Arduino++
Keeping time in music is very important. So it stands to reason that MIDI files include a number of parameters related to keeping time, and the MIDI standard also includes time synchronization messages to ensure that all the instruments keep to the same musical beat.
Part 1 covered the content of Standard MIDI Files. In this part we’ll look at the how to keep the music synchronised to the beat, one of the more complex parts of playing a SMF.
MIDI is an industry standard music technology protocol that connects products from many different companies including digital musical instruments, computers, tablets, and smartphones. MIDI is used every day around the world by musicians, DJs, producers, educators, artists, and hobbyists to create, perform, learn, and share music and artistic works.
MIDI music can be stored in standard files. Here’s what they look like and how they work and how we can ‘play’ the files.
The motivation for this project was to explore the separation between the algorithm for managing a game and the user interface for the game. Discovering a Tic-tac-toe algorithm simple enough to implement on the Arduino allowed an exploration of this concept in a game with simple user interface requirements.
A recent feature of the Parola library is sprite based text effects. This extends the functionality of the library to include fully customisable, user defined, animated bitmaps to wipe text on and off the LED matrix display.
Here’s how it works.
The key function of the Parola library is to display text using different animations. From version 2.7 onwards, Parola allows user code to manage mixing graphics with the text. The extensions to the library and what they do is the subject of this article.
One of the great features of the Arduino community is the availability of thousands of pre-written libraries that add hardware and other functionality to your projects without needing to write your own code. There are usually quite a few to pick from and your code will often depend on libraries, so the quality of the library you use can be critical to how your code performs. How do you write good libraries and how would you evaluate the quality of the latest library you downloaded?
The LM3x series of sensors are precision, easily-calibrated, integrated circuit temperature sensors. These are ideal as a beginner sensor, only to disappoint when code is copied from somewhere, run on the MCU and the temperature readings seem to be wildly varying and incorrect. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? Read on.
A question on the Arduino forum and the thread that followed prompted me to try and emulate a mechanical push- or thumb-wheel display update on an LCD module. The technique uses the LCD programmable characters and could be extended to other applications for simple LCD module animations.
I was exploring ways to make a future robot project more appealing and came across a number of articles about animated robotic eyes created to convey expression or mood. This looked like a bit of fun and quite achievable using the LED matrix modules that I have been playing with for a while. Here’s the result.
In Part 1 I described the hardware components and the functionality of the LED clock. This this part, I’ll explore the software required to implement the functionality and seamlessly manage the different user interfaces.
Arduino++ 