Educational DIY Synth Thing

For a while I've wondered if it was possible to find something that could be used to learn about the basics of analog synthesis. This is the first part of a series of posts looking at the possibilities. Part 1 - This introduction and high-level design principles. Part 2 - Detailed design of an ESP32 … Continue reading Educational DIY Synth Thing →

ESP32 and PWM – Part 3

I'm continuing my look into the ESP32 and PWM. This time I'm adding in some analog control to introduce an element of frequency modulation to the synthesis. Part 1 - All the theory and research around PWM and the ESP32. Part 2 - Generating different waveforms on multiple channels. Part 3 - Introducing analog control and frequency … Continue reading ESP32 and PWM – Part 3 →

ESP32 and PWM – Part 2

In this second part of my look into the ESP32 and PWM I've updated the code to expand to several channels to make a sort of (fixed) simple signal generator. Part 1 - All the theory and research around PWM and the ESP32. Part 2 - Generating different waveforms on multiple channels. Part 3 - Introducing analog … Continue reading ESP32 and PWM – Part 2 →

ESP32 and PWM

I'm continuing reinventing wheels with my ESP32. In ESP32 and Mozzi I was using the built-in DAC for audio output. In this post I'm taking a detailed look at how to use PWM for audio output instead. Part 1 - All the theory and research around PWM and the ESP32. Part 2 - Generating different waveforms on … Continue reading ESP32 and PWM →

Arduino Direct Digital (Additive) Synthesis

This is actually a collection of previous projects with the code tidied up a little and combined to show a single sketch that can be configured for either PWM, an R2R ladder or the MCP4725 I2C DAC. There isn't really anything here that hasn't been talked about before somewhere, but hopefully this can act as … Continue reading Arduino Direct Digital (Additive) Synthesis →

“Bare Metal” Raspberry Pi Synth – Part 3

This project uses an off-the-shelf analog IO board for the Raspberry Pi for my "bare metal" Raspberry Pi v1 (model B) synth. Full index of posts in this series: Part 1: The basics of setting up an environment to build a “bare metal” Raspberry Pi synth application. Part 2: Adding potentiometer controls via an MCP3008 … Continue reading “Bare Metal” Raspberry Pi Synth – Part 3 →

“Bare Metal” Raspberry Pi Synth – Part 2

This post builds on part 1 and starts to add some IO handling code and simple synthesis code to the bare metal Raspberry Pi experiments. Full index of posts in this series: Part 1: The basics of setting up an environment to build a “bare metal” Raspberry Pi synth application. Part 2: Adding potentiometer controls … Continue reading “Bare Metal” Raspberry Pi Synth – Part 2 →

Arduino PWM Sound Output – Part 2

My previous post looked at all the theory of using PWM on an Arduino and finished with an example showing how to use Timer 1 to generate a PWM output on pin 9. This post provides an alternative set of PWM routines that allows you to generate an audio signal on pin 3 using Timer … Continue reading Arduino PWM Sound Output – Part 2 →

Arduino MIDI Slider OLED R2R Waveform Generator

This project moves on a step from my Arduino MIDI Slider R2R Waveform Generator and adds a small 0.96" OLED I2C display. https://youtu.be/MGwdu017e00 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 projects for the main concepts used … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Slider OLED R2R Waveform Generator →

Arduino MIDI Slider R2R Waveform Generator

When I first started looking at using fader/slider potentiometers I always anticipated using it to generate waveforms for my Arduino MIDI R2R Digital Audio board. But as that is currently part of the Lo-Fi Orchestra, I decided I'd build a new one, hence the diversion into using PWM first whilst I decided exactly what to do. … Continue reading Arduino MIDI Slider R2R Waveform Generator →