CD Rack Format Zynthian

Having build up one of my Zynthian IO Board PCBs my final aim is to get it behind a panel in my CD Rack synthesizer. This is how I built a panel for it. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive … Continue reading CD Rack Format Zynthian →

Arduino MIDI Telephone Ringer – Part 3

The last thing I wanted to do with my (dual) telephone ringer, well, besides trying to find six more phones and get an octave's worth of ringing, was put my dual-ringer into a box. This shows how I managed that. In part 1 I talked about the basic hardware and approach. In part 2 I … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Telephone Ringer – Part 3 →

Arduino MIDI Telephone Ringer – Part 2

Following on from part 1, I've added BT style sockets and upgraded the ringer to ring two phones. Polytelephony if you will. In part 3, I switch to an Arduino Nano and put all the circuitry into a box. https://youtu.be/IBBd9z4hKYw Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Telephone Ringer – Part 2 →

Arduino MIDI Telephone Ringer

One thing I love about those vintage rotary telephones is the characteristic ring. But making them do that outside of being plugged into the PSTN isn't easy. But I wanted to see if I could make it work over MIDI, so this is my approach. In part 2 I add some BT style sockets and … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Telephone Ringer →

Yet Another Toy Keyboard USB MIDI Controller – Part 2

So this follows on from the first part and adds MIDI, some buttons to control the keyboard and gives it a voice of its own. https://youtu.be/NUaCPR0LRTM Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! If you are new to microcontrollers, … Continue reading Yet Another Toy Keyboard USB MIDI Controller – Part 2 →

Yet Another Toy Keyboard USB MIDI Controller

Ok, I admit, there is a bit of a theme to some of my projects, but this keyboard that I found in a charity shop was such a dinky thing that I had to do Just One More (TM). Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not … Continue reading Yet Another Toy Keyboard USB MIDI Controller →

Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 7

Having built my adaptor into a small box, I've gone back to add a mode button so I can include all the different applications into a single sketch. This builds on the previous parts in this series. Part 1 - Understanding the telephone hardware and interfacing to an Arduino. Part 2 - Decoding the rotary … Continue reading Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 7 →

Arduino Timed Relay

I've an idea for a project that needs to wait for a certain length of time and then trigger a relay. So whilst this isn't a specifically musical post at present, this is the detail of how I got that part of the project ready to go. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second … Continue reading Arduino Timed Relay →

Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 6

In this final (for now) post, I'm just tidying up the circuit and using a Pro Mini to embed all the electronics I need into a nice small box. This builds on the previous parts in this series. Part 1 - Understanding the telephone hardware and interfacing to an Arduino. Part 2 - Decoding the … Continue reading Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 6 →

Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 5

In this post, I describe how to use my rotary phone as a simple random-note MIDI "sequencer" of sorts. The triggering of the notes is driven from the pulses of the dial. This builds on the previous parts in this series. Part 1 - Understanding the telephone hardware and interfacing to an Arduino. Part 2 … Continue reading Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 5 →