Seed is a digital multi-effects pedal with neural modeling at its’ heart. It features Reverb, Delay, and Tremolo to further modify your sound. A five minute reversible looper rounds out this pedalboard-in-a-box for practice, performance, and musical experimentation. This pedal is built using the Terrarium platform from PedalPCB, so if you have one you can try out Seed without building new hardware! If you want a pre-drilled and UV printed enclosure for the complete Seed pedal, use the UV print pdf along with the Tayda drill template included here to order one from Tayda.
Check out the YouTube Demo!
Neural Modeling is a technique that uses neural networks to replicate the sound of real analog devices. Seed uses this technology to recreate three classic amplifiers and one overdrive pedal (and maybe a few easter eggs!). All models were trained using the "ns-capture" branch of the Automated-GuitarAmpModelling code.
- 9v DC Power (Center Negative)
- Input / Output - 1/4" Mono
Read the Documentation for a rundown of all the controls.
If you already have a Terrarium pedal built, head to the Releases, download the .bin file, flash to the Daisy Seed and start rockin!
Here is a link to the Tayda drill template for Seed v1 / Terrarium: Drill Template
Note: Double check that hole diameters match your components.
The Seed pedal consists of the following main components:
- Daisy Seed (order from Electro-Smith) - $30
- Terrarium PCB (order from PedalPCB - $12
- 125B Enclosure (Powder coat, Custom Drill, and UV print ordered from Tayda) - $15
- Electronic Components for Terrarium (see build docs) (Tayda, Mouser, Amazon, etc.)
- Hardware Components for Terrarium (1/4" Mono Audio Jacks, Power Jack, Knobs, Switches) (I like LoveMySwitches)
- "Seed" Software - Build your own binary from this repo or download .bin from the Releases page
You can build your own complete Seed pedal by using the Tayda Drill Template and UV print pdf file. Follow the instructions on the Tayda website to do this. Custom drill service and UV printing can be purchased on the Tayda website. The original Seed pedal uses the "Cream" color powder coat, but feel free to experiment, the all-black UV print should show up well on light colors.
IMPORTANT: If you use the Drill Template, double check that the hole diameters match your components. Especially for the LED's, which use the larger diameter hole for 5mm LED Bezel.
In all of my Terrarium builds using the Daisy Seed rev 7 (as of around Feb 2024), there has been an audible noise present in the output signal. Through some (somewhat inconclusive) internet sleuthing and disscussions with smart people, it seems that the audio codec used by Electrosmith starting with the Revision 7 of the Daisy Seed may require addional components from what the Terrarium provides. This may change in the future (with either a Terrarium or Daisy Seed revision), but for now, a simple low pass filter added at the audio output fixes the noise. This involves adding a 3.3k resistor in series followed by a 2.2nF capacitor to ground at the audio output from the Daisy Seed. What I have done on my Terrarium boards, is replace the U2 capacitor (as labeled in the Terrarium documentation) with this low pass filter/U2 configuration. The low pass filter is a 22kHz filter that shouldn't affect the audio (22kHz is above normal human hearing), and serves to put a load on the Daisy Seed output in an optimal way. Specific instructions and pictures of this fix can be found on this PedalPCB forum
Head to the Electro-Smith Wiki to learn how to set up the Daisy environment on your computer.
# Clone the repository
$ git clone https://github.com/GuitarML/Seed.git
$ cd Seed
# initialize and set up submodules
$ git submodule update --init --recursive
# Build the daisy libraries with (after installing the Daisy Toolchain):
$ make -C DaisySP
$ make -C libDaisy
# Build the Seed binary (after installing the Daisy Toolchain)
$ cd src
$ make
As shown above, navigate to the Seed/src folder, and run make (after installing the Daisy Toolchain and building libDaisy and DaisySP libraries) to build the Seed.bin.
Then flash your Seed pedal with the following commands (or use the Electrosmith Web Programmer)
cd your_pedal
# using USB (after entering bootloader mode)
make program-dfu
# using JTAG/SWD adaptor (like STLink)
make program
The Seed pedal is my first attempt at a fully featured digital effects pedal comparable to other commercial effects. I build and sell them for around $200 from the GuitarML Pedals facebook page (reach out to me here and I may have a couple avaiable). Although selling these pedals is rewarding, it is much more fulfilling to me to spend my time creating new designs, and open sourcing them so the DIY community to build and enjoy these for themselves. I love encouraging people to get their hands dirty with science and engineering, and guitar effects are a terrific way to get involved in so many diciplines - electronics, software, mechanical, product design, art, and of course music. No matter what your interests are, I hope this project sparks your curiosity and encourages you to create new and amazing things.
Keep on rockin!
-Keith
