Introduction:

MIDI Synthesizer

Our Final Project for ECE 476 was building a MIDI synthesizer using a MEGA 32 microcontroller.  At first we wanted to tear apart an old keyboard and use the MCU to decode directly from the sensors which detected key presses.  We then learned about the MIDI protocol and decided to use the MCU to decode MIDI packets sent by they keyboard and then play the appropriate note.

Once we determined which note the keyboard is trying to play, we are then able to synthesize the correct 8-bit sine wave.  We then wanted to be able to send the output of our signal to speakers so we could hear the results. 

This project was a great learning experience about how music is replicated digitally and also taught us a great deal about signal sampling and generation.