A few months ago I modified a vintage Casio synthesizer so that it could produce bizarre new sounds. At the same time, I built an interface that allowed an Arduino Mega microcontroller to control the keyboard. This was part of my scheme to use electronic assistance to solve my ongoing problem of not actually being able to play any instrument.
Initially I programmed the Mega simply to play a stored melody. I could have bought and retrofitted a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) for such a task, but I used a Mega because I wanted greater flexibility. In particular, I wanted to be able to hook up different sensors and translate their readings into musical notes. So when the makers of the TeraRanger One—a US $140 range-finder sensor—sent me a sample unit, the wheels in my head started turning.
Each Monday is ArduinoMonday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Arduino related products. Adafruit manufactures the Arduino right here in the United States in cooperation with arduino.cc. We have a huge selection of Arduino accessories and all the code and tutorials to get you up and running in no time!
Make a robot friend with Adafruit’s CRICKIT – A Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It’s an add-on to our popular Circuit Playground Express, FEATHER and other platforms to make and program robots with CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. Start controlling motors, servos, solenoids. You also get signal pins, capacitive touch sensors, a NeoPixel driver and amplified speaker output. It complements & extends your boards so you can still use all the goodies on the microcontroller, now you have a robotics playground as well.
Each Monday is ArduinoMonday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Arduino related products. Adafruit manufactures the Arduino right here in the United States in cooperation with arduino.cc. We have a huge selection of Arduino accessories and all the code and tutorials to get you up and running in no time!