Category: Project Categories

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 →

Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 4

In this post, I describe how to use my rotary phone as a MIDI program changer. 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 dial from the Arduino. Part 3 – Rotary phone MIDI note controller. Part 4 – Rotary … Continue reading Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 4 →

Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 3

This is the first musical application of my vintage rotary phone.  I'm using it as a simple MIDI note generator.  Remember, I really wanted to keep this as a potentially working phone when not plugged into an Arduino. This builds on the previous parts in this series. Part 1 – Understanding the telephone hardware and interfacing … Continue reading Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 3 →

Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 2

This it the second in a series of posts looking at interfacing an Arduino to a vintage rotary telephone for musical purposes. Part 1 – Understanding the telephone hardware and interfacing to an Arduino. Part 2 – Decoding the rotary dial from the Arduino. Part 3 – Rotary phone MIDI note controller. Part 4 – Rotary phone MIDI program … Continue reading Vintage Rotary Phone MIDI Controller – Part 2 →

Toy Keyboard Tone Piano – Part 3

This post looks in a little more detail at the keyboard matrix decoding for the toy keyboard to see what is possible with less IO pins. Part 1 provides all the details for adding an Arduino to the original toy keyboard. Part 2 demonstrates the toy keyboard running the Oskitone "Scout" firmware. Warning! I strongly … Continue reading Toy Keyboard Tone Piano – Part 3 →