Le RetrOrchestre
MIDI-controlled instruments built from floppy drives and scanners.
Le RetrOrchestre turns floppy drives and flatbed scanners into MIDI-controlled instruments. A Teensy receives USB MIDI notes and drives the motors at the corresponding step rates.
Firmware
retrorchestre.ino is the main sketch. src/config.h defines the instrument counts, travel limits, note ranges, and scheduler timing. Precomputed half-period tables in src/lut.h map MIDI notes to motor timings; scripts/compute_LUTs.py regenerates them.
The Teensy appears as a USB MIDI device, so a DAW can send notes directly. Channels select the floppy drives first, then the scanner motors. The live/ directory contains MIDI arrangements and Reaper sessions used during development.
The README covers the hardware, firmware installation, and channel mapping. The live rig is still evolving; hard-disk instruments remain planned work.