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 →

Simple MIDI Serial Monitor – Part 3

This is a follow-up to the following posts: Simple MIDI Serial Monitor - which shows how to use SoftwareSerial as a MIDI port to allow monitoring over the default serial port. Simple MIDI Serial Monitor – Part 2 - which shows how to use SoftwareSerial as the monitoring serial port instead. This post takes one of my … Continue reading Simple MIDI Serial Monitor – Part 3 →

16 Tone Generator MiniDexed

I've been looking into how it might be possible to get 16 tone generators running on MiniDexed, essentially giving the equivalent of a whole DX7 on each of the 16 MIDI channels. This post looks at some of the options I've looked at: Simply using MIDI THRU to connect two independent MiniDexeds with 8 TG … Continue reading 16 Tone Generator MiniDexed →

RPi Dual MiniDexed PCB – Part 2

Here are the build notes for the RPi Dual MiniDexed PCB Design. https://youtu.be/WnxW_eS3AZY 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 Raspberry Pi IO Board If you are … Continue reading RPi Dual MiniDexed PCB – Part 2 →

Raspberry Pi Pico Capacitive Touch

I've now done a number of projects using capacitive touch, using a range of methods from native IO handling to the use of the MPR121 and off-the-shelf boards. Typically native IO methods require testing a response between a signal on one IO pin being received on another, with the timing of that response affected by … Continue reading Raspberry Pi Pico Capacitive Touch →

Arduino PCF8574/8575 MIDI Controller

This project uses a PCF8574 or PCF8575 I2C digital IO expander with an Arduino as a MIDI controller. https://youtu.be/yrNB3riWBH4 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 … Continue reading Arduino PCF8574/8575 MIDI Controller →

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 →

MIDI Matrix Patch Bay – Part 3

Having now described the design (and the mistakes) and the build guide (and the workarounds) this post looks at the mechanical side of things that I had completely neglected when designing the PCB! Part 1: Design. Part 2: PCB assembly. Part 3: Mechanical design and assembly. Warning! I strongly recommend using old or second hand … Continue reading MIDI Matrix Patch Bay – Part 3 →

MIDI Matrix Patch Bay – Part 2

Here are the build notes for my MIDI Matrix Patch Bay PCBs. This post is in two parts (below) covering the two boards required. A further part will consider the mechanical build issues. Recall that there is a mistake in the first version of the OUTPUT boards. Although in the design I've presented the fixed … Continue reading MIDI Matrix Patch Bay – Part 2 →

MIDI Matrix Patch Bay

As my collection of instruments and projects grows, I find myself plugging and unplugging MIDI cables quite a bit and although I've experimenting with a number of MIDI routers, sometimes I just need a relatively simple way of switching MIDI connections in and out. This is another one of my "think while doing" projects - … Continue reading MIDI Matrix Patch Bay →