New to Arduino, any suggestions?

Started by GibsonGM, April 21, 2014, 08:39:10 AM

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GibsonGM

Ok, I finally broke down and let myself get interested in the Arduino concept of prototyping!   I have an Uno coming this week.  I'm also going back into C++ (been a LONG time since i played with that particular code) hoping it will be useful.

I've been doing some reading up on the 'basic' projects people do to get going (blink LEDs and so on), but would like to find more info on how this platform can be most useful to US in the guitar effects world!

What have been you guys' experiences, and do you have any resources? I found one Beavis Audio article on PWM to simulate a sine wave output that was pretty interesting - that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for (and code!).   

Kind of looking for some "build this, here is some code!" suggestions. 

Thanks! 
  • SUPPORTER
MXR Dist +, TS9/808, Easyvibe, Big Muff Pi, Blues Breaker, Guv'nor.  MOSFace, MOS Boost,  BJT boosts - LPB-2, buffers, Phuncgnosis, FF, Orange Sunshine & others, Bazz Fuss, Tonemender, Little Gem, Orange Squeezer, Ruby Tuby, filters, octaves, trems...

g_u_e_s_t

ive got a bunch of arduino stuff up on my site.  you can do some really quick effects with the ADC in and PWM out.  all you need is a few resistors and capacitors:

http://wiki.openmusiclabs.com/wiki/MiniArDSP

you probably want to amplify the signal a bit, though, before sending it in.  the ADC wants 0 to 5V.

for the most part, an arduino uno is great for doing higher level control things, like sending midi or creating modulation signals, but a little under powered for doing the audio processing.  it is possible, and things like tremolo or flangers are ok.  but, you run out of both processing time and memory pretty quickly.  there are add-on shields to give more memory (they are a bit slow), and for higher quality ADC/DACs.  but, if you find its something you enjoy and want to build more of, there are other arduino compatible platforms that have more horsepower.  the teensy3.1 is good from what i hear.

GibsonGM

Quote from: g_u_e_s_t on April 21, 2014, 09:57:53 AM
ive got a bunch of arduino stuff up on my site.  you can do some really quick effects with the ADC in and PWM out.  all you need is a few resistors and capacitors:

http://wiki.openmusiclabs.com/wiki/MiniArDSP

you probably want to amplify the signal a bit, though, before sending it in.  the ADC wants 0 to 5V.

for the most part, an arduino uno is great for doing higher level control things, like sending midi or creating modulation signals, but a little under powered for doing the audio processing.  it is possible, and things like tremolo or flangers are ok.  but, you run out of both processing time and memory pretty quickly.  there are add-on shields to give more memory (they are a bit slow), and for higher quality ADC/DACs.  but, if you find its something you enjoy and want to build more of, there are other arduino compatible platforms that have more horsepower.  the teensy3.1 is good from what i hear.

Cool, thanks, "guest"....I got it for its real purpose, which is as a microcontroller (most of us do other stuff besides ONLY audio!), but am wondering what i can apply it to for guitar/effects/interfacing...
  • SUPPORTER
MXR Dist +, TS9/808, Easyvibe, Big Muff Pi, Blues Breaker, Guv'nor.  MOSFace, MOS Boost,  BJT boosts - LPB-2, buffers, Phuncgnosis, FF, Orange Sunshine & others, Bazz Fuss, Tonemender, Little Gem, Orange Squeezer, Ruby Tuby, filters, octaves, trems...

Digital Larry

I haven't done much with my Arduino Uno beyond flashing an LED, but I have an excuse (cough) as I have been busy dinking with my Raspberry Pi and FV-1 stuff.  But anyway, looks like a newer Arduino thing with lots more CPU power and possibly even codec based audio outputs (rather than PWM) is coming out soon.

See: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardTre
Digital Larry
Want to quickly design your own effects patches for the Spin FV-1 DSP chip?
https://github.com/HolyCityAudio/SpinCAD-Designer