Long Point

Simple Scales Library for Arduino

I made a simple library for Arduino called Scales that takes an input byte, and forces the value to sit within either a major scale or natural minor scale. 

Usage is simple - include the scales.h file within an Arduino sketch after installation, and use either scales.major(pitch) or scales.minor(pitch) to convert from a chromatic scale to a major or natural minor scale. 

Download the library here: https://github.com/little-scale/scales

Simple USB MIDI Keyboard

I needed a simple USB MIDI keyboard, so I made this one with a Teensy 3.6 and some buttons. 

The button values are stored and read via arrays. There is also an octave up and down button. 

View code here: https://github.com/little-scale/arduino-sketches/blob/master/simple_keyboard.ino 

Teensy 3.6 with HC-SR04 Distance Sensor

The HC-SR04 is a low-cost ultrasonic sensor that uses two transducers to measure the distance in front before being blocked by an object or surface. The sensor has four pins GND, VCC, TRIG and ECHO.

Hardware Setup

• HC-SR04 Ground should be connected to Teensy 3.6 ground. 
• HC-SR04 VCC should be connected to Vin (which should output 5V if connected to USB). 
• HC-SR04 TRIG should be connected to Teensy 3.6 digital pin 0. 
• HC-SR04 ECHO should be connected to one leg of a resistor (1k to 100k). The other leg of the resistor should be connected to Teensy 3.6 digital pin 1. The other leg of the resistor should also be connected to one leg of a second resistor (1k to 100k - same value as the first resistor). The other leg of the second resistor should be connected to ground. 
• These resistors going to ground and pin 1 form a voltage divider that takes the output voltage from the HC-SR04 from 5V to 2.5V, which is suitable for the Teensy 3.6. 

Here is a photo and layout for the breadboard with and without the sensor connected. Note the connections for the resistors, ground, and digital pins. 

Example 1 - Serial Output

These examples use the HCSR04 library by Martin Sosic, which can be downloaded via the Library Manager tool in Arduino. 

The Arduino Serial monitor will output the measurement as a distance in cm. 

View the code here: https://github.com/little-scale/arduino-sketches/blob/master/Distance_Sensor_HCSR04_1_Serial_Output.ino 

Example 2 - USB MIDI CC

The distance sensor is scaled to a suitable range of 0 - 127 and sent over USB as MIDI CC values, that can be used in Ableton Live and other software to control sound and music parameters.

View the code here: https://github.com/little-scale/arduino-sketches/blob/master/Distance_Sensor_HCSR04_2_USB_MIDI_CC.ino



Example 3 - USB MIDI Pitch with Note On via Push Button

A button is added to the setup, connected to Teensy 3.6 digital pin 32. Pressing the button generates a note on event that uses the distance sensor to set the pitch of the note. Depressing the button generates a note off event.

View the code here: https://github.com/little-scale/arduino-sketches/blob/master/Distance_Sensor_HCSR04_3_USB_MIDI_Pitch.ino

SN76489 USB

I wanted to make a slightly more modern implementation of my SN76489 USB. The main changes are: Teensy LC, 3.2, 3.6 compatibility, and no need for an external crystal oscillator as the Teensy generates a 3MHz signal for the timing of the SN76489.

The hardware connection is as follows:

• Pin 0 to SN76489 write enable 
• Pin 3 to SN76489 clock input
• Pin 4 - 11 to SN76489 D0 to D7
• Teensy 5V to SN76489 5V
• Teensy ground to SN76489 ground and output enable

Download the code from here: https://github.com/little-scale/arduino-sketches/blob/master/sn76489_USB.ino