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By ryurkovich
#199606
Hello,

I'm looking into what the best way to do this simple project would be.
We want to create an interactive for a bird sound that has two different parts.
To start the bird song the person would press a button, and then be able to adjust the volume of the two song parts with two volume nobs (potentiometers).

My question is, what would be the best equipment to use for this. Would I be able to use an MP3 Trigger?
It could be L and R parts of the audio file and adjust the volume for L and R, I'd just need a way to extend that control to be separate from the speaker.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Rachel
By ryurkovich
#199767
Hello,
Would anyone be able to give me some guidance on this?

To add to my previous explanation:
There would be a button that would start a bird song playing. This bird has two vocal cords that work simultaneously.
The visitor could control the volume from two knobs (one for each part of the bird song) to hear the differences. I was thinking it'd be easy with a Right and Left speaker but can't figure out where to begin.

I am new to using Arduino and coding so any help would be appreciated. How would this work with coding and wiring? What equipment would I need?
By lyndon
#199782
I'm guessing you don't have any software development experience?
If so, then I'd just get an Arduino and start playing with it. Once you're comfortable, then you can explore using an MP3 trigger or look into the WAV trigger audio player.

Honestly, based on your description, you could probably find an old MP3 player at Goodwill and use that.
By ryurkovich
#199783
I don't have software development experience. I have used MP3 Trigger boards before for simple button starting song purposes.

How do you imagine an old mp3 player working for this? As this would be on display at a museum, the components would need to be inaccessible to the public, who will have access to only the buttons/knobs triggering the sound and adjusting the volume.

My main concern is how to code and wire the components so that the audio can be adjusted separately from the right and left speaker...
By lyndon
#199784
My thought was to take an old MP3 player and solder in extended pushbutton to the Play/pause button. For audio, if you can't find an amplifier that lets you control the L&R channel volume separately, you could build two small amplifiers based on the LM386
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By robertsonics
#199786
Maybe I'm missing something, but if you use an MP3 Trigger (or WAV Trigger) and the stereo files contain the individual sounds on the left/right channels, then all you need is a balance control. You need an external amplifier anyway (both boards' stereo output are line-level and require an external audio amp to drive speakers), so your knob is just a balance control on the amp. If you're wiring up buttons to the trigger inputs to start the tracks, then you don't need an Arduino or any programming. Alternatively, you could use 2 mono amplifiers each with a volume knob.
By ryurkovich
#199803
robertsonics wrote: Sun Jul 22, 2018 2:56 pm ...then all you need is a balance control. You need an external amplifier anyway (both boards' stereo output are line-level and require an external audio amp to drive speakers), so your knob is just a balance control on the amp. If you're wiring up buttons to the trigger inputs to start the tracks, then you don't need an Arduino or any programming. Alternatively, you could use 2 mono amplifiers each with a volume knob.
Yes, this is what I was thinking could work, just didn't know what equipment to purchase that would allow me to control the L and R separately and how to hook it up. With something like the below product, how would I get it so that there are external knobs/potentiometers controlling the volumes?

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9612