Hi! I have an old music keyboard and am planning to make it compatible with my PC. I want to use USB and don't need MIDI port, so is there any way I can do so with a Mega? I saw some videos, where they used 32U4 based boards, but getting one is going to take forever.
The keyboard has standard scan matrix and the original board even has diodes already on it. I figured out how I can detect a press (Mega has enough free pins, so I don't even need a shift register), but I don't know how to make the PC understand what a key press means. For example, can I output a key ID on serial and use some program to map it to a normal piano sound?
If you have any suggestions please let me know
I'm not sure exactly what you're asking for? By far the easiest way to get a PC to play music tones is with MIDI. There are very many PC programs available that use MIDI as their main input method almost always over USB. And there are many Arduino programs that can produce MIDI either via a standard DIN MIDI connector or over USB.
So what do you have against MIDI?
Steve
I just don't want to use a MIDI to USB adapter and I was thinking of connecting it with the Mega's USB port. When I looked online, I found that everyone used 32U4 based boards and now I'm wondering if it's possible with an AtMega2560.
Take a look at Hairless MIDI to Serial Bridge
Ooooh, looks pretty neat! Just what I needed! Thanks!
User_temp:
I just don't want to use a MIDI to USB adapter and I was thinking of connecting it with the Mega's USB port. When I looked online, I found that everyone used 32U4 based boards and now I'm wondering if it's possible with an AtMega2560.
The reason nearly everyone uses the 32u4 is that the USB interface is an integral part of the 32u4 chip, allowing the USB interface to easily be manipulated so that it can appear as a keyboard, mouse, etc, to the computer instead of an arduino board. It is possible to do this with an UNO or Mega, but requires reflashing the firmware on the USB to Serial interface chip (an atmega16u2 or atmega8u2 on the official Arduino boards), and would likely be impossible on third-party boards that use a different USB to Serial chip.
Yeah, it's just more work trying to upload fancy firmware. I found about the Hairless MIDI from @uxoom, which is a really neat and handy software that makes everything really simple.
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