Pink-0

When Ableton published the Link source code, I started experimenting with it and decided to explore the feasibility of a hardware Link-to-clock converter.

I made the first attempt with a Teensy 3.2 board and a a WIZ820io ethernet module, but due to some of the dependencies of Ableton Link, this approach proved too complex, as it would have required a complete rewrite of the low-level networking functionality.

Having abandoned the "bare metal" approach, the next natural candidate became a Raspberry Pi board: I had a Zero lying around and decided to use it to build the first prototype, mainly because of the power requirements and the form factor.

A couple of weekends later I had a working prototype and decided to design and order a PCB, which I only received almost two months later (thanks, Custom Office...). When the PCB finally arrived, I put everything together and spent some more time fine-tuning and optimizing here and there.

The final result is a hardware shield for the Raspberry Pi Zero board and the necessary software and scripts running on the Zero itself and providing real-time conversion from Ableton Link to eurorack-friendly clock and reset signals.