Hi all, not sure this is the right forum, though
I was wondering whether it is possible to build a midi keyboard using piezos as keys, and then using arduino to translate into midi.
However, I'm really a noob at electronics.
My question was: is this feasible for a low lever DIYer? What should I read first to understand the piezo to midi translation process?
Thanks a lot.
Why use piezos ?
Because you want preasure sensitivity ?
This might be a good place to start .
http://todbot.com/blog/2006/10/29/spooky-arduino-projects-4-and-musical-arduino/
But it would probably be difficult to extend to a full range keyboard.
Piezos seem to be the simplest and cheapest. If there's a cheaper velocity sensitive thingy, tell!
Thanks for the link, kind of what I was looking for. But then I have a few question before I dive into all I have to learn:
I understand that each piezo, after a resistance, is connected to "slot"* in the Arduino board. As a piezo, it will give a different value depending on how you hit it, so there's the velocity sensitivity. Ok. But I need many keys for a keyboard. Being a total noob who didn't know anything about Arduino two days ago, my guess is that you'd need different piezos connected to different "slots" in the Arduino board, so that it gives the computer values such as "piezo 3 gives x voltage", "piezo 5 gives z voltage" etc... and that'd be were programming comes. Is it more or less right? So I'd need a board that has enough "slots" for four octaves (that is, 48).
As you can see, total noob, I'm just guessing, but I'd love to learn from scratch and I'm gonna be unemployed for the whole winter, this seems a very interesting field to learn.
Thanks again!
*What's the real name for that?
Hi,
I am not sure that what you are planning will work, I am no expert but I believe that many keyboards actually use two digital switches to sense velocity. The two switches so that they trigger at different points in the keys movement, the faster the key moves, the shorter the time between the two buttons activating - in my limited experience peizo's are a pain in the neck to work with - others might have had better experience.
I have taken a different approach, which is to pull apart and existing keyboard and replace the original synth engine with my own Arduino synth engine - its a more unique instrument than building a midi controller for an existing synth engine.
In action -
Might not be what you want, but here is the how to if you decide to take this approach -
Duane B
I know, but I've seen excellent finger drums made with piezos, don't see the problem of taking the same design to a keyboard.
The two switches solution is technically complex, and what I'm looking for is not a piano shaped keyboard, but an isomorphic one to play microtonal. Also, recycling a midi controller might be easier, but this is also for learning purposes.
I've been googling around and this seems to be the most similar:
Actually, I'm trying to do exactly that, but with more notes. So, for example, what would be the minimal knowledge to understand that xylophone?
I guess what I dumbly called "slots" are pins, for more notes I would need a multiplexer with more pins or more multiplexers. Right?