Birth of the MIDIarcAYde

We finally did it! Take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9431_Di8nI&feature=channel_video_title
We designed and built an Arduino shield to generate the 80's arcade music.

Here's what it looks like!

Features of the MIDIarcAYde

Each of the MIDIarcAYde’s sounds consist of units called “voices.” There is a limit to the number of voices that can be used, and the MIDIarcAYde is able to use 3 voices simultaneously. The main reason to use multiple voices is so that multiple sounds can be layered to create a richer tone. When you attempt to play more than 3 voices on the MIDIarcAYde, the most recently played note will be given priority, and the oldest of the currently-sounding notes will be turned off one by one. Even if a MIDI note-off message is received, a voice will continue to be used as long as that note continues to sound. You need to remain aware of this, particularly when using sounds that have a long release time.

The Team

We are a bunch of technology obsessed engineers that came together and decided to make a midi synthesizer. Our love for arcade sounds and the dream of one day playing the Mario theme song on the piano is what has drives us to make these geeky but amazing projects.

We are:
Dan - the captain
Tom - the pianist
Tyler - the film maker
Imen - the girl
Dimitrios - the designer
Chris G - the industrial engineer
EJ - the programmer
Chris L - the cool one
Tony - the accountant
Adib - the master
TBS - the advisor

MIDIarcAYde

Ever wanted to make your own midi controller? We did, so we built this awesome 8-bit midi sound generator using an AY38912/P chip. This chip was used in the late 1980's...(1987) to produce arcade type sounds.
So we made a midi controller that generates arcade sounds using an AY chip. Hence the name MIDIarcAYde.

If you want to learn more about the AY chip go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Instrument_AY-3-8910