NAND Oscillators and Logic Sequencers

I've had a bit of a play with logic based synthesizes in the past, but not in anger. However I've recently picked up "Make: Electronic Music From Scratch" by Kirk Pearson from Dogbotic. It is excellent and a good chunk of that is based on circuits using the CD4093 Quad NAND chip, so I've started … Continue reading NAND Oscillators and Logic Sequencers →

Arduino with Multiple Displays – Part 3

Whilst messing around a little more with my Arduino with Multiple Displays – Part 2, I've optimised the code a little and found out a bit more about these displays! In this part, I'm actually using a PCB that can hold four displays, powered by a Waveshare Zero device. More on that here: Waveshare Zero Multi … Continue reading Arduino with Multiple Displays – Part 3 →

Arduino with Multiple Displays – Part 2

As I mentioned in my last post on Arduino with Multiple Displays I'm going to look at other microcontrollers too. This post takes a wander through my Waveshare Zero and similar format boards that each support one of the RP2040, ESP32-C3 or ESP32-S3. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand equipment for your experiments. … Continue reading Arduino with Multiple Displays – Part 2 →

Arduino with Multiple Displays

A while back I tried to use several SSD1306 displays with an Arduino (see OLED MIDI Display – Part 2) and got into trouble with memory. I have another need for multiple displays coming up, so thought I'd revisit the idea to see what could be done. This shows use to use several cheap SPI-based displays … Continue reading Arduino with Multiple Displays →

XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer – Part 4

In Part 2 I looked at how to add USB MIDI to the XIAO MIDI Synthesizer and in Part 3 I looked at some of the properties of the SAM2695 synth chip itself. This post combines the two into a relatively simple, but playable, synth. Part 1 - Getting started and getting code running. Part 2 - Swapping … Continue reading XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer – Part 4 →

XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer – Part 3

So, now that the basics are out of the way I'm going to dive into the specifics of the Dream SAM2695 chip itself. Part 1 - Getting started and getting code running. Part 2 - Swapping the ESP32-C3 for a SAMD21 to get USB MIDI. Part 3 - Taking a deeper look at the SAM2695 itself. Part 4 … Continue reading XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer – Part 3 →

XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer – Part 2

After an initial play with the XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer the first thing I wanted to try was to swap out the ESP32-C3 for something else, just to see what could be done. Part 1 - Getting started and getting code running. Part 2 - Swapping the ESP32-C3 for a SAMD21 to get USB MIDI. Part 3 - … Continue reading XIAO ESP32-C3 MIDI Synthesizer – Part 2 →

Raspberry Pi Pico Synth_Dexed – Revisited

I thought it was time I took another look at my Raspberry Pi Pico Synth_Dexed. I've a couple of main aims with coming back to this project: Update the build for the latest Pico SDK and Synth_Dexed. See what is involved in getting it running on an RP2350. See if a simple I2C display can be … Continue reading Raspberry Pi Pico Synth_Dexed – Revisited →

MT32-Pi on my EuroRack MiniDexed PCB

This is great. I was asked by Michel (mragutlich) if I knew how to build MT32-Pi to configure it for my MiniDexed EuroRack PCB but I don't and there isn't a lot of information apparently on how to build it from source. So I offered my Rebuilding my Ability to Build MiniDexed post which talks about … Continue reading MT32-Pi on my EuroRack MiniDexed PCB →

ESP32-A1S Audio Kit

I've had this "audio development kit" based on the ESP32-A1S for some time, but haven't actually done anything with it so far. But I had a query about adding MIDI so dug it out for a quick look. It turns out it isn't actually as easy as it ought to be! Warning! I strongly recommend … Continue reading ESP32-A1S Audio Kit →