Let’s Create a Ribbon Synth! (Arduino + Max/MSP Or Pure Data)

We’ll use the SoftPot Membrane Potentiometer (ribbon sensor) and Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) strip to create a 2-dimensional ribbon synth musical instrument!! Control the pitch with the ribbon sensor and modulate the sound with the force sensor!
And we’ll use Arduino and Max/MSP or Pure Data.
---
Materials needed:
-SoftPot Membrane Potentiometer (ribbon sensor)
www.sparkfun.com/products/8681
-Arduino Uno
www.amazon.com/Arduino-A00006...
-Resistor Kits
www.amazon.com/BOJACK-Resisto...
-Jumper wires & breadboards
www.amazon.com/Standard-Jumpe...
-Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) Strip
www.sparkfun.com/products/9674
-Addressable LED strip
www.amazon.com/BTF-LIGHTING-W...
-Capacitors
www.amazon.com/Gikfun-Electro...
-Materials for soldering (please reference this tutorial and the video description)
• Soldering & Crimping W...
-Arduino IDE Software
www.arduino.cc/en/software
-Pure Data Extended
puredata.info/downloads/pd-ex...
-Max/MSP
cycling74.com/downloads
---
Social Media:
/ takumi_ogata
/ takumiogata
---
0:00 - Intro
0:42 - What to Buy
1:13 - Connecting Sensors to Arduino
3:45 - Programming & Patching
4:29 - Let's Play the Synth!
5:02 - Addressable LED Strip
6:39 - Outro

[@lince4824]

Awesome. Thank you very much for sharing such a detailed and well explained tutorial and so smartly summarized. Endless possibilities, and the guitar instrument in the video "outro" is sooo gorgeous!

[@silvinasuarez436]

Wonderful project!! Thanks for sharing!! :D

[@SoundSimulator]

Thank you so much, Silvina! I'm happy to hear that you liked this project!

[@asharmusic2051]

Hey I brought an arduino uno (which was actually a clone ch340 ), an ultrasonic sensor and a photo resistor from my local market. Potentiometer was not available so i brought whatever sensor I could find to see whether I can pull this off and watching all your tutorials I did managed to pull it off by making those sensor work with puredata! Thank you so much for this gold mine of a channel!

[@SoundSimulator]

Thank you again for sharing your journey!! I'm glad to hear that this channel was helpful!

[@christiant.8834]

Thank you so much!

[@SoundSimulator]

Thank you so much for watching, Christian!

[@darrencurtis4277]

Great ready to build - just need to work out LED stuff as well :)

[@SpectraSymbolTeam]

Just want to let you know this is pretty incredible. We love to see this kind of thing! Keep an eye out for our new website and web-store that'll be popping up early in 2023 where we'll start to offer all of our stock sensors from the source! In the meantime, keep up the good work!

[@SoundSimulator]

What's your store called??

[@SpectraSymbolTeam]

@@SoundSimulator it does not exist yet, at the moment you have to get our SoftPot, MagnetoPot, Flex Sensors, etc through a reseller marketplace like Sparkfun, Digi-Key, or Mouser. You used our 500mm SoftPot for the membrane potentiometer.

[@SoundSimulator]

​@@SpectraSymbolTeam I'm sorry for misinterpreting your original comment. I honestly didn't even dream of Spectra Symbol finding this video! I hope that this tutorial will introduce people to your wonderful sensors! I have been using it for almost a decade now. Please do keep me posted about the new website and web-store. I will update the viewers about it!

[@pedrosura]

This is great. You should make this as a product. Almost none in the market.

[@SoundSimulator]

It would be much cheaper to build one!! Seriously.

[@NitroNovaMusic]

I actually tried to make one of these in 2015 with the little money I had after being inspired by gr4yhound's video. But I couldn't really figure out what I was doing and bought voltage regulators that fried the knockoff chip I tried to use for it. This video is really awesome and I kind of want to try again!

[@ashaydave]

Hey! I love your channel and every project that you make. This is great stuff. I wanted to know that, since you've mentioned the link to Pd-extended, is there a particular reason you used extended over vanilla?

[@Rob_65]

Cool stuff. The larger sliders are unfortunately (like a lot of components) not avaiable right now but I will get some small (60mm) ones to play around with. Let's see if that is good enough to play with. I am a hardware synth guy so this will go into my Eurorack but Puredata looks nice to try out too. With this tutorial I should be able to hook up some sensors and do some fun experiments. There is an easy fix for the "do not place your fingers at each end at the same time" issue @4:22. With the 10 kOhm ribbon sensor, add a 15 kOhm resistor and use +12V as a supply voltage (for the sensor only, do not use this for the Arduino board). This will give you a 0 - 4.8V signal on the output and at the same time limit the current when you press both sides of the sensor at the same time to less than 1 mA. These sensors are expensive enough not to accidentally convert them into a smoke generator.

[@SoundSimulator]

Dang, I hope it's temporarily! Those get out of stock every once in a while. I'm currently using a shorter ribbon and it's perfectly fine! Feel free to share what you end up with! I didn't know there was a way to prevent that! Good to know! Thanks again for your electronics knowledge!

[@QalbeAbbasKazmialikazmi]

the rings are ringing!!!

[@SoundSimulator]

It adds to the tone 😤

[@maxstauss9579]

how are u changing sound ? are u using MIDI commands ? do you shift the tone up and down per pitch bend or are u using the controller number ?

[@GalantGoStudio]

Hi, I am a complete beginner at Arduino I have a Korg Expression pedal. I want to replace the potentiometer inside it with a motion sensor or a light sensor. “I don’t know which is better” Is what I want easy to implement on arduino and what exactly do I need?

[@ludovicamennella882]

thank you for this, it’s amazing! i’m trying to make a midi controller with pressure sensitive buttons. do you think its better to use fsr or piezo? can you make a video about it? love the way you explain things!

[@SoundSimulator]

A button that's velocity sensitive? Or are you thinking of something like a drum pad on an MPC? Component like an arcade button is digital, but I guess you could attach an FSR on top of it to make it velocity sensitive. I probably won't make a video on that but if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.

[@ludovicamennella882]

@@SoundSimulator thanks for your reply! yes, basically i’m trying to make analog pad to control velocity but i don’t know if fsr or piezo are the best option. also the idea of consider digital buttons with an fsr on top is great, i will try it!

[@SoundSimulator]

@@ludovicamennella882 I think FSR is a bit easier to work with, but they're both cheap so I recommend trying both out :)

[@Noraka]

Sorry I'm a beginner to this kind of stuff but I was wondering, is it possible to have multiple ribbon synths be used as input and how would one do that? Thanks!

[@SoundSimulator]

Yes! I recommend that you watch this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKWnpaaJfbpli68 It shows multiple knob being used and the same approach can be applied to the ribbon sensor. Good luck!

[@Noraka]

@@SoundSimulator Thanks so much!

[@TMCHL]

so if there is no LED 10K resistor is the better choice isn't it ?

[@Noraka]

Hello! I'm currently trying to build the same ribbon synth but only with the ribbon sensor and no force-sensitive resistor. When I click on the "open 1" message, the printed values rapidly fluctuate from 10, 13, 48 and around 55 for some confusing reason. Is this because I didn't solder the connection well or something in the code? Thanks!

[@Noraka]

Also, the numbers only fluctuate when I'm not pressing down on the ribbon sensor and when I do press down on the sensor, the number stays at 0 and doesn't pick up anything. As soon as I lift up my finger it goes crazy Edit: I think mine is a ThinPot potentiometer not a SoftPot, does that make a large difference?

[@SoundSimulator]

I suggest serial printing the sensor data value in the Arduino IDE first and see if it's showing appropriate values. Feel free to message me on social media!

[@asharmusic2051]

How hard it would be for a beginner to make a simple standalone ribbon synth with pure data and maybe a raspberry pi? I would like to make a standalone ribbon synth or a ribbon controller which can connect to other synths. But i m a complete noob in diy!

[@SoundSimulator]

If you're able to do this tutorial, then you'll be able to make a standalone version!! Instead of using the Arduino, we replace it with Daisy, Bela, or Teensy. I am definitely planning on making tutorials regarding these standalone synth hardware! Most likely in the next few months. In the meantime though, I recommend that you try this tutorial. Then all we need to do is replace the Arduino with embedded audio hardware and do few more steps! You'll be left with an unused Arduino, but it should come in handy for other project!

[@asharmusic2051]

@@SoundSimulator Great! Looking forward, your videos are really helpful! Thank you!

[@HighlandViolinist]

Instead of using the 470 resistor, could you have compensated by doing some math in the arduino code to re-map the LEDs to the proper position?

[@SoundSimulator]

Hi Chantelle! For experienced coders, I do recommend using the 10k ohm resistor. I just wanted the code to be as simple & straightforward as possible for people who are just starting out!

[@darrencurtis4277]

Do you have tutorial with teensy 3.2 (to max/msp) rather than Ardunio UNO ?

[@SoundSimulator]

I unfortunately do not have a Teensy. You should be able to approach it very similarly though!

[@abdabzeebop2]

Why is it dangerous to touch both ends of the sensor at once? Is that because it would have such low resistance that it would send too much current to the arduino? What if you touched the strip with 2 or more fingers near one end? Thanks!

[@SoundSimulator]

Yeah, my guess is that the resistance becomes so small that it's pretty much shorting. idk tho. not gonna try to find out what'll actually happen, haha

[@chro.]

Maybe you complete the circuit to fast, like it goes through your body to the other side

[@liweilin6649]

can i use this ribbon to control Ableton instrument? i mean can i make this to send midi signal?or cv gate?

[@SoundSimulator]

Yes! I actually have tutorials on both things!! Sensor + CV kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKfYYXqueKyAZpo Sensor + MIDI kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZmTmWikeLxlnMk ENJOY!

[@liweilin6649]

@@SoundSimulator Thanks for reply~~ appreciate, but i want to know how to use ribbon controller to actually trig Ableton instrument key sclae, i mean if i press the ribbon then arduino read integer "400" then i want this value to trig C1 signal in Ableton~~. Thought i know i can use "scale" function in MaxMSP then use "noteout" to send midi signal to Ableton instrument, but i found out that "metro 10" function in MaxMSP will be like trigging note on every 10ms, that means it can't play like a midi controller. So i did my research, my idea is to Sample&Hold the value that when i press the real button , it will "SAMPLE" the ribbon sensor value and "HOLD" it as how long as i want , then map this value from 0~127 then send it to "noteout" function, finally send it into Ableton , that i can actually play this ribbon as an piano MIDI controller. But i still dont know how, because S&H function seems not working :DDD, i mean maybe you have any suggestion?

[@SoundSimulator]

​@@liweilin6649 Ah I see! I'm leaning towards using Max4Live for that application. I have used the ribbon sensor for MIDI note performance, but only once and it was 7 years ago. I may make a video on it in the future. I'm planning on making more Max videos this year. "Sample and hold" approach is definitely the way! When you press the ribbon sensor, "record" or "lock" that sensor value and then calculate "pitch bend" value as you glide your fingers (difference between the 1st sensor value and the new one or keep updating). What synth are you using by the way?

[@MetroCounterColl]

Sorry for the noob question, but can I use Teensy instead of Arduino Uno? If so, can I follow the exact same steps?

[@SoundSimulator]

I'm very excited to hear that you're interested in creating a ribbon synth controller!! I think Teensy should work fine for this project. I wish I can confirm 100% but I don't have one around me to test. Do you have one near you for a quick test? You can follow along the "Arduino to Max/MSP" or "Arduino to Pure Data" tutorials on my channel to make sure that Teensy can serial communicate. Please feel free to ask me questions any time!

[@MetroCounterColl]

@@SoundSimulator Thank you so much for your your time and for the kind reply. 😊 Unfortunately I don't have one yet, but I'm planning to buy one soon. I'll definitely try it out. Also, I'm in love with your channel, it's so great and informative. Great job!

[@SoundSimulator]

​@@MetroCounterColl You're welcome! And thank you so much for checking out this channel! I would recommend Arduino Uno (or Nano if you want something smaller in size like the Teensy) if you would like to follow these tutorials exactly. But if you have more experience with Teensy and have specific goal in mind for the project, then you're more than welcome to buy it instead!

[@HighlandViolinist]

@@SoundSimulator the main thing to watch out for is if your alternative board uses 3.3V or 5V. Typically Unos use 5V and there are many sensors that require either one or the other to work properly. Hook up a 3V only sensor to a 5V controller and you have a recipe to ruin your sensor. For FSRs and Softpots I've used both with the Arduino MKR1000 and an ESP8266; both are 3V. With different voltages you might want to play around with different resistors as well.

[@SoundSimulator]

@@HighlandViolinist Thank you for the info, Chantelle!!

[@entonasyon8799]

hi, how can I operate an instrument from the kontakt library with this system?

[@SoundSimulator]

You could use it for pitchbending and parameter controlling (my recent Arduino MIDI tutorial will be a good reference!). The library that we use in that video includes a pitch-bending code that may work nicely. I recommend using this ribbon controller (pitch-bending and such) with a traditional MIDI keyboard (playing notes) like the Yamaha CS80. Since Kontakt is MIDI, you can't really glide between notes nicely without using pitch-bending as far as I know. This controller really shines when you use it with a custom synth made in Pure Data or Max/MSP. Have fun!!

[@entonasyon8799]

@@SoundSimulator Thank you for your interest.

[@kwongfaiyeung2092]

could you share your code ?

[@thecatsalami_6704]

nice 3:30

[@SoundSimulator]

I'm so happy that somebody finally acknowledged that edit. Thank you!

[@thecatsalami_6704]

@@SoundSimulator haha yeah surprised nobody spotted it, i guess it proves how smooth it was...nice videos too btw!

[@SoundSimulator]

@@thecatsalami_6704 Thank you so much for watching!!!

[@user-zo9xq4zi3h]

These controllers do not make sense, they have to few precision, not saying it fails if touched in two points, so you have to round the press position to the nearest semitone, so there is no advantage over the keyboard, except for unobstructed finger slide. Yet this is waste of time, until industry give us some real shit.

[@HavokBWR]

awesome! I was thinking about buying an otomatone but I didnt want to spend $70 on one. Ive got a bunch of arduino stuff and looks like all i need is the softpot

[@SoundSimulator]

YESSSSS

[@HavokBWR]

@@SoundSimulator or I could make my own giant one... 🤔🤔🤔