A Yamaha DX7 On A USB Dongle

November 24, 2023 by Lewin Day 24 Comments

The Yamaha DX7 was released in 1983, with its FM synthesis engine completely revolutionizing the electronic music world at the time. It didn’t come cheap, and still doesn’t today, but we are blessed with emulators that can give us the same sound on a budget. In that vein, [Kevin] decided to whip up a Yamaha DX7 you can carry around in a little USB dongle.

The build centers around the use of a Raspberry Pi Zero, Zero W, or Zero 2W configured to run the MiniDEXED DX7 emulator. The Pi is then set up with a dongle adapter board that allows it to run in USB Gadget mode. The Zero line of Raspberry Pis are perfect for this use, as they draw less current and so can, under the right conditions, run off a computer’s USB port. The Pi receives MIDI commands over the USB interface, and outputs sound via a Pimoroni Audio Shim. Effectively, the result is a single-channel DX7 synth that plugs in via USB; or eight channels if you use the more powerful Zero 2W.

[Kevin] readily admits that there probably isn’t much use for a DX7 dongle, given that you could just load a DX7 emulator in your DAW of choice instead. Regardless, it’s a fun build, and one that ably demonstrates the USB Gadget mode of operation for the Raspberry Pi. Video after the break. Continue reading “A Yamaha DX7 On A USB Dongle” →

Turning A Saxophone Into A MIDI Controller

November 22, 2023 by Lewin Day 6 Comments

Most of the time, if you’re looking for a MIDI controller, you’re going to end up with some kind of keyboard or a fancy button pad. The saxophone is an altogether more beguiling instrument that makes for one hell of an interface, but there’s a problem: they’re seldom MIDI-compatible. This build from [AndrewChi] changes all that.

This digitized sax relies on a SparkFun ESP32 Thing as the brains of the operation. It uses Hall effect sensors, the digital switch type, to detect the action of the keys of the sax. Choosing parts that are quick to respond is key for musical use, so [AndrewChi] selected the Texas Instruments DRV5023 for its unipolar operation, short output delay and fast rise time. Beyond setting up the basic keys to send MIDI notes, the instrument also received additional octave controls for greater range. With sensors and magnets attached to the saxophone and keys with Sugru, the instrument is ready to serve as a capable MIDI controller. Thanks to the ESP32, it’s capable of sending MIDI data wirelessly over Bluetooth for the maximum freedom of performance.

It’s a nifty build, and a great way for wind players to get into the world of controlling digital synthesizers in an intuitive fashion. We’ve seen some great MIDI controller builds before, too.

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Pour One Out For This Bottle-Playing Robot

November 2, 2023 by Kristina Panos 5 Comments

If you have an iota of musicality, you’ve no doubt noticed that you can play music using glass bottles, especially if you have several of different sizes and fill them with varying levels of water. But what if you wanted to accompany yourself on the bottles? Well, then you’d need to build a bottle-playing robot.

First, [Jens Maker Adventures] wrote a song and condensed it down to eight notes. With a whole lot of tinkling with a butter knife against their collection of wine and other bottles, [Jens] was able to figure out the lowest note for a given bottle by filing it with water, and the highest note by emptying it out.

With the bottle notes selected, the original plan was to strike the bottles with sticks. As it turned out, 9g servos weren’t up to the task, so he went with solenoids instead. Using Boxes.py, he was able to parameterize a just-right bottle holder to allow for arranging the bottles in a circle and striking them from the inside, all while hiding the Arduino and the solenoid driver board. Be sure to check it out after the break.

Don’t have a bunch of bottles lying around? You can use an Arduino to play the glasses.

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Playing The Guitar Of DOOM

October 7, 2023 by Kristina Panos 7 Comments

Over the years, we’ve seen DOOM run on pretty much everything from an 8088 to a single keycap. We’ve also written up one or two controllers, but we don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this — playing DOOM with an electric guitar.

The guitar in question is a Schecter Hellraiser Deluxe, which seems like a great choice to us. In order to get the notes to control the game, [DOS Storm] converted a handful of notes to MIDI using a VST plugin called Dodo MIDI 2 and the Reaper DAW. Then it was a matter of converting MIDI to keystrokes. This took two programs — loopMIDI to do take the MIDI data and route it elsewhere, and MIDIKey2Key to actually convert the MIDI to the keystrokes that control DOOM.

The result is that the notes that move Doomguy around are mostly in an A-major bar chord formation, with some controls up in the solo range of the fret board. Be sure to check out the demo video below and watch [DOS Storm] clear level one in a fairly impressive amount of time, considering their controller is a guitar.

That key cap isn’t even the most ridiculous thing we’ve seen DOOM running on. It’s probably a toss-up between that and the LEGO brick.

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GETMusic Uses Machine Learning To Generate Music, Understands Tracks

July 27, 2023 by Donald Papp 10 Comments

Music generation guided by machine learning can make great projects, but there’s not usually much apparent control over the results. The system makes what it makes, and it’s an achievement if the results are not obvious cacophony. But that’s all different with GETMusic which allows for a much more involved approach because it understands and is able to create music by tracks. Among other things, this means one can generate a basic rhythm and melody first, then add additional elements to those existing ones, leaving the previous elements unchanged.

GETMusic can make music from scratch, or guided from examples, and under the hood uses a diffusion-based approach similar to the method behind AI image generators like Stable Diffusion. We’ve previously covered how Stable Diffusion works, but instead of images the same basic principles are used to guide the model from random noise to useful tracks of music.

Just a few years ago we saw a neural network trained to generate Bach, and while it was capable of moments of brilliance, it didn’t produce uniformly-listenable output. GETMusic is on an entirely different level. The model and code are available online and there is a research paper to accompany it.

You can watch a video putting it through its paces just below the page break, and there are more videos on the project summary page.

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Building The Cheapest MIDI Home Studio From 1988

July 19, 2023 by Lewin Day 7 Comments

These days, there is a plethora of cheap hardware and software which you can use to make digital music. Back in the 1980s, though, this was still a nascent field, with new gear changing the game for musicians. In his latest video, [cTrix] puts together a guide to building a budget MIDI home studio like it’s 1988.

The original Atari ST is the star of the show, which sold for around £300 back then. Unlike most contemporary computers, it came with MIDI ports built-in, and it quickly became a popular platform for music sequencing and controlling external synth hardware. It was often spotted in posh studios being used by big-time musicians, but [cTrix] wanted to look at how it was used by more humble users.

While the Atari ST could output some passable chiptunes, it was most powerful when paired with off-board gear. Industry magazines would readily talk up “DIY” setups worth thousands, but [cTrix] aimed for a budget in the low hundreds. In 1988, that might get you something like the 16-channel Yamaha PSS-580, which rocked full MIDI support and a ton of sounds and drumkits built in. It ran an OPL soundchip, and could play multiple instruments at once under MIDI control from software like Dr. T’s MIDI Recording Studio.

Of course, if you’ve ever played a keyboard like the PSS-580, you’ll have noted that the sound output can be more than a little chintzy. A cheap way to level up was to get yourself something like the Roland MT-32, which rocked a far higher-quality sound module. Everything from slap bass to solid electric pianos could be blasted out from the Roland, which also included a decent reverb unit, too. [cTrix] also dives into other budget heroes, like the rich and expansive Kawai K1 and the Yamaha EMT-10.

If you want to make music like it’s 1988 and you’re hunting for your first gold record, you’ll learn a lot here. We can’t wait for Part 2, that explores the next level of sophistication in this era. His previous lessons on how to make 90s dance bangers on the Amiga are a treat, too.

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Building A Breath-Controlled MIDI Device

May 19, 2023 by Lewin Day 6 Comments

When we think of MIDI devices, we typically jump straight to drum machines, rack synths, and keyboard controllers. However, there’s nothing saying you can’t build your own MIDI controllers that use the magic of breath to do their musical duty. That’s precisely what [Xavier Dumont] did with this unique 3D printed build.

The device looks somewhat like an alien ship from an animated 1960s sci-fi movie, but it’s actually a sophisticated MIDI controller. Naturally, it’s peppered with buttons as every good controller should be, and it features a touch-control strip on the back.

However, the real magic is in the breath control. When the user blows into the sensor, the device sends out MIDI signals of varying intensity to control the object of the player’s desire. The breath signal can be used to modulate the mod wheel, pitch bends, or octave shifts, among a variety of other options.

[Xavier] wields the instrument with prowess in the audio demos at the end of the video. We can imagine this futuristic thing being played by a background alien in a celebration scene in a far-flung Marvel movie. Or maybe Star Wars? In any case, a triumph.

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