Theremin

Introduction

A theremin is a musical instrument that is played by holding your hand in front of a sensor. The farther out from the sensor, the higher the tone.

Today, we’re going to make Sparki into a theremin, using the ultrasonic range finder as input, and the buzzer as output.

What You’ll Need

• A Sparki.

How It Works

This program makes Sparki into a theremin, using Sparki’s ultrasonic distance sensor to measure the hand distance, and the buzzer to play the tone:

#include <Sparki.h> // include the sparki library

void setup() 
{
}

void loop() {
    int note = sparki.ping(); // measure the distance in front of the sensor

    if ( note != -1 ) // meke sure there is no error
    {
      sparki.beep(note*10); // plays a note proportional to the distance
    }

    if ( note > 100 ) // if the distance is too far, turn off the tone
    {
      sparki.noBeep();
    }

    delay(10);
}

Related Lessons

If you have enjoyed what you have learned here, and if you have not read it yet, you may find the other lesson about making music interesting: Making Music with the Accelerometer.