My first project - 8 key piano

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi Everyone - I'm building an 8 key piano with extra large keys (handicap version) for a friend. Also, this is my first Arduino project and it should be a good way to get acquainted with the Arduino family of enthusiasts, hardware and software.

Each key will be connected to a mercury, reed or micro switch (still working on the design - I don't know if "key bounce" will be a problem yet) then into the Uno via 8 I/O pins. Pretty simple actually.

I would like to use a single I/O pin to drive a powered speaker. I figure a capacitor might take enough of the edge off the square wave to deliver acceptable sound. Otherwise I guess outputting to MIDI might be the better way to go.

Does anyone know if the Arduino can generate nice sounding musical notes or should I plan on outputting to MIDI or breaking into a cheap toy piano?

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful advice.

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if the Arduino can generate nice sounding musical notes

Well I would say no, it is just a square wave. The capacitor by the way will limit the DC through the speaker and you will need a 100R series resistor to stop the extra current damaging the arduino output.
That done it will be quite quiet and you might want to use a cheap powered computer speaker.

Anyway try it first and see if you like the sound before going to MIDI.