MIDI Rocker - Application Note #1
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How to Use the MIDI Rocker with the Xbox 360 and Rock Band

Overview

By connecting the external outputs of the MIDI Rocker to the drum input pins on an Xbox 360™ Rock Band™ drum controller, it is possible to use the MIDI Rocker to activate the drum signals on the Xbox. No modifications of the MIDI Rocker are required, but you do have to open up the Rock Band drum controller and solder 6 wires to some pins inside the controller. You will need the optional Xbox 360 interface cable for the MIDI Rocker. This configuration is shown below:

One end of the Xbox Interface Cable has to be soldered to pads on the Rock Band drum controller board. The other end of the cable is plugged into the External Output port on the back of the MIDI Rocker. You can leave the original drums intact and just plug the interface cable into the MIDI Rocker when you want to use the the MIDI Rocker (see below, right), or you can cut the drum controller module from the rest of the drums (see below, left).

Option A: Rock Band Drums with MIDI Rocker Interface Cable	Option B: Rock Band Drum controller after "surgery" to remove it from the rest of the drum set, with MIDI Rocker interface cable added.

SPECIAL OFFER: For MIDI Rocker customers, we will do either of the modifications shown above for no charge, other than the cost of shipping. You can either ship your Rock Band drum controller to us, or have us buy one for you. For option B, there is no additional shipping charge since the controller can be shipped in the same box as the MIDI Rocker. Contact me at support@bytearts.com if you'd like to arrange this.

Modifying the Xbox Drum Controller

Step 1. Open the drum controller

The MIDI Rocker/Xbox inteface cable consists of two pieces: 1) a 9-pin extension cable and 2) a short cable with a 9-pin connector on one end, and "flying leads" (loose wires) on the other. The ends of the flying leads need to be soldered to connection points on the Xbox drum controller board.

You first need to remove the back off the drum controller. To do this, flip the drums over and remove the three cover screws as shown in here:

After removing the screws you can lift the back cover off, exposing the circuit board underneath. There are two types of drum controller circuit boards: 1) a blue board and 2) a green board.

Step 2. Solder Wires to the Controller Board

Blue Board - if you have the blue controller board, then you will need to connect the wires are shown below. There is a black cable (this is the USB cable) which plugs into a white connector on the board, you may need to unplug this cable to move it out of the way while soldering:

Connection Diagram

Connect the wires as shown in the diagram and photo below:

The black wire needs to be connected to a GROUND point. There are several places you can connect it. There are some pads labeled "L4" near the USB connector (the black wire in the photo is connected there), or there are some exposed metal areas near the edge of the board (labeled in the photo) which can be used.

You can now re-attach the USB cable, and reassemble the drum controller.

Step 4. Hook Everything Up

You are now ready to connect everything up and start using the MIDI Rocker with Rock Band on the 360. Refer to the diagram at the top of the page to see how everything should be connected.

• Connect the cable you just installed to the "EXT OUTPUT" on the MIDI Rocker. Use the supplied extension cable if needed.
• Put the System Mode switch (located near the USB connector on the back of the MIDI Rocker) in the "Xbox 360" position.
• Connect the MIDI Out from your drums to the MIDI input on the MIDI Rocker.
• Plug the Xbox Drum Controller into the USB port on the Xbox.
• Plug the MIDI Rocker into another USB port on the Xbox (use a USB hub if you need more ports). The USB and MIDI LEDs on the front should blink on and off a few times and then go off. This indicates that the MIDI Rocker is in Xbox mode.
• Start up the Xbox and load Rock Band. See the User's Guide for information on setting up the MIDI note mapping on the MIDI Rocker.

Rock Band is a trademark of Harmonix. PlayStation, PS3 are trademarks of Sony Inc. All trademarks are property of their respective owners.