of raspberry pi is a versatile tool, thanks in part to its compatibility with a wide range of open source software and its compact size. An ideal system for building many projects or recreating more expensive devices at a fraction of the cost.impressive today synthesizer project (opens in new tab) Created by a maker named Ricardo to share with you. After wanting to bring home a Dirtywave M8 synth, he discovered they were sold out and built himself from scratch using a Raspberry Pi 4. decided to build the
Ricardo is an experienced musician and wanted to replace some of the features of his Roland MC-101 with better sound quality and audio input support. He also needed compatibility with Groovebox, a digital instrument designed for creating electronic loops. Ricardo also needed the unit to be completely portable and used our favorite of his SBCs to build our own.
He first came across a unit called the Dirtywave M8, but it was sold out so he had to look for other options. Unfortunately, the Dirtywave M8 and Raspberry Pi are hard to come by, but he managed to get a Pi and built the M8 from scratch. If you’re also considering buying a Raspberry Pi, check out our guide on where to buy a Raspberry Pi 4 to get the latest model.
In this case Ricardo is using a 1 GB Raspberry Pi 4 B, but you could easily swap it out with another Pi with more RAM. He included his 3.5-inch LCD screen that connects via HDMI and his TeenTeensy 4.1 board running M8 headless firmware. It is powered by a USB game controller and housed in a shell made entirely out of Lego.
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In terms of software, I decided to use the Patchbox OS instead of the regular Raspberry Pi OS. This is a Linux distribution designed for audio-based projects on the Raspberry Pi. For more information on Patchbox OS, see Official website (opens in new tab)Ricardo has kindly made his Raspberry Pi M8 project fully open source for those who want to build something similar.
If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project yourself, visit the official Raspberry Pi M8. Github (opens in new tab) Check out the page for an up-close look at how it all works together, and see it in action in this video. Youtube (opens in new tab).
