Hello everybody,
I am new to arduino and open-source technology in general, but I recently had a very interesting idea that I was hoping to get some advice/feedback on.
I want to create a very basic synthesizer (7 notes) that incorporates a visual aspect to it.
Heres my idea:
The synthesizer itself would be mounted on an acrylic (or similar material) chamber.
I was thinking of using the Little Bits synthesizer, including the power source, keyboard, oscillator and speaker.
Within the acrylic chamber would be the light source. My original idea was a laser that would reflect off several mirrors placed within the chamber, but I don't know how feasible this is considering it would have to be a color changing laser, so i am open to/considering similar ideas.
Here's where it gets tricky. For each of the seven notes capable of being played, i want the color of the light to match the frequency of the note itself. (E.G. if I play a C at 261 Hz, I want the color of the laser to be green. I was going to use this to figure out the exact correct colors)
Now, I was thinking of connecting an arduino to the light to handle the command of changing the color. I do not know if I would use some sort of audio receiver that connects to the arduino or if I would connect the keyboard itself to the arduino.
Which would be easier, if either are even feasible.
any feedback/advice you feel I should have before starting on this?
Thanks a ton.
I wonder how good that synthesiser is, musically, that is: does it play more than a single tone? Which is what the Arduino can do anyway.
If it can, then you could connect the press switches of that device to a keyboard matrix style (so save using 13 pins on your Arduino) and then use the Arduino to switch on the correct light source. I'm guessing the synth is low voltage battery powered.
Incidentally that link did not work for me, this is the URL: littleBits i30 keyboard | Snap Circuits for Kids | Sphero
I have never used nor seen a colour changing laser (a true laser) because they are a fixed frequency (eg red) I believe. Doubtless there are some laser simulators that use high power LEDs that might fit your need. You can get the principle working with coloured LEDs first.
So if I were doing this project I would first build the synthesiser, whilst doing that figure out the key matrix part, then connect that to an Arduino, then sort out the light show. If you wanted to skip the key matrix (you should not, as it is a very common method of allowing more keys than pins) you could use a Mega with its 51 pins.
Feasible? Yes, I think so.
Easy? Reasonably, although you have a lot of mountains to climb as a self-proclaimed noob.
Fun? Absolutely.
And as an added bonus if you want to know more about simple things, Arduino and electronics related, have a look at my YouTube channel, specifically designed for Arduinite noobs to help get your project off the ground. URL in the signature of this post.