Overview

When my sister and I were growing up in the 80s my parents purchased a Casio SK-1 for us. Years later I found myself wanting to trigger the interesting sounds it made (both internally and via it's unique single-patch sampler) via MIDI.

After coming across Paul Messick's SK-1 MIDI Mod which adds MIDI support, I decided that I wanted to build one for myself. After first using an untested PDF layout found on his page and finding it to not work (and missing at least one part from his schematic) I put the project on hold for a while. I'm not certain if the problem was the board I etched or an incorrect board layout which caused the problems I was having, but I stopped work on this project for a few months regardless.

Some photos taken during that first attempt can be found here.

After mostly wrapping up the MIDIbox SID-NUXX I decided to revisit the Casio SK-1 MIDI Mod project and began laying out a new PCB based on Paul's original schematic. It has been designed with low-profile components to fit within the open space in the SK-1. I've also added some bypass caps to help ensure the device's stability.

NOTE: Much of the information found on this page was gleaned from Paul's MaxMidi DYI - SK-1 MIDI Mod page. I am not attempting to plagerize Paul's work, but some of this needs to be duplicated in order to properly document the project.

Abandoned!

This project has been abandoned. After implementing Paul's original design (as detailed in the Overview) with a different optocoupler, things failed to work. At this point I'm not sure where the problem is. I've repeatedly checked my layout against Paul's reference design, and the PCBs match his schematic exactly.

After validating my design I next suspected the EPROMs to be bad. I sent off one of the EPROMs purchased directly from Paul to a friend, and he found that the software it contained did not match what was available for download. The EPROM was then reprogrammed with the downloaded firmware and sent back to me. Still, the design didn't work.

At this point I suspect that over the years something between the original design and Paul's reference schematic became lost. Or that I screwed something up and missed it during repeated reviews. Thusly I've stopped working on this project. If you would like to download the current v1.2 design and see where I may have gone wrong, please feel free. If you do find an error, please mail me and let me know.

If I find time in the future I may attempt to design a new Casio SK-1 MIDI input using Microchip's PIC microcontrollers. This is unlikely to happen for a while, though.

Firmware

The firmware which runs on the Casio SK-1 MIDI Mod was written by Paul Messick and needs to be burned on to a 2732A EPROM in order to be used. A pre-programmed EPROM is available for purchase from him, or else you can download the firmware from Paul's site and burn the EPROM yourself.

Please note that the Creative Commons license which applies to most of this page and my PCB layout does not apply to Paul's software. For licensing information regarding this software, please contact him directly.

Jumper Settings

(Text directly from MaxMidi DIY SK-1 MIDI Mod.)

• The MIDI mod has several modes of operation. By default, the interface will set itself to receive on the first channel that it hears. For example, if the first message that it receives (after being turned on) is on channel 5, from then on it will only respond to MIDI data on channel 5. The interface will forget its receiving channel when power is removed.
• To force the instrument to respond only to a particular channel, connect the "F" jumper and set the address using the "1", "2", "4", and "8" jumpers. See the table below for help.
• The SK-1 can only play four notes at a time. Normally, the MIDI mod will reassign notes on a first-played first-reassigned basis if more than four simultaneous notes are played via the MIDI input. If the "A" option is jumpered, notes after the fourth one will be ignored. This is similar to the way that the SK-1 handles voice assignment using its own keyboard.
• Because it is designed only to work with its internal 31-note keyboard, the SK-1 can only play notes from F2 to C5. The MIDI interface will normally wrap notes that are outside of this range to the nearest playable octave. So, if F1 is played, it will sound the F2 on the instrument. Likewise, C#5 will wrap to C#4. To disable this behavior, connect the "X" option jumper. With "X" selected, out of range notes are simply ignored.

Bill Of Materials

v1.2 PCB Layout

80-C412C104K5R 2
140-L16V10-RC 2
81-RPE5CA270J2P1Z03B 2
512-1N4148 1
511-L7805ACV 1
595-SN74LS373N 1
512-6N138 1
575-393624 1
575-393640 1
575-393308 1
161-0504 1
271-8.2K-RC 1
271-10K-RC 4
271-1.2K-RC 1
271-5.6K-RC 1
271-220-RC 1
73-XT49S1200-20 1

External Links

• Paul Messick's MaxMidi DIY - SK-1 MIDI Mod - Without this site I wouldn't have been able to add MIDI support to my SK-1.
• Casio SK1 Sampler at SonicState
• Circuit-Bending and Living Instruments by Q. R. Ghazala - Focusing on the SK-1.