Diapasonix Electronic Musical Instrument Sneak Preview
Turi Scandurra recently shared this sneak preview of the Diapasonix – a portable electronic musical instrument and MIDI controller that is played similarly to a stringed instrument.
The Diapasonix features a capacitive touchpad fretboard, I²S audio output, and a built-in synthesizer with chainable audio effects, powered by the AMY synthesis engine.
Its four-string, six-fret layout (24 touch points total) can be set up to match traditional stringed instruments, like guitar, bass, ukulele, violin, double bass and banjo.
Features:
- Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (RP2350) as the central unit
- Capacitive touchpad fretboard with 4 strings and 6 frets
- AMY synthesis engine with 256 built-in presets (128 Juno-6 patches, 128 DX7 patches)
- I²S audio output with built-in speaker support and amplified audio output
- SSD1306 OLED display
- Directional switch for navigation and parameter selection
- Multiple audio effects: reverb, chorus, echo/delay, distortion, and low-pass filter
- Per-string tuning and capo transposing
- Strumming mode and tapping mode
- Left-handed mode support
- MIDI output support (optional, can be disabled to use USB as stdio)
- Battery level monitoring and low battery indicator
- Automatic storage and retrieval of settings
- Four user presets for saving and recalling complete instrument configurations
- Volume control
- Display contrast control with automatic dimming
Diapasonix is an original, non-commercial work and is available via Github. The video is a sneak preview of the prototype.
