Arduino PSS-680 Synth Editor- Part 1

I'm still exploring the range of Yamaha (and a few others) keyboards from the 80s with interesting synth chips. So far I've looked at the YM2413 and the PSS-170. I also have some YM3812s and a PSS-460. But today I'm looking at the PSS-680 which has a YM3420 in it, with the eventual aim of … Continue reading Arduino PSS-680 Synth Editor- Part 1 →

Arduino OPL Bus Sniffer – Part 2

Having now made myself a Arduino OPL Bus Sniffer I've put it to some use grabbing the voice data from the YM2413 based Yamaha PSS-170 keyboard. https://youtu.be/evERlSJY7zY 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 … Continue reading Arduino OPL Bus Sniffer – Part 2 →

Arduino OPL Bus Sniffer

This is a slightly off-track application. I want to be able to probe a YM2413 chip "in situ" - i.e. installed in a keyboard, so I thought it might be interesting to develop an Arduino application that can monitor the data signals and pull out the data being sent to the chip. Warning! I strongly … Continue reading Arduino OPL Bus Sniffer →

Arduino OPL FM Drum Machine

I've finally returned to having a look at my Arduino OPL FM Synth. This time I'm taking a look at the drum channels. https://youtu.be/IBDu9h4716U 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 … Continue reading Arduino OPL FM Drum Machine →

Arduino MIDI Multi Pot Controller

Once again, I've realised that whilst I've now completed a number of multi-potentiometer MIDI controller projects, I haven't actually written up a non-multiplexed, multi-potentiometer controller. This projects fills that gap! 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 … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Multi Pot Controller →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Arduino “Make Your Uno” Synth – 6 – MIDI Mozzi FM Synth

Putting together everything I have so far, this presents a basic MIDI controlled Mozzi FM synth. The full index of projects and my personal build notes can be found here: Arduino “Make Your Uno” Synth. This post contains the following experiments: MIDI Mozzi FM Synth Further Mozzi MIDI Experiments https://youtu.be/clG0iOgls-Q Warning! I strongly recommend using old … Continue reading Arduino “Make Your Uno” Synth – 6 – MIDI Mozzi FM Synth →

Arduino “Make Your Uno” Synth – 5 – MIDI IN

Having now tried a number of stand-alone projects, I thought it was time to get the Synth Shield hooked up to something else. And for music, that means MIDI! This project looks at building and using a serial ("traditional") MIDI IN circuit for the Synth Shield. The full index of projects and my personal build … Continue reading Arduino “Make Your Uno” Synth – 5 – MIDI IN →