Computer Controlled Music Generator

EE April 1988 DESIGN IDEAS The contents of this column are based solely on information supplied by the author and do not imply practical experience by Elektor Electronics. COMPUTER CONTROLLED MUSIC GENERATOR by Dr B. Koyuncu, Department of Physics, Kuwait University The design of a generator is described, which is operated via a computer to control NOTE, OCTAVE, and VOLUME. It simulates a 14-key piano with the computer keyboard acting as that of the piano. BASIC programming is used for operation and storing the music for playing at a later stage. The musical piece is coded in binary form with the aid of a BBC personal computer. The information on the data lines is fed into the circuit through the computer"s user port. There are three controls: VOLUME, OCTAVE, and NOTE. The system is shown diagram- matically in Fig. 1. The system generates the whole tones (white notes =naturals on the piano) of the first two octaves above middle C. Fourteen notes are thus available span- ning a fre...