So now that we have succesfully cloned the Zyklus with that learned a great deal on how it all works from a hardware perspective, it’s time to get deep with the code and try a new hardware platform. Obviously the Z80 is limited, which is why the code included some very handy bank switching to use more ROM memory space than available. However, while the z80 has only 64K adressable space, we could certainly use a lot more.
A lot has happend since 1987, and these days, the power of computers compared to that time is just crazy.
So a small Teensy board, like the Teensy 4.1, could essentialy run a couple of thousand Zyklus machines without breaking a sweat.
It’s for now the platform I’m using to replatform the code, because it accepts C, through the arduino IDE. Also, as shown earlier, the MCLZ8 is based on a Teensy.
Have a google at Teensy Synthesizer “Jeannie” to see what it’s capable of.
I’ve bought myself the biggest breadboard I could find and a bunch of other stuff, including a few extra teensys.
My first setup has a midi in and out, connected to the teensy, and using the Midi library, I’ve managed to read and write midi information from and to the teensy. Now comes the fun part.
From the Zyklus software, and most likely the Zyklus improvisor and some other software I have, I’m going to inventory all the functionality as wel think of a list of things I’d like to see in Zyklus 2.0 so to speak. And then it’s a matter of coding that and building up a suitable interface to go along.
I’m a fan of one knob – one function and obviously if this is going to continue being aimed at live performance, menu diving is a no-go, so let’s see how this will pan out.
