Elk Development Kit Documentation

This collection of documents is our introduction and manual for the Elk Development Kit.

The Development Kit consists of a software prototyping component, and the Elk Add-On board for the Raspberry Pi/UpCore, which will be documented here in that order.

You will be able to run the software component natively on a Debian Linux, on a Virtual Machine, as well as on the Elk development board. Mostly you interact with all three in a very similar way, but when there are differences we will explicitly point them out.

Elk Introduction and Overview:

• Powered by Elk
  • What Can You Do With Elk?
  • Software Components Inside an Elk Product
  • Hardware Components
  • Standard Linux Components
  • Elk Core Components
  • Gluing Things Together

Getting Started:

• Development Kit Software
  • Running a plugin within the Sushi host
  • Starting Sushi with the MDA JX10 VST synthesizer
  • Connecting MIDI to Sushi
  • Control MDA JX10 VST3 plugin with Open Stage Control
• Elk Pi Hardware
  • 1. Assembly
  • 2. Flashing the Elk operating system image to the SD card
  • 3. Power up, and next steps
• Elk UpCore Hardware
  • 1. Installing an image to eMMC
  • 2. Power up, and next steps
• Run Elk on Boards
  • 1. Power it up, connect…
  • 2. (If you have an HiFiBerry audio hat)
  • 3. And run Sushi
  • 4. Powering down
  • 5. Further steps

Elk Reference Manual:

• Sushi: The DAW Inside Elk
  • Main Features
  • Architecture
  • Control
  • Run-time OSC control
  • Audio Frontends
  • Configuration and Routing
  • Discovering Sushi Configuration’s Available Parameters
  • Plugin Format Support
  • Threading
  • Twine
  • Logging
  • Running Sushi with a Different Buffer Size
• Sushi Configuration
  • Main Host Configuration
  • Tracks
  • MIDI
  • Control voltage and Gate connections
  • Events
• Sushi Internal Plugins
  • Audio In / Audio Out Plugins
    • Passthrough
    • Gain
    • Equalizer
  • Midi In / Audio Out Plugins
    • Sample Player
  • Midi In / Midi Out plugins
    • Arpeggiator
    • Transposer
    • Step Sequencer
  • Audio In / Parameter Out plugins
    • Peak Meter
  • CV In / Out plugins
    • CV to Control
    • Control to CV
    • LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)
• Working with Elk Board
  • Filesystem
    • Partition Layout
    • User Data Separation
  • Elk Images
    • Development Image
    • Release Image
  • Elk System Utilities
    • Changing audio buffer size
    • Changing Audio Hats
    • Enabling/Disabling Write Access to Root Partition
    • Manually Controlling Default/Fallback Root Partition
    • Set USB Speed
  • Connecting to Your Board
    • Over WiFi
    • Over a Serial Connection
  • Monitoring Sushi Performance
  • Software Update System
    • Updating over Network (WiFi / Ethernet)
    • Updating with an USB drive
  • Configuring Automatic Startup
  • Setting CPU Speed
• Sensei Overview and Configuration Format
  • Example Configuration
  • Backends
  • Hardware Frontend
  • Sensors/Controllers
  • Supported Sensor/Controller Hardware
    • Digital Output Pin
    • Stepped Output
    • Digital Input Pin
    • N Way Switch
    • Encoder
  • Multiplexer
• Build Plugins for Elk
  • Cross-Compiling Toolchain
  • VST 2.x Plugins Using Steinberg SDK
  • VST 3.x Plugins Using Steinberg SDK
  • VST 2.x Plugins Using JUCE
  • LV2 Plugins
    • Generate ttl files
    • Cross Compile the plugins
  • Running Compiled Plugins with Sushi on a Virtual Machine
  • Running Compiled Plugins with Sushi on Elk Boards
  • Analyzing and Resolving Xenomai Mode Switches

Examples:

• Examples Overview
• Basic Plugin Hosting
  • MDA JX10 VST3
  • MDA JX10 VST2
  • LV2VST Wrapper, with MDA JX10 LV2
  • Multi FX
• JUCE Example C++ Source Code
• Complete Blackboard Examples
  • Minimal
  • General Controller
  • Multi-FX, for Blackboard
  • JUCE Example, for Blackboard
  • OB-Xd Sequencer
• Benchmark Synth

Elk Online Forum

For any questions or discussion on the Elk Development Kit, please refer to the Elk Online Forum.

Elk Pi Datasheet

• Overview
  • Features
  • Assembly content and accessories
  • Raspberry Pi guidelines
  • Connectors and pinout
  • Status LEDs
• Power requirements
  • Recommended Power Supply
  • Power Consumption
  • Alternative Power Supply
• Audio/CV configurations
• Audio I/O
  • Eurorack Compatibility
  • Mini-jack input
  • Stereo Preamp
  • Headphones output
• Analog and Digital GPIOs
  • Digital IO
  • Analog Inputs
  • Connection guidelines for GPIO peripherals
• CV & GATE I/O
  • CV I/O
  • GATE I/O
• UART interface
• MIDI DIN I/O
• Board dimensions

Blackboard for Elk Pi

• Blackboard Page
• Open-Source Hardware

Tech Articles

On the Elk website, there are a number of Tech articles that cover important topics directly relevant for learning to work with our Development Kit:

Controlling Plug-Ins in Elk, Part1: Open Sound Control

Controlling Plug-Ins in Elk, Part2: Google Remote Procedure Call

Elk Development Boards Overview

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