smartpiano

NOTE: Please note this project is still in alpha phase. Some features may be incomplete and/or may not meet quality standards. Show your support by reporting and/or fixing bugs.

NOTE: This repository contains the smartpiano Arduino server codebase. If you're looking for a client to connect to an existing smartpiano server, please see "Connecting to smartpiano" below.

smartpiano is a free & open-source project that lights up keys on a piano or digital keyboard to play a selected MIDI song. This is achieved using a PC running a smartpiano client, an Arduino running the smartpiano server, and a strip of LEDs which are placed on the instrument. This repository contains all the instructions for assembling and hosting an Arduino smartpiano server.

License

The smartpiano Arduino server is released as free software under the GPLv3 license. Please note that there may be some conditions that apply to the free use and distribution of this software. Please see the LICENSE file for more information.

Disclaimer of Warranty

Please note that this project is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. If you choose to use the source code or software provided as part of this project, or choose to follow the instructions provided (here or anywhere else in the project) to assemble a smartpiano server (or any other device), please note that you are doing this at your own risk. Any instructions provided may be inaccurate or incomplete, or may be inapplicable to your situtation.

Requirements

Hardware

As mentioned above, smartpiano requires certain hardware to run. This list includes the hardware we are using. We recommend using the same hardware as us, but you may be able to tweek the smartpiano codebase to use your custom hardware:

• Arduino Uno
• WS2812B LED strip. 1 meter long with 144 LEDs
• 220 ohm resistor
• Breadboard and wires
• USB to connect Arduino to PC
• PC with USB connection
• Piano or digital keyboard

Software

• Visual Studio Code (with the PlatformIO plugin installed) to build & upload the smartpiano server code to the Arduino

Assembling the Arduino

To assemble the Arduino components, follow the following steps:

1. Disconnect the Arduino from any power sources
2. Connect the Arduino 5V power output to the breadboard
3. Connect the Arduino GND input to the breadboard
4. Connect a wire from 5V power on the breadboard to the connector that is marked 5V on the WS2812B LED strip
5. Connect a wire from the GND on the breadboard to the connector that is marked GROUND on the WS2812B LED strip
6. Connect a wire from digital pin 8 to the breadboard
7. Put the 220 ohm resistor on the breadboard so it is connected to the wire coming from digital pin 8
8. Connect a wire from the other end of the resistor to the connector that is marked DATA on the WS2812B LED strip

Uploading code to the Arduino

1. Open the "smartpiano" folder in Visual Studio Code
2. Open the PlatformIO context menu, and click "Build"
3. When the build completes, click "Upload"
4. If you want to check that the code is running, click "Monitor"
5. You should see the LED strip on the Arduino light up as the code is initialized

Connecting to smartpiano

Now that you have an Arduino running the smartpiano server code, you can connect to it using a client. Currently, the smartpiano team provides a Python client which can be found in the smartpianoclient-python repository.

Play at Carnegie Hall

Now that you're all setup and playing piano. It's time to practice, practice, practice!