I originally wanted to purchase a Nebulophone but, my El-Cheapo price range didn't like the tag. I realized that I could program my own AtMega 328 by using ArduinoISP Then I found out that if the code was Arduino compatible, why not just use the Arduino as a Nebulophone? Well it was kind of a waste of Arduino but at least I could simplify circuitry. I recently built my DoAnything Shield and could now have access to any pin I wanted.

I looked at the schematic and realized that Dr. Bleep had left plenty of things missing such as where did the stylus go and, where were the keypads and so I emailed him and after a long string of emails everything was cleared up. 

I don't have that many photos but the photos I did take explain a lot. 

Here is a video of the original updated one:

Here is my video:
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1: The Bits and Pieces Needed

You Will Need:
3 Potentiometers (I used these but they aren't neccessarily the best pots I've used so I am switching them out with these.)
10cm of copper tape (You should get 11cm in case of any trouble...Really any measurement will work; you just need to make it fit your board)
1 alligator clip 
1 SPST/SPDT slide switch (Any type of switch that can move from one position to another until pused again work (Toggle, Rocker, etc.) It doesn't matter whether it is SPST or SPDT the second connection is nothing.) 
2 Pushbuttons (Tactile works nicely.)
1 5mm LED (Really any size will work. This is the Arpeggio LED)
1 LED and Photocell assembly (I got mine from here but I didn't realize that the same website had this which is much cheaper although untested. You could also make your own by bending an LED over to a photocell that can range from 10k to 200k. and then covering it with some black tubing. I'm not sure the one I had is exactly 10k to 200k but it worked.)
1 speaker and amplifier
1 Rail to Rail Op-Amp (the article said tlc2262 but I improvised with tlc2272 and it works fine. IT MUST BE A RAIL TO RAIL OP-AMP)
1 row of male headers
1 DoAnything Shield (Really it is only an don't have to use one.)
1 Piece of Large PerfBoard (This or this SHOULD work.)
3 0.1uF Capacitors
1 220uF Capacitor
1 8 pin IC Socket
1 Audio Jack (For output. You should use the size that fits your speaker and amplifier)
1 Power Supply (For the Arduino, of course. (9v battery, USB Cable, Wall Wart, etc.))
1 IR LED (Use the clear side-firing type) (I didn't add this; I don't own any other Andromeda Space Rockers or Gieskes )
1 IR PhotoTransistor (See IR LED)
1 HUGE BUNDLE OF WIRE (You will need both solid and stranded wire.)
1 Arduino

Since this is my first big arduino project, I'd like to check some things:

_Firstly, I've now spent half an hour trying to find C3 which must be the 220uf cap. Where is it?

_Secondly, I'm not sure what the IR that goes to the arduino does, and can I just ignore it?

_and thirdly, what is the LFO2 LED?

Thanks for answering my (probably) very dumb questions.

blinkyblinky (author)  BlenderBastler12 days ago

Sorry for the late reply, I have been very busy...

I built this a while ago so I am a bit rusty on my info but here goes:

I'm not sure whether C3 is a 220uF capacitor but I do know that the only place a 220uF cap was used is next to the regulator. The capacitors there help smooth out the regulator's output in case there is a spike or drop in voltage. You should have them in the circuit.

You can choose whether or not you want to ignore the IR LED and even the IR phototransistor. Those are used for "chaining" Nebulophones, Andromeda Space Rockers and other synthesizers with an IR output. You can put the phototransistor of the Nebulophone up to the IR output of another machine and then the signal leaving the Nebulophone is the two signals combined.

Just in case you were asking about the LFO LED as well, the LFO LED is a normal LED that is taped to a photoresistor so as to not let light into the pair. In the tutorial above, I used a specially made piece that I ordered that had those two, just pre-assembled. LFO2 LED though is actually not neccessary but is just a LED that is for show. Also, if you have problems after building the circuit, you can tell if it is a code issue or a hardware issue.

I hope I answered your questions and again, sorry for the late reply. If you have further questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks for your explanations and hey, no problem everyone is busy sometimes. Merry Christmas or happy Chanukah.

how would you make a touch sensitive one with out the wire clip

How about building a glove? :) Solder the wire to the aligatorclip to some copper/aluminum film, then glue it to a finger/fingers :)

victordoes2 months ago

Nice work! Well written and nice video

basskitty3 months ago

what exactly does the op-amp do in this circuit? it's the one part i don't have readily available and i'd rather not drop like 5 bucks on shipping such a tiny part... if it's to amplify the audio signal would it be possible to leave it out and plug into a powered amp or something

probably a really dumb question but i've never done anything with audio circuits before

SpaceInvader79 months ago

How would one go about adding more keys? It seems there's some empty pins, but how would the code be affected?

blinkyblinky (author)  SpaceInvader76 months ago

As far as I can see (which isn't too far) i can't seem to see which pins on the Arduino are open...

how would you make a touch sensitive one with out the wire clip and possibly a midi output
blinkyblinky (author)  amill amile1 year ago
I'm not the foremost in MIDI so you will have to ask Dr. Bleep for further assistance. As for the touch sensitive, you could use a number of different things such as capacitive or even light.
can you put a board layout for eagle cad
blinkyblinky (author)  NeoRecasata1 year ago
Will try. You should try to learn Eaglecad and design it yourself as well!
could i swap out the tlc2262 with a lm324? and what exactly is rail-to-rail i cant find a search term that covers that
I am not entirely certain on this,but my instructor(I am a senior E.E.T. major,and he said a rail to rail means that it will respond to negative 5 volts to positive 5 volts,as opposed to just 0 volts to positive 5 volts.
Agh,please excuse my grammatical errors... :)
blinkyblinky (author)  redd.the.cat2 years ago ran into the same thing I did. I had pondered whether or not I should use a rail-to-rail op amp. After some classified research...aka asking Dr. Bleep himself, I came to the conclusion that a rail to rail op amp basically has an output gain very similar to the input voltage...

No, an LM324 would not work in this place. It doesn't have enough power output at 5 volts. The PICO PASO maybe but not this...sorry...

I gave a link on where to purchase a TLC2272 and it is very similar to the worked for me.
We started using the tl972 a few months ago in it but it sounds just the same.

A friend is building this and he is new to Arduino . I offered to help , but I am trying to find the main sketch as all the files appear to be separate ? Do I have to add all the files in individually before I compile the sketch?
Thanks for your help,
blinkyblinky (author)  Build_it_Bob2 years ago
The main sketch is named Nebulophone_D01.pde. Open that sketchin the Arduino IDE and the others will open along. Be sure to share his build when your friend is done.
I also wanted to mention that I seen your Nebulophone in the December issue of Nuts and Volts magazine ... very nice !
blinkyblinky (author)  Build_it_Bob2 years ago
I didn't make the Nebulophone...Dr.Bleep just made it Open Hardware so I decided to build it. On my budget.
Open source is the best teaching tool now available . I have learned more in the past few years because of the concept and all the people like yourself who take time to share using Instructables.
Many Thanks!!
Higgs Boson2 years ago
Just to make sure, the LED with the photocell assembly is connected to pin 11 on the arduino right? Also, I am assuming that c1,c2 and c4 are 0.1 uf. Is that right? And one last question, when I downloaded the file containing the code, there were several files within. I basically just copied all of them onto the IDE and compiled. There was no problem compiling, but did I do it Right?
Just open "Nebulophone_D01.pde" in the Arduino IDE and all the necessary files will open with it.
blinkyblinky (author)  Higgs Boson2 years ago
Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.
umfan1102 years ago
now lets say you didnt want copper strips and wanted just push buttons would you just connet them all in a seris and send a third wire to the designated pins.
Just connect each "key" pin on the schematic to a button. The other side of each button would go to ground.
spystealth12 years ago
I'm slightly confused. Do I need to do anything special with my arduino before I can use the shield, or can I just load the program and plug in the shield? I think you mentioned something about an ISP. Maybe you should provide an explanation as to what that is and how to use it. Thanks.
blinkyblinky (author)  spystealth12 years ago
You take your Arduino, program it, attach the shield with all your components. Then, you play it. The guide should help.