what is the DSP music box?

myself and three artists/musicians/engineers decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of ours and build a platform for portable algorithmic and generative music. no more reliance on the 2181 EZKit LITE (which is in the process of obsolesence anyways). we would control the hardware and software for creating music. not only that, but we were able to correct some of the shortcomings of the original EZKit. here's what the board contains:

* an 80MHz ADSP-2187N DSP processor
* a FLASH memory (currently the AMD29F040, though we are most likely going to use a different FLASH with smaller sectors)
* an AD1885 CODEC
* trendy LEDs (blue AND white!)
* audio in/out
* RS232 support for download and for noah's wonderful MIDI interface
* an expansion header for adding additional peripherals

check out some sexy pictures here. i warned you that they were sexy!!!

along with developing the music hardware, i have been hard at work developing software for writing music for this platform. it has proven to be quite the challenge, but (as of may 2003) i am close to having a flexible development framework that should allow for easy composition of new songs. more on this soon. i promise.

what are the plans for the DSP music box?

good question. we are still debating whether the music box will distributed purely as a closed music generating device or if we will open up the hardware and software for people to write their own music. both options provide some exciting options. as we figure this out, details will be posted here.

how do i keep informed on future work?

email me at boxnews@dspmusic.org and i'll add you to our mailing list.

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