Tactile Button Keyboard PCB – Part 2

Here are the build notes for my Tactile Button Keyboard PCB. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! These are the key tutorials for the main concepts used in this project: Open Music Labs: Input Matrix Scanning Arduino Nano MIDI … Continue reading Tactile Button Keyboard PCB – Part 2 →

Tactile Button Keyboard PCB

I've used tactile buttons as musical keyboards in a number of my projects now and either build them on solderless breadboard, which is quite unreliable, or on stripboard, which is a little messy. This PCB design is for a one-octave tactile button keyboard PCB that has various modes of operation and is extendable to two … Continue reading Tactile Button Keyboard PCB →

Analog IO Board PCB – Part 2

This is the build guide for the Analog IO Board PCB. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! These are the key Arduino tutorials for the main concepts used in this project: Simple Potentiometer Breakout Arduino Multi-pot Mozzi FM Synthesis … Continue reading Analog IO Board PCB – Part 2 →

Analog IO Board PCB

A number of my synth projects require the use of potentiometers. A while back I made a relatively simple stripboard pot breakout, but it isn't particularly reliable. This PCB is a pot breakout that can be used in various ways - either direct, with a 4051 multiplexer, or with an SPI MCP3008 expander. It also … Continue reading Analog IO Board PCB →

MiniDexed Raspberry Pi V1 IO Board – Part 2

This is the build guide for my MiniDexed Raspberry Pi V1 IO Board. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. I am not responsible for any damage to expensive instruments! These are the key tutorials for the main concepts used in this project: MiniDexed: “Bare Metal” Raspberry Pi MiniDexed DX7 Raspberry Pi … Continue reading MiniDexed Raspberry Pi V1 IO Board – Part 2 →

MiniDexed Raspberry Pi V1 IO Board

I already have two different IO boards for use with MiniDexed on a Raspberry Pi and whilst MiniDexed works best on a Pi 3 or 4, providing 8 full DX7-compatible tone generators, it is also possible to run it on a V1 Raspberry Pi, although it is limited in performance to a single tone generator. … Continue reading MiniDexed Raspberry Pi V1 IO Board →

MiniDexed TX816 – Part 7 – In use!

Now that my MiniDexed TX816 seems largely usable (for me at least), this is the last part in the series for the time being and is simply a short demonstration of the module in use! Here is an 80s style FM synth version of Jupiter from Holst's Planets Suite. Previous posts in this series: Part … Continue reading MiniDexed TX816 – Part 7 – In use! →

MiniDexed TX816 – Part 6 – Pico MIDI Router and TX816 IO Code

It's been a while since finishing the MiniDexed TX816 Mechanical Assembly and I had a bit of a distraction recently rebuilding my Lo-Fi Orchestra, but I've also been tinkering with the code for the TX816 IO panel and router. This post looks into a bit more detail what it is all doing. Posts in this series: … Continue reading MiniDexed TX816 – Part 6 – Pico MIDI Router and TX816 IO Code →

Arduino OPL FM Synth – Part 2

Despite saying last time that I looked at the YM2413, I didn't need to build a protoboard version of the YM2413 "shield", I've had an idea for something that would really benefit from one, so here it is. I've built it onto one of my Arduino MIDI Proto Shields. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or … Continue reading Arduino OPL FM Synth – Part 2 →

The New Lo-Fi Orchestra Explainer

In honour of my 400th post to my blog, and having now designed and built a range of relevant PCBs I wanted to completely take apart the existing Lo-Fi Orchestra and rebuild it from scratch. This post details how the orchestra has been updated and will hopefully serve as a new explainer for the Lo-Fi … Continue reading The New Lo-Fi Orchestra Explainer →