XIAO SAMD21, Arduino and MIDI – Part 2

In this post I look at what is involved in getting multiple MIDI interfaces connected to the Seeedstudio XIAO SAMD21 boards (previously known as the Seeeduino XIAO). Previous parts in this series: Part 1 - Introduction to the XIAO SAMD21 and some projects to get started. Part 2 - Looking at accessing additional serial ports … Continue reading XIAO SAMD21, Arduino and MIDI – Part 2 →

XIAO SAMD21, Arduino and MIDI

I've had a few Seeedstudio XIAO SAMD21 boards (previously known as the Seeeduino XIAO) for a while but haven't really done much with them. I had a brief go with Circuitpython to build a CircuitPython USB to Serial MIDI Router but that is all so far. Having been inspired by a recent post on the … Continue reading XIAO SAMD21, Arduino and MIDI →

Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Note Balancer

One use for my Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Splitter is as a way to get pseudo polyphony from a range of monophonic sources. I've called this "note balancing" from the idea of "load balancing" online systems - sharing out the "ask" across a number of devices. In a similar way, this can take requests to play … Continue reading Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Note Balancer →

Arduino OPL FM Synth

Someone recently asked me about a 2413 synth chip emulation library they'd found for the ESP32 and I'm very interested in taking a look. But I've not done any ESP32 projects so far, so that will have to wait for a bit (come back in a few weeks maybe). But that reminded me that I … Continue reading Arduino OPL FM Synth →

Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Channel Muter

This project uses a Pimoroni RGB Keypad with a Raspberry Pi Pico to create 16 "mute" switches for MIDI, one for each MIDI channel. https://youtu.be/8KiXT91sSk8 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 … Continue reading Raspberry Pi Pico MIDI Channel Muter →

Arduino VS1053 General MIDI Synth – Part 2

Another I've wanted to do with my Arduino MIDI Proto Shield PCB is link it with my Arduino VS1053 General MIDI Synth to provide a means of selecting the voice from the shield itself. As I almost always pair my VS1053 shield with an off the shelf MIDI module to use it, this seems like a natural thing … Continue reading Arduino VS1053 General MIDI Synth – Part 2 →

Arduino MIDI Rotary Encoder Controller – Part 2

Having just received back my Arduino MIDI Proto Shield PCBs I was thinking of a project to use them on and decided that a rotary encoder patch changer would be ideal, so this is a rebuild of my Arduino MIDI Rotary Encoder Controller using my MIDI proto shield. https://youtu.be/88TgJZBtC_8 Warning! I strongly recommend using an old or second … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Rotary Encoder Controller – Part 2 →

Zynthian Revisited

After having a quick play with Zynthian just over a year ago, I've always had it in the back of my mind to make a "proper" Zynthian box with its own interface and controls. This is the first part of that project, hooking it up to a touchscreen and some rotary encoders. In Part 2 … Continue reading Zynthian Revisited →

Arduino Touchscreen X-Y MIDI Controller – Part 2

Whilst being able to use a cheap touchscreen with a DIY shield gets me so far, there are a number of cheap touchscreen shields around and I've had one for a while, but not managed to really get it going. I thought it was perhaps about time to see what I could do, so I … Continue reading Arduino Touchscreen X-Y MIDI Controller – Part 2 →

An Even Tempered Pico

I was having a bit of a discussion about tuning and temperament in music with Midi_in_out on Twitter, after they posted the latest update to their MIDISID project and we got on to talking about polyphony. I know the general theory behind natural harmonics vs the compromise that is the even tempered scale we use … Continue reading An Even Tempered Pico →