The Concertina Goes Digital | Hackaday

The concertina is an instrument that options closely in European folks music, of which there are a selection of sorts. [Xcott Craver] has constructed one, an anglo concertina of the kind it’s possible you’ll recognise accompanying sea shanties, however that is no abnormal squeezebox. Instead it’s an electronic concertina, and it’s a venture with a big consideration to element.

Perhaps the obvious factor most of us find out about a concertina is that it’s an instrument with two ends separated by a set of bellows, and manipulation of the bellows lends rather a lot to the music it produces. This instrument doesn’t have bellows, however its innovation is to simulate them by way of technique of a load cell. The two sides of the wood chassis are mounted, however the pressure exerted on them is measured.

The keys are Cherry MX switches with customized keycaps, mounted on a pair of PCBs. Driving the entire thing is a Teensy 4.0, and to keep away from unlucky accidents with ripped-out connectors there’s a USB extension lead as a little bit of pressure reduction. You can hear the consequence within the video beneath.

This is like no different instrument we’ve seen right here, although we’ve had just a few electronically enhanced conventional concertinas and accordions. We prefer it for its fascinating design.