README.md

   1 # Code Club - Mini Band Project
   2
   3 Make your own mini band!
   4 You and your friends can form your own finger-sized band and rock out using Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
   5 Learn how to build circuits with sensors and outputs and write a simple programme to control your instruments.
   6
   7 ## You will make:
   8
   9 * A guitar
  10 * A set of drums
  11 * A pair of maracas
  12
  13 ## You will need:
  14
  15 * 1 x Raspberry Pi (plus monitor and power supply)
  16 * USB hub
  17 * 2 x Arduino Uno boards (with USB cables)
  18 * 1 x strip potentiometer
  19 * 2 x tilt sensors
  20 * 4 x piezo buzzers (the type in greetings cards, easy to get from Maplin)
  21 * 10K resistors
  22 * Bread boards (1 per instrument)
  23 * Card
  24 * Sugru (or some other modelling material)
  25 * Electrical tape
  26 * Plastic drinking straw
  27 * Pencil
  28 * Coloured pens (optional)
  29
  30
  31 ## Software requirements:
  32
  33 * Scratch
  34 * IDE developer environment for Arduino
  35 * Py Serial library
  36
  37
  38 ## Useful links:
  39
  40 * [Pictures](http://bit.ly/codeclubminiband)
  41 * [Ardunio code](https://github.com/KatJoyWhite/miniband/tree/master/arduino)
  42
  43
  44
  45 ## Pull-down Resistors
  46
  47 You’ll find your analogue inputs receive signal when you don’t expect them to.
  48 This is because there’s electricty floating around in the system, or something like that.
  49
  50 To fix this, you need to wire each input to ground, through a 10KΩ resistor.
  51
  52 A better explanation can be found [here](http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/DigitalPins).
  53
  54
  55
  56 ## Drum Kit
  57
  58 ### 1. Make your drums
  59
  60 Take your 4 piezo buzzers and attach a ring of Sugru (or other modelling material) as shown in the picture.
  61 This will increase the flexibility and resonance of the sensors. Let the sugru set.
  62
  63
  64 ### 2. Connect the circuit
  65
  66 Piezo buzzers generate a small charges when you tap them, so they don’t need a power source.
  67 Connect one lead from your buzzer to one of your analogue inputs, and connect the other lead to ground.
  68 Repeat for each of your drums. It is easiest to use a bread board for making your circuit.
  69 Look at the picture for an example.
  70
  71
  72 ### 3. Program the Arduino
  73
  74 Find the appropriate code from the respository and upload to your Ardunio board.
  75
  76
  77 ### 4. Set up in Scratch
  78
  79 Find four different drum sounds (or whatever sounds you'd like your drums to make!). Upload the sounds to Scratch.
  80
  81
  82 ## Guitar
  83
  84 ### 1. Make your guitar
  85
  86 Grab your strip potentiomater, a piece of thin card, and a pencil.
  87 Lightly draw round your potentiometer on the card and then use this as a guide to draw out your guitar shape.
  88 (The potentiomater will be the fret board of your guitar).
  89 Cut out and colour in the guitar and stick down the potentiomater.
  90 Tape a pencil or stick to the back of the guitar to make it stiffen the fret board.
  91
  92 ### 2. Connect the circuit
  93
  94 The potentiomater strip adjusts resistance, so you will need to feed it some electricity.
  95 Run +5V into one of the strip’s outer pins, and ground into the other outer pin.
  96 It doesn’t matter which way around you connect these, but it will affect which the direction
  97 the fretboard runs (high and the top, low at the bottom or vice-versa).
  98
  99 Signal will come from the centre pin, so connect that to one of your analogue inputs and you should be good to go.
 100
 101
 102 ### 3. Program the Arduino
 103
 104 Find the appropriate code from the respository and upload to your Ardunio board.
 105
 106
 107 ### 4. Set up in Scratch
 108
 109 Find five different guitar sounds and upload to Scratch.
 110
 111
 112 ## Maracas
 113
 114 ### 1. Make your maracas
 115
 116 Cut 2 short lengths of drinking straw for your maraca handles.
 117 Using Sugru (or other modelling material), make 2 maraca heads by rolling it up into balls.
 118 Push the maraca heads onto the straws and mold into a maraca shape.
 119 Connect lengths of wire to the connectors of the 2 tilt sensors and then push each sensor into a straw until it presses into the Sugru.
 120 Leave the Sugru to set.
 121
 122
 123 ### 2. Connect the circuit
 124
 125 Connect the +5V port on the Arduino board to one of the pins on the tilt switch (it doesn't matter which way round).
 126 Connect the other pin to an empty digital input on the board.
 127
 128
 129 ### 3. Program the Arduino
 130
 131 Find the appropriate code from the respository and upload to your Ardunio board.
 132
 133
 134 ### 4. Set up in Scratch
 135
 136 Find a maraca / shaker sound and upload to Scratch.
 137
 138
 139 ## Python glueware
 140
 141 Download the music-maker-hander.py file from the repository. Run it with
 142  python music-maker-handler.py
 143 This program sets up a listener for each instrument. When it detects that an instrument has been played, it sends a couple of signals to Scratch.
 144 The first signal appears in Scratch as a sensor value and is the volume (for drums), pitch (for the guitar), or ignored (for the maracas).
 145 The second signal is a broadcast message that makes Scratch play the sound in the instrument.
 146
 147
 148 ## Scratch front end
 149
 150 The Scratch file, music-maker, makes the sounds. It responds to the signals from the Python handler above by playing the appropriate sounds. It also does some visual feedback for the insturments.
 151