hi
I want to a upright piano.
make it play by itself, probably wireless.
user sending file
arduino activitate elctromagnet, coils, multiple at a time.
to play it.
thanks
tought using
-Arduino DUE x2
-custom made coils
if somebody did it before or could give informations.
thanks
I've never done anything like that, but it should be possible.
Have you estimated the cost of 88 solenoids & the 88 associated driver circuits? I'm pretty sure this is going to get expensive and you are going to end-up with something that has a resale value that's less than the cost. (That's OK if don't intend to sell it, an the cost should be less than a modern MIDI/player piano.)
Are you sure it needs to be wireless? The solenoids will need a power source, so you'll either need a large battery, or you'll have to plug it into the wall.
Have you ever built a solenoid before? Have you built one that can actuate a piano key? It's not easy to build an efficient-powerful solenoid...
I'd say just build it one step at a time... Build one solenoid actuator and trigger it with one Arduino output. Build & test the MIDI interface/decoder. Build & test the wireless interface. Build the remaining actuators and put it all together...
Another thing to consider is key press speed / force. Even if you don't play piano you can probably understand that the volume and to some degree the character of the note will be affected by how quickly / forcefully the key is pressed. This is why good keyboards recognize the speed a key is pressed.
Solenoids will likely be VERY fast and will give you a loud and forceful (maybe harsh) sound. A servo driven mechanism might be able to give you control over this, but it would likely mean added expense and complexity.
I could also picture this done with pneumatic and solenoid valves, but the clicking of these valves would likely be of equivalent noise to the piano.
Hi,
I look in fact for the software. for the arduino. for receiving , playing, sorting, and sending the midi .
. the user make a play list. have it played when the arduino send the amount of voltage required in each place.
also I will need to calculate and confirm charecteristics of the coil to use.
thanks.
matt_1012:
if somebody did it before or could give informations.
Yep - somebody's done something like this before - in 1977:
Check that out - go to page 112 - and feast your eyes on a computer controlled player piano!
Ok - well, it isn't quite the same as what you want to do (because in this case, the author built a pneumatic valve circuit which then controlled the actual piano keys - just like a paper roll did, where an open hole was a key) - but maybe it will give you an idea.
Then - continue reading on page 122 - which details the inner-workings of "reproducer" player pianos - a fascinating old-school tech if there ever was one!