
https://www.amazon.de/ABOX-Raspberry-Ult...226&sr=8-4

combined with this HiFiBerry DAC2 Pro:
https://www.amazon.de/HiFiBerry-DAC2-Pro...776&sr=8-3
I will download this last image: https://homspace.nl/samplerbox/downloads/    on the 32GB-SD-Card.
Most probably I have to increase the partition size in order to have both instruments on the card ?
I will use the provided Salamander Piano, if possible with all 16 velocities.
I assume, some configuration work is needed for that.

Do I have to install special audio drivers on that SD-Card ?
Do you think, that the latency is good enough for playing classical piano without significant glitches ?
Can I omit stuff like LCD-display, since kind of an up/down button would satify me to change sounds.
Sorry for all these questions, but you are the experts!

Hi Willy,

1. Yes, the distributed samples partition is too small for serious use
   
2. There is no need to use all 16 velocity levels. I suggest using the version Hans modified with for latency, accurate velocity and enough levels for the instruments tone on different strengths of playing. It's in the downloads area.
   
3. Using audio hats like hifiberry just requires adapting the PI's config.txt as explained in that file
   
4. I'd say latency values are good, but that's both a personal as a tough subject. You'll find a quite technical FAQ in the docs, also touching the Salamander.
   
5. You can use/omit all optionals as per your requirements
   

These answers are very short as I'm just repeating the docs (which are accurate as far as I can judge) - I suggest reading them for more details as well as for answers to next questions you surely will get 
If you only found the forum till now, just click the samplerbox logo on top and you'll get the first page.

Have fun, Noek.

Hi Willy,

1. Yes, the distributed samples partition is too small for serious use
   
2. There is no need to use all 16 velocity levels. I suggest using the version Hans modified with for latency, accurate velocity and enough levels for the instruments tone on different strengths of playing. It's in the downloads area.
   
3. Using audio hats like hifiberry just requires adapting the PI's config.txt as explained in that file
   
4. I'd say latency values are good, but that's both a personal as a tough subject. You'll find a quite technical FAQ in the docs, also touching the Salamander.
   
5. You can use/omit all optionals as per your requirements
   

These answers are very short as I'm just repeating the docs (which are accurate as far as I can judge) - I suggest reading them for more details as well as for answers to next questions you surely will get 
If you only found the forum till now, just click the samplerbox logo on top and you'll get the first page.

Have fun, Noek.

Thanks Noek, I will consider your advise and also read carefully the whole doc !

noek

Hi,
does somebody has experience with this audio & midi interface:  https://blokas.io/pisound/
I read in this review: https://www.macprovideo.com/article/audi...spberry-pi

that some GPIO-pins are used/blocked by Pisound and may not be usable for the sound selection buttons (or LCD-display).

Willi123

Hi again,
does somebody know if Raspberry Pi 3+ and Pisound (https://blokas.io/pisound/)
and the last available SD-card-image work together ?
The unused GPIO-pins are routed through Pisound so they are accessible and I can use them for
changing sounds.
Most probably i have to change to replace samplerate=44100 --> 48000
Does this have any effect on the Salamander-Piano sound ?
Do I also need to set py audio device 3 ?
Any comments or hints are welcome !
Thanks
Willi

Hi Willi,

I know of one tested PIsound implementation on newest release, but not it's exact details so next info is not as complete as it could be.
That build has a 7-segment I2C display and has been tested with two buttons, but actually uses one. Might be the PIsound button.
So it's possible to use the GPIO pins, but looking at PIsounds specs & pictures, I figure it took some soldering skills 

From configuring point of view it's a standard "hat-DAC" and should be autodetected - I don't know if mentioned build uses autodetect as it's an early adapter and may still use explicit values.
However the driver has to be enabled, so (theoretically interpreting the docs): in the (/boot/)config.txt you need to comment the "dtparam=audio=on" line and add a "dtoverlay=pisound" line. But you're not a this detailed stage yet....

I've added the "USE_48kHz=<False/True>" for DACs working hardcoded on 48kHz in combination 44100Hz samples. Please read the "What about sample rates, choose between 44100Hz and 48kHz" FAQ or the build page for additional details.
This way you also follow posting guideline #2, which I would appreciate, though I do understand it's overwhelming. On the other hand: it's DIY.

Thanks a lot, so I will start and let's see, maybe additional help is needed.
Willi