One Kilohertz square wave

[Raveshaper]

I am curious if there is a simple unit that can send a 1kHz square wave over a 5-pin Midi cable.

It has to be 1000 pulses a second, hardware not software.

[ScuzzyEye]

You just want electrical pulses? No MIDI framing? That's something that can be done pretty easily with an Arduino, or a Raspberry Pi.

[jappe]

a loong time ago I used 555's to make oscillators.http://ehelion.net/projects/digitalclock/555timer.html

[Benedict]

I am concerned that if you are plugged into a MIDI device you may have some unintended and nasty outcomes if you start putting non-MIDI voltages through the MIDI system. It could cause anything from confusion to breaking a MIDI device. I had something upset my Akai AX-73 so it was unable to be used anywhere in a MIDI chain without causing all synths to do crazy things (incl making the AX-73 buzz).

[ScuzzyEye]

MIDI is based on the robust RS232 serial interface, but is even stronger against incorrect voltages. It's active low logic, with signalling levels of ±5-15 (-5 being 1 and +5 being 0) into a 5k Ω load. Plus there's optocoupler to further isolate the logic chips from the physical layer. Of course some devices will be built as cheaply as possible, and be off-spec.

[Raveshaper]

I will have to look into doing this, although it would be nice if an LFO generator already existed. Just a small mobile box that can generate a signal with unique values every 1 ms. I'm going to go search for one.