Sebastian Tomczak has improved his USB MIDI device from 8 gate and 16 CV outputs to 12 gate and 16 CV outputs.

This handy device has 16 control voltage (CV) outputs and 12 gate outputs.  USB MIDI channels 1 – 8 are mapped to CV outputs 1 – 16 for pitch and velocity, and gates 1 – 8 for note on and off events. Gates 9 – 12 are mapped to note on and off events only on channel 9, and also will send a sync and transport signal based on MIDI clock messages if received.

This is a new version of of a project we previously covered.

Schematics and a build guide are published on Sebastian’s blog.

Code for the project is available on GitHub.

Bryan Jacobs of Knick Knack Sound built PhOut12, a motor shield controlled through USB-MIDI.

The PhOut12 allows software traditionally used for music to control motors.  The board can control up to 12 DC motors, solenoids, or relays, and up to four servos.  It also has a couple of inputs for sensors, pedals, or knobs.  This versatile board offers a lot of options for adding sound control to your art project.

Code and schematics are available at Bryan Jacobs Music.

You can purchase a kit of parts of fully assembled board on Tindie.

 

Franck Galliat has developed XtsTinyBasicPlus to make it run on a Teensy ++ 2.0 and connect to a Cannon X-07 hand held computer.

XtsTinyBasicPlus is a fork of TinyBasic.  This version features support for an SSD1306 LCD screen, a uSD card reader, WiFi using the ESP8266 module, and 2 serial ports.  It can act as a little http server to execute an auto-script that outputs to a web browser.

Some additional information can be found on this blog page.

Code for the project is published on GitHub.

Ali Afshar (alialiali on the forum) built a chordboard – a nifty synth project that includes a drum sequencer.

Ali describes this labor or love project as playing the major keys of piano with the ability to change the key and mode.  It’s pretty easy to play and get a decent result.  It also features a drum sequencer, strings, chords, and other stuff.  The interface uses the oh so satisfying Cherry MX keys that have LEDs in them and a few pots to control things like tempo.

Marcell Marosvolgvi made an audio analyzer using a Teensy 3.2 and Audio Shield.

This project uses a Teensy 3.2 to generate a sine wave and send the output to an audio shield.  Using a external loop, the data is fed back into the input of the shield and read by the Teensy and analyzed.  The data is then sent to a Raspberry Pi for graphing and displayed on a 7″ TFT display.

Code for the project is published on GitHub.

 

Brandon Foltz built TMO, a handheld game console built from scratch.

TMO was partly inspired by BMO from Adventure Time.  It uses a Teensy 2.0 and features 16×16 LED display and simple input controls.

The operating system for TMO that provides the interface and game development API can be found on GitHub.

Frank (forum user DD4WH) made a microSoundRecorder to log both audio and environmental data to an SD card.

The recorder uses a BME280 sensor to log temperature, air pressure and humidity, and a BH1750 sensor to log light intensity.  It also includes a digital microphone to capture audio.

The project made use of Walter’s (forum user WMXZ) environmental sound recorder library.  Additional information on how to connect the sensors to the Teensy can be found on this GitHub page.

Tim Cowden (Cowlander on the forum) has been using a Teensy 3.5 to build a controller for a cyclotron particle accelerator.

As part operations staff at the Cyclotron Institute at at Texas A&M University, Tim is responsible for the control systems.  He’s been working on replacing the Rabbit 3200 embedded controller they’ve been using with a Teensy 3.5.  The Teensy 3.5 has proven to be a good fit when combined with a Wiz850 network module.

Benjamin Poilve (BenIP on the forum) has made a neat little hand-held instrument, Synthetica.

Ben came up with an idea to make a musical instrument to play around with chord progressions as a way to experiment with music composition.  He came up with Synthetica, a handheld synthesizer.  Synthetica is played using capacitive touch with one hand selecting a chord and the other hand selecting a note.  With some help from the forum he got his project up and running.

Some of the features include pots to control:

• Delay time
• Delay feedback
• Octive detaune
• LFO frequency
• LFO detune
• LFO mix

Code for the project has been published on GitHub.

Nick Demopoulos built an amazing guitar-synth MIDI controller,  Smomid.

Smomid (String Modeling Midi Device) is a synth instrument in the shape of a guitar.  It’s incredibly versatile with a long list of features and functionality.  Thanks to some guidance offered on the forum, Nick was able to upgrade the micro controllers in the second version to a pair of Teensy 3.6s.

You can find recordings of Nick playing Smomid on his website.