[sdiy] rec. for a microcontroller to make stupid lo-fi atari noises

[Ullrich Peter]

> I've never messed with a microcontroller - in fact, I have no interest
>in programming and love the IC/resistor/pot/cap world! But I'd like to
>make a little microcontroller circuit to make stupid, inferior,
>ignorant Atari lo-fi freakout sounds and riffs! My big inspiration is
>the 1-bit groovebox - http://web.media.mit.edu/~nvawter/projects/1bit/
>- and I might just make one of those instead of trying to roll my own
>- but I'd like to mess around too with digitally generating freakout
>stoopid noises. The reasoning for a microcontroller and not just
>something like an Atari Punk Console is that I want it to be more
>programmable with riffs or even as programmable as the one-bit
>groovebox linked above.


As the reduction to 1bit is a reduction to a minimum I would do the same 
when selecting a microcontroller for 1bit music.

The smallest ones I know would be the 6 pin PIC 10F series microcontrollers.
http://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?mid=10&lang=en&branchID=1009

But I prefer the 8 pin ATTiny devices from Atmel.
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id=607#791

(But the tiny series has also bigger parts if you need more IO lines...)

The circuits are incircuit programmable and have also an EEPROM in it. 
(f.e. for saving the MIDI channel).

Some types even have ADC or UARTs in it so that potentiometers or MIDI interface 
can be  realized/attached.

Ciao
Peter

http://www.ullrich.at.tt