[Harp-L] Harmonica to Midi

["Robert Townshend" <rob-t@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

 

I have been working on a harmonica-style MIDI polyphonic breath controller
for a few years, with some false starts, but now I have all the building
blocks to make and program a prototype.

This year my health has smacked me backwards and I also had the
disappointment that my ideas were not patentable. So I am going the open
source route.

 

So far, I have an array of 16 medical breath sensors and a multiplexing
circuit that feeds a signal conditioning amplifier.  This takes the
millivolts of output from the sensor and converts it to 2.5 volts, which
goes down to 1 volt on full draw and up to 4.5v on full blow.  Now 'all' I
have to do is input this into a microcomputer and convert it to MIDI. Sounds
simple enough don't it?

 

My current stumbling block is the Arduino I am using as the processor causes
my PC to freeze or corrupts Windows every time I try to load a driver to
communicate with it. Once I sort this out I need to start programming.  The
(free) development environment uses C++.

 

It is on its way, but don't hold your breath.  I have yet to prove the
principles and then get a playable prototype.  I am not aiming for an
electronic blues harp, as I am (now) more of a chromatic player.  I do
intend to put controls on the instrument to slide (semitone shift) in either
direction, bend notes up or down, transpose pitch and octave etc and a few
other MIDI essentials (panic button and patch and channel changes).

 

Well that's the state of play.  I have had a stupidly negative response from
some harp players, but I am not trying to deny bluesmen the smell of bent
reeds. This project is to make something that I want and if anyone else has
an interest then I am happy.

 

TTFN

Rob Townshend