A Custom RGB-Lit Arduino Synthesizer Makes a Perfect Gift

There was a time when digital sound synthesis was very difficult and expensive to achieve. But as with every other facet of technology, advances in IC (integrated circuit) manufacturing have made it downright cheap to build a digital synthesizer. There are a lot of ways to go about that depending on your goals, but if you have an Arduino laying around you can get started right now. That’s what Emily Velasco used to build her brother this RGB-lit synthesizer for his birthday.

This build is essentially an updated version of an earlier, more morbid synthesizer that Velasco created. That previous project, dubbed the “Rackety Raccoon Synthesizer,” included a real raccoon skull to give the project a creepy vibe. The version Velasco built for her brother’s birthday omits animal skeletons altogether, but retains most of the same electronic hardware. That includes an Arduino Nano, a small amplifier board, a speaker, and some potentiometers.

The Arduino is running a sketch based on the fantastic Mozzi audio synthesis library. Without any additional hardware, the Mozzi library lets you produce all kinds of classic digital synthesizer sounds. In this case, Velasco is using three potentiometers as inputs to control the sound that is being generated. That is then output through the amplifier board to a small speaker. All of that hardware is housed within a small box with a switch on the lid. Anytime the lid is opened, the hardware will automatically start producing sounds based on the potentiometer positions. Velasco even added some RGB LEDs to give the synthesizer some extra flair.