Is it possible to make a MIDI controller/musical instrument hybrid with Arduino or ESP

Using Arduino Audio
#1

Is there an even slight possibility to build or recreate Misa Digital by using ESP or Arduino?

The manufacturer of this "instrument" has long stopped producing & there is no chance to buy used instruments since they are usually sold within minutes after being put on E-bay/Amazon. I've searched all over the internet for patent or any type of document describing principle of operation or at least list of hardware components used but had no luck.

I would like to try & recreate the Tri-bass model but without the guitar body using 8-inch touch screen and touch sensitive fretboard (don't know how the inventor even came up with this idea) :face_with_monocle: :face_with_monocle:

Any advice/suggestion/tip is welcome as I don't even know where to start or what type of micro-controller is most suitable for such project,

#2

I don’t see why not, I have made many similar Keytars as they are known.

You need an Arduino that is capable of USB output as HID MIDI, the Arduino micro is one I use a lot for this sort of thing.

One of my latest projects is shown here, although that uses the Raspberry Pi Pico processor and a commercial Touch sensor, and is geared towards an acoustic guitar rather than a rock guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22KG11FD_s

As the sound is generated by an external MIDI sound generator or PC all it has to provide is the note triggers. Here is another example of a thing I made that uses touch sensors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0r70lQ4LYI
Again for the Raspberry Pi but no reason why you can’t use an Arduino.

#3

Thank you for the advice & video links, your trill guitar is awesome!
I've bought Raspberry Pi Zero just over a month ago so I'm still getting familiar with it or to phrase it differently I just started learning process and really don't have any experience with it.

By the looks of your project I assume that touch sensitive fret board is used to select chord/note/pitch and touch sensor in the body simulates plucking strings (like it would be the case when playing real instrument) ?

#4

Yes that is it, but a Pi zero is a totally different thing to a Pi Pico. There is also a part two video to check out, and the magazine is a free download if you don’t want a paper copy.

But as I said you can use an Arduino Micro. Just use the MIDIusb library and follow the examples that come with it.
The problem with a Pi Zero is that it is a computer board, where as the Pico and an Arduino is a controller board. They are coming at life from opposite directions.

#5

Teensy's are commonly used to make synths due to the Audio library available that eases development of the audio DSP.