ac7maker

Tools for creating AC7 rhythm files for Casio keyboards (especially CT-X keyboards)

ac7maker.py

This is a python script which takes a JSON file defining a rhythm pattern as input, reads standard MIDI files containing the music data for each element of the rhythm, and outputs a Casio-format AC7 file to the standard output.

sysex_comms.py

A python script which reads a AC7 rhythm from the standard input and uploads it to a Casio CT-X keyboard over a MIDI connection. This is Linux-only and assumes that the keyboard is the first enumerated MIDI connection (that is, it is on device /dev/midi1). On Windows, the "CTX Data Manager" program from Casio is a good alternative.

Help.html

An interactive HTML file which defines the JSON format expected by ac7maker.py. Opens in any browser.

examples/

A directory with example rhythms ready to be made with ac7maker.py. The following commands will create files ex01.AC7 and ex02.AC7 which can be copied to a USB stick and saved to the keyboard:

(On Linux:)

  python ac7maker.py examples/example-1.json > ex01.AC7
  python ac7maker.py examples/example-2.json > ex02.AC7

(On Windows:)

  python ac7maker.py examples\example-1.json > ex01.AC7
  python ac7maker.py examples\example-2.json > ex02.AC7

On a Linux system with a MIDI connection to the keyboard, the following will upload the rhythms without need for a USB stick:

  python ac7maker.py examples/example-1.json > ex01.AC7 ; python sysex_comms.py 294 < ex01.AC7
  python ac7maker.py examples/example-2.json > ex02.AC7 ; python sysex_comms.py 295 < ex02.AC7

Prerequisites

Python 3 should be installed, ideally version 3.7 or newer. Beyond that, no special libraries are needed.