Conway Sequencer
Conway's Game of Life Making MIDI Music
This is an Arduino (Raspberry Pi Pico) project using an RP2040 with a 16x16 R/G LED array display.
It runs Conway's Game of Life and uses the game condition to make music.
The game board is interpreted as a 4 channel sequencer where each 1/4 of the board drives one instrument, one of them being percussion. The other three instruments are chosen at random. The instruments, pitch range, note type, and chorus effects are chosen at random from ranges in 9 parameter set groups. The the song itself is random too. So every song will be a little different.
Output is MIDI on channels 1,2,3 for regular instruments and channel 10 for percussion.
User Interface
- Potentiometer controls the tempo.
- Dial selects the parameter set; pressing the dial starts a new song using those parameters.
- Long press enters brightness setting mode; spin the dial to change brightness, press to save.
Features:
- Eurorack panel format
- 16x16 three color LED display
- 3.5mm MIDI output on channels 1,2,3,10
- 5V 500mA power input
Design Documents
| Schematic Diagram | conway_sequencer_schematic.pdf |
| PCB Gerbers | conway_sequencer_gerbers.zip |
| Mechanical | Conway Eurorack Panel.stl |
| Arduino Source Code | conway_rp2040_code.zip |
| Dial Module | VelociBus Modules |
Build Pictures
