Arduino Spectrum Analyzer

October 18, 2018

Adding an FFT Spectrum Analyzer to Arduino

Part three of a multi-part blog post on building a MIDI synth instrument. 

The basic idea is to use 3 Arduino's to make a visual / sound instrument. 

Arduino 1) Send control data.

Arduino 2) Generate wav audio from MIDI input. 

Arduino 3) FFT EQ visualization. 

This shield will take WAV input & break it into 7 EQ ( FFT ) spectrum values which you can use to drive basically anything Arduino.

Sparkfun made a music controlled flame cannon, and so did this guy (but achieved the result differently. Some of the same principles though). 

I'm going to stick to LED's.

LET'S BEGIN !

Solder on breakable headers.

And you might say, "This REALLY seems like a time for stackable headers!".

And I'd say : "You're right, but I didn't!".

Moving on.

I measure out how many pins are needed off the Arduino, then gently snap off that many with a pair of pliers. 

*double check that the shield has the same number, as sometimes they have fewer. 

 

 

To make soldering easier, placed the pins in a breadboard to hold them steady. 

And Done. 

 

Gang's all here. Now to start on the software & cross device wiring harness. 

Aiming to wrap this all up for a spooky Halloween build. 

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