The advancement of integration between the Monome Teletype and ER-301 opens a channel of communication via the i2c connection on the back of the Teletype and three pins on the back of the ER-301. This connectivity allows the Teletype to talk to the ER-301 via this “back-channel” cable thus allowing the 20 ER-301 front-side inputs to be used for other purposes.
The two main functions of communication between the devices is the sending of triggers and CV from the Teletype to the ER-301, this is not bi-directional at this time.
The Teletype is a script driven module with open-source firmware that is allowing member of the Monome community to code this integration with the help of @odevices altering his ER-301 firmware and identifying the connection points for this process to advance. On the Teletype side we have @bpcmusic who lead the effort with @scanner_darkly working on some integration too.
With this development the Teletype is able to create and manage 100 trigger/gate ins and 100 CV ins allowing unheard of control of units within the ER-301, all while leaving the physical inputs on the front of it free for other purposes.
Why is this beneficial beyond the obvious extra triggers/gates/CV?
The Monome Teletype firmware is under near constant development similar to the ER-301 at this time. This has allowed developers to constantly refine the firmware and add things such as; Euclidean rhythms, chaos maps for randomized sequencing, Monome Grid integration and emulation, advanced math operations such as Bitwise operators, a Turtle operator for more randomness, expansion capability for adding additional ins/out via Telex modules, ability to use multiple commands per line, and then there’s the very foundation of the Teletype’s myriad of functionality that all of this sits on. By the way, a 16 channel faderbank is in the works with firmware hooks being integrated into the v2.3 candidate.
All of this comes with a fairly steep learning curve and it certainly doesn’t fit in anyone’s “one-knob one-function” philosophy. This setup is complex and as of this writing no one has scratched the surface of what’s possible. The Teletype communicates first and foremost with a USB computer keyboard attached to its front side. The scripts are limited to available screen space and only 6 lines. From there you will find a Metronome script, an Initialize script, 8 scripts that relate to the front side trigger/CV ports and a 4 track 64 step pattern tracker. (Conversations have been ongoing for over a year of expanding some of this through a “Timeline” function that I don’t quite understand yet and of increasing the number of pattern tracks)
With this event and logic driven system users of this setup between the Teletype and ER-301 have the opportunity to extend not only functionality but the complexity of what is able to be explored via scripts and interfaces that are evolving and are still being invented.
There is nothing inherently necessary to have both modules in a system to enjoy the capability of either. They do though compliment one another quite incredibly.
Documentation is thin, but maybe this thread can be a starting point for sharing “Best of” lessons along with tips and tricks of working with these powerful tools.
