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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on June 7, 2011.
Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more
Backdoor access to all my build logs! I'll also give you my personal contact info, so you can shoot me ideas, comments, criticism, or just ask how I'm doing. Every backer, regardless of amount, receives this info.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
Ticket to pre-order a Chip Maestro (please read description for info on pre-order tickets)! Get it before it goes on sale to the general public!
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Paid pre-order of a limited-run Chip Maestro cartridge! These backers will receive a cartridge from the first batch as soon as they're assembled, hot out of the oven! Backers at this level and above also get their initials (up to 3 letters) silkscreened onto the back of every cartridge that goes into production! Own one of the first of hundreds of Chip Maestros to make their way into the hands of musicians worldwide! Shipping for this reward is included for domestic and Canada, 8$ worldwide.
Pledge $125 or more Pledge $125 or more
Chip Maestro cartridge development kit! Backers at this level will receive a special Chip Maestro cartridge with the programming headers attached, and USB programmers to write their own code for the chips on the board! This package is for adventurous types who want an even greater degree of customization with this already flexible synth. If you would like to get a head-start developing for the Chip Maestro, email me after you place your pledge and I will send out a kit as soon as possible.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
One of 5 Gold Chip Maestro Cartridges! There will be a limited run of 6 golden colored Chip Maestros! The only other Gold Chip Maestro will be given to highest level backer!
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
My highest level backer will get the full VIP package! I will personally deliver your brand new Golden Chip Maestro cartridge, an NES to play it on, and a MIDI keyboard, then set it up in your home/studio! East Coast backers only please; if you would like to set up some other arrangement, please contact me in advance.
Project By
Connected as Jarek Lupinski (338 friends)
I'm currently a graduating senior studying Biomedical Engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. In my spare time I retrofit older technology to give it a place in the 21st century.
Would be awesome if you let us $50 backers follow the Devkit forum too. Even though we can't add anything to the development it would be really nice to read about what's going on.
Backers who opted to receive the dev kit without box and manual have already received them, I have set up a dev kit forum already as well :)
Look for an update later today about the boxes and manuals!
How many devkits have been sent out? Would be cool to follow the "betatesting" on a forum or something similar. All you devkitters please leave some feedback here, or at least show the rest of the backers some pianoskills via YouTube...
Hey Jarek, nice to see that stuff are leaving the production table. I've moved since I made the order, how do i change my contact details? Guess it doesn't go automatically from the details on my kickstarter account.
Kind regards
Mikael
looking very forward.
and i am patient. : )
First off, thank you for voicing your concerns in a very mature manner.
The reason I cannot provide a timeline is because I would rather provide updates of my progress, without disappointing anyone if I fail to meet a specific deadline. Going from prototype to production is an unpredictable journey that takes a some time, and I thank you all for your patience thus far, and would like to ask that you maintain the trust that I have built up so far. I am sending out the first batch of dev kits right now, and will send the second batch as soon as I assemble to programmers for them. Once the dev kit backers start working on their Chip Maestros, the development forums will open up to be viewable by the public, so that everyone see our progress.
If everything goes perfectly, then I can order the production of the remaining Chip Maestros immediately. If there are some bugs that I have missed (unlikely), it might take some time to iron out. This is currently my largest concern.
I understand the need for some date to look forward to as well. Therefore, I will announce the firm deadline that Chip Maestros will be ready to ship as soon as I am comfortable with the dev kit backers' experience with the Chip Maestro.
I've got to be honest, this is getting pretty disappointing. Every new update seems to be a reason why we all need to wait a little longer, and the progress mentioned in the updates appears to be agonizingly slow. I can only imagine the work it takes to develop and build these things, and I appreciate the work you're doing, but why can't you give a timeline? A "no later than" date for these to be completed? Clearly that is the only gripe that people seem to have here.
Each new update gives the impression that you are stalling for time, to be blunt. I think you have an excellent idea and I still support you in it, and I think you will ease tensions quite a bit by giving a firm deadline that you can stick to.
Seems like a lot of the waiting here is for the box and manual. I would MUCH rather have the cartridge earlier than keep waiting for a box and a printed manual.
The box and manual are still in production, and I've set up the forum for dev kit backers and regular backers to get together, and will open up registration for it soon. Stay tuned!
Thanks Jarek,
Any clue on a timeline?
6 more months?
Thank you,
I'll consider making digital .pdfs, but only in the interest of time, not money :)
As for your questions:
1. There will be no need for video; the Chip Maestro does not output any video.
2. No need for a controller. All functions and settings can be made using specially defined keys on your piano, or through preset MIDI messages sent by your preferred MIDI software tool.
I'm working as hard as possible to bring you the best product I can :) Thanks for the kind words!
I wouldn't worry about printing the manual, digital .pdf should work for everyone and save you the cost.
I have a couple of questions.
#1. Will their be any need for video from the nes?
#2. Will their be any need for a controller (gamepad)?
Thank you and keep up the great work!!
Mikael and all backers:
I always appreciate your patience while I work on making the Chip Maestro exactly what you expect, from the moment it arrives at your door.
I am really trying my hardest to get the dev kits out as early as possible, but I'm also making it my priority to make sure that all the backers get something they can use reliably, and show off proudly. I originally planned to just ship out the cartridge, without a box or manual. Only after receiving support from my Gold Chip Maestro backers, and especially my premium package backer, did I realize that you guys expect a lot from this product, and I should give my all for it. Using the extra funding from the Gold sales, I'm making over 200 boxes and manuals. Each Chip Maestro will be shipped in this box and contain the manual, not just the Gold ones.
Creating this many copies of anything is not a task to be taken lightly: I don't have the budget for a do-over in case something goes wrong after it is out of my hands. Only through vigilance, and many trips to an office printing store, I can ensure that the final product will be a success.
I also understand your eagerness to finally use your Chip Maestro, and will relax my grip on my ambition to do this internally. Therefore, if you have some free time and are willing to lend a hand towards tweaking my designs on the boxart and manual, please send me a message or an email. The basic outline is currently done, I am working now on making sure that it prints successfully, and that it looks good, of course :)
My next update will be posted when the boxart is ready for production, and one more after the manual is ready. Keep watching the updates section, and thanks again for your support!
Did you bite of more than you could chew here? I thought that i would have my cart after 1-2 months... Not that the first devkits would be almost done after half a year. I get that things take time, but when will the 200 cart be done? In late January? Next summer? The lack of updates is hardly something that helps the credibility of the project when conspiracy theories circulate as i write this...
aaaaah thank you ! even if a news can seems to be useless, give us :D !!!
Hey backers!
Really sorry about the lack of updates, but here is the current project status!
The dev kits are currently being assembled, 5/25 complete! The rest should be done in about 2 weeks.
The boxes and manuals are still being designed. I have a person who is ready to print them out and ship as soon as i'm happy with the quality of the materials.
I'm out of the lab at the moment, but as soon as i get back on Sunday night, I'll take pictures of the current batch of dev kits being put together, and make a new product update.
Thanks again to all the backers for your patience! It's really hard to assemble all of these by hand (one reason i was able to keep the price so low!)
Yes, please updates! Some people are saying that this is might be a scam. Jarek please show them that they're wrong. Has anyone recived the dev-kits? What's going on right now?
I don't care waiting... But we don't have news since one month and that's not fair :(
I was struggling with one submission because it was sent as a psd, and I don't have phtotoshop installed on my laptop. I got it working now, and am publishing it in the next few minutes. Sit tight!
weren't you supposed to send emails yesterday
I think it's Ableton live !
Really excited by this! Can't wait to play with it. I know i'm not the first one to ask, but what program do you use in the video? Thanks!
No need to disable the lockout chip; the Chip Maestro will authenticate just like any regular NES cartridge.
just a quick question (sorry if its been asked already) but will we need to disable nintendo's NES lock-out chip or should it work if the chip is still in tact.
Currently the Chip Maestro listens on channels 2-5 for dedicated waves, and every other channel for Instrumental mode, but this will probably be shortened to just 1,6,7 and 8.
Sorry for SPAM, basic thought is this... I've got synth (A) This rockin NES, and synth (B)... I don't want to fire them both at the same time. So if there are at least some channels this doesn't respond to, life is good. In my case, I'd like at least 4 unused so I could use other external MIDI hardware at the same time. So if reading the tech docs it listens on 1-6, or even 1-7, that's great. I really like the idea of the tracker channels targetting each seperate wave, that's *quite* awesome.
You've probably thought of this, but what MIDI channels does it listen on? If it's hardcoded that is probably ok, though listening on all channels is probably bad.
This is an excellent idea. The NES is perhaps my favorite synth sound ever. I'm planning to sequence this with my monomachine. I've wanted to get some authentic chiptune stuff going but didn't want to slog it through with trackers and gameboys just to get things mixed in with other gear. Awesome!
The monomachine has some really sweet MIDI controls, so I don't know what you can surface, but any CC control you can provide would be awesome. Changing the waves by CC would allow the parameter locks on the Monomachine to really rock it, and would save from needing to use an extra MIDI track, but I'm down for this any way it comes out :)
I have no idea what else the chip is capable of, but options are always cool! I'm hoping the "infinite loop" part doesn't fry the unit and lets it play games if it so wants :)
Thanks!
Hi, Jarek! Can't wait to receive my Chip Maestro! I have a quick question, though. If I pledge $50, I get a paid pre-order of your initial run. If I pledge $100, do I get two cartridges? If so, I want to up my pledge from $100 to $150 to get three (to give out as gifts). Thanks!
If you have already pledged the $50 initially, then you still have your Chip Maestro locked in. You just need to edit your pledge to $58 and select the same reward.
I just saw I had to add $8 cause I´m a international backer, just did it. Am I to late to be part of $50?
When this kickstarter ends, I'll send out an email asking for addresses and initials.
I can't wait for this! I'm planning to run an Electribe through the cartridge for live shows...holy chimney, it's gonna be great!
Glad to donate.
Also happy I could back another video game related project. I'm in post production for a TV pilot comedy about employees working at a video game store.
Or rather, how do we specify the initials we would like you to use.
How do you specify the initials we want on the cart for the $50 reward? Super stoked about the project!
Awesome.. I've backed $125 for the Dev Kit as this will allow me to explore some of the midi->2a03 ideas I have on REAL hardware (which i'm currently exploring using a midi->open source NSF engine)
Always dreamed of having a MIDI port on my NES :)
looking very forward to this!
think it'll rock the ravers. :)
thumbs up, jarek!
@Robert, the email you got should note how the money won't be drawn until June 7th, when the kickstarter drive ends. :)
@Jerek I'm not in the New York area but I am willing to lend you one for a few days. is it okay that I email you though your soniktech email address?
This is very exciting thanks for doing this Jarek!
I selected $50, when will the money be drawn from my VISA?
I order one! Hope this will work also on PAL System NES??!!
@Reuben, I'm not sure if it will, mostly because I do not have one to test it with. Theoretically it should work,. If you're willing to lend me one for a few days, I could run some tests and ship it back to you :) Are you in the NYC area?
Will this be compatible the more recent NES Retro Entertainment System and NES Duo line? Either way i cannot wait to get my hands on this! ^_^
Just put my pledge in. Congrats on getting this far, Jarek. :) If there's anything I can do to help promote the project, let me know.
Yes, the NES will have capabilities for both.
Does the NES respond to bends and vibratos?
PRE-ORDER'D! I've had a Midines for a very long time. I LOVE this concept, but the Midines just doesn't work for playing live. Thanks for making this!
Finally! I've been wanting something like this for a long time.
@Dave Crooks - that was Ableton Live
YES! Finally!! Now, I can get the girls!!!