Ok, I've got it. User error compilation. Incredible.
I marked up all my resistors and the 10M? and 1M? were the last 2.
My 1M? uses a colour to denote 4 that's much more like a green than a yellow. So I had them down as the 10M? and thought the others were the 1M?, and used those values. But on top of that,
My multimeter's highest ? range is 2000k, and 10M? is 10000k. So the multimeter can't read them on any scale, hence no reading (I think!).
When I tried to work out why the 10M? wern't measuring I re-examined the scale and saw the 2000k max.
Lightbulb moments followed once I realised 1000k = 1M?
I tend to agree. Most of the projects I've done had some sort of mistakes in them. It added to the challenge, don't get me wrong. However this project wasn't as fun simply due to vaguely working breadboard. It took me 4 attempts to get all four buttons to work. I made a mistake with one, but the other two that weren't working simply needed a different spot on the board. I had to move last button over to the other side of the board in order to get it to work. Not ideal. Discouraging at times.
Hello, I am a newcomer to arduino and I too have been having a problem with this project. The first key (notes[0]) is the only one not working and this is after I made the change to the code suggested by mikeucfl.
void setup() {
 buttons[0] = 2;
 Serial.begin(9600);
}
Furthermore when I tried changing the ranges for the first two keys to see if I could get a wider range for the first key to play (1000-1023 for first key and 990-1000 for second), the second key instead played the note the first key was supposed to play and the first key was still silent (I got this idea from the fact that since the last key was near the highest value and had a small range of values to read the actual note would have a slight stutter when played, so I tried tweaking the range values). My breadboard is the same as the one in the manual. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks.
Had same problems w/ '0' being returned; turned out I had (at least) 2 bad buttons in my kit. IMHO, they should have put a little less emphasis on making the book look pretty (got to love the 10 point font for readability too!), and more(?) on better components at this price...
Just wanted to report that I had similar issues on this project. The first issue I've had really since starting with the book.
It was kind of weird though and after getting it to work I can't really explain what was wrong.
Looking at the diagram in the book it was the top push button that was not activating the piezo and reading zero in the serial monitor. Removing the push button and replacing with a normal wire instead made the circuit work as intended, giving me 1023 in the serial monitor, so the breadboard seemed fine.
I then got my multimeter and set it to resistance and measured across the push button noticing it change to zero resistance when I depressed the button. This seemed to suggest the button was working.
Then, not sure what was going on, I read this forum and decided to move the button one row down on the breadboard. It worked. I then swapped the button over for one of the other ones and they both worked.
So not sure what the problem is to be honest. Anyway, thanks for the tip, hope it doesn't catch me out again.
mikeucfl:
I think that may be a typo in the book (I see it in mine as well). AWOL's suggestion would fix it, or you could move 'int buttons[0] = 2' into the setup method and drop the int declaration.
Hello Everybody,
I am also having the same problem on this project. The last switch, the one connected to the 10 Kilohm resistor, only reads 0.
The problem is not the switch. If I switch it with one of those that work, it makes the sound. Instead, the one that was working, when put as 4th switch, doesn't work anymore.
Also, I tried to change the position on the breadbord, and the result is still the same. Any idea? =(
Sorry, I had moved a couple of things around and forgot to put it back in the right place.
This should be like it is explained in the book.
Plus, I don't understand one thing: the last resistance. In the book, it says "connect tall the switches' output in one junction. Connect this junction to ground with a 10 kilohm resistor". I don't understand the function of this last resistance, considering that every single switch has got his own resistance....
Just started doing this and had the same problem.
Then after looking here realised in the book the 2 lines
int buttons[6];
int buttons[0] 0 = 2;
don't have line numbers at the start
Then the following line is:
1 int notes[] = {262,294,330,349};
I guess those first 2 lines aren't in the program, you're right though confusing, although i guess they are there for a reason of tutorial but as of yet i don't understand what it is trying to teach.
How do you determine the keyVal ranges? Are the ones in the book determined by calculation or empirically? I can't find any information on where they come from, and I would love to be able to expand this project to add other notes, but am not sure where to find the keyVal ranges.
For instance, the book has keyVal == 1023, keyVal >=990 && keyVal <= 1010. I recognize 1023 from the maximum value the ADC can report back. Are the other values just guesses that are honed in with experimentation?