The Raspberry Pi is a flexible device thanks partly to its compatibility with an unlimited vary of open-source software program and compact measurement. It makes it a great system for constructing many tasks and even recreating costlier units at a fraction of the fee. At present we’ve acquired a powerful synthesizer challenge (opens in new tab) to share with you created by a maker named Ricardo. After hoping to take house a Dirtywave M8 synth, he found they had been bought out and opted to construct his personal from scratch utilizing a Raspberry Pi 4.
Ricardo is an skilled musician who was trying to substitute among the capabilities from his Roland MC-101 with one thing that had higher sound high quality and the flexibility to help audio enter. It additionally needed to fit together with his Groovebox, a digital instrument designed to make digital loops. Ricardo additionally wanted the unit to be fully moveable and turned to our favourite SBC to create his personal.
He initially got here throughout a unit known as the Dirtywave M8, however as a result of it was bought out, he needed to search for different choices. Sadly, the Dirtywave M8 and Raspberry Pi are arduous to come back by, however he managed to snag a Pi and thus constructed his M8 from scratch. If you happen to’re additionally trying to purchase a Raspberry Pi, try our information on the place to purchase a Raspberry Pi 4 to get your palms on the most recent mannequin.
On this case, Ricardo is utilizing a 1 GB Raspberry Pi 4 B, however you would simply swap it for an additional Pi with extra RAM. He included a 3.5-inch LCD display screen connecting through HDMI and a TeenTeensy 4.1 board operating M8 headless firmware. It’s pushed with a USB sport controller and housed inside a shell made solely from Lego.
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Software program-wise, he’s opted to make use of Patchbox OS as an alternative of the standard Raspberry Pi OS. It’s a Linux distro designed for audio-based tasks on the Raspberry Pi. You could find out extra about Patchbox OS on the official web site (opens in new tab). Ricardo was additionally type sufficient to make his Raspberry Pi M8 challenge fully open-source for anybody who desires to make one thing related.
If you wish to recreate this Raspberry Pi challenge your self, head to the official Raspberry Pi M8 GitHub (opens in new tab) web page for an up-close take a look at the way it goes collectively, and take a look at this video of it in motion over at YouTube (opens in new tab).