Creates various sounds played through the speakers that can be controlled electrically.
Description (From Recipaedia)
Electric sound generator. Takes 4 inputs: Pitch (left), Octave (right), Volume (top) and Tone (bottom). All of these inputs are analog. The pitch ranges from C note (value of 0V) to D note in the next octave (value of 1.4V). 1.5V at pitch input means pause, no sound is played. The octave input can be used to shift the pitch by up to two octaves. The volume input sets the volume of played sound, with 0V being muted and 1.5V being the loudest. The actual sound is played whenever tone input goes from zero to non-zero. The value supplied to the tone input when it goes from zero to non-zero determines which instrument should be played: 0.1=Bell, 0.2=Organ, 0.3=Ping, 0.4=String, 0.5=Trumpet, 0.6=Voice, 0.7=Piano, 0.8=PianoSustain, 0.9=Drums. With drums, pitch input determines one of 10 drums: 0.0=Snare, 0.1=BassDrum, 0.2=ClosedHighHat, 0.3=PedalHighHat, 0.4=OpenHighHat, 0.5=LowTom, 0.6=HighTom, 0.7=Crash, 0.8=Ride, 0.9=Handclap. Some animals, especially birds, are afraid of the loud sounds. This element can be placed on any surface and rotated to desired orientation.
Crafting
It requires 1 iron ingot, 2 copper ingots and 4 germanium crystals to craft Sound Generator.
You get 4 generator 'chips'.
Hooking it Up
Connections
There are 4 inputs, one on each edge and all of them are analog signals. They must be supplied by a device with analog outputs such as a DAC or a memory bank.
The TONE input needs more attention. It has to go to '0 then to the value wanted. One way to do this is to use a memory bank as a gate. It requires programming but is compact.
Another is to use an AND gate. One input to this gate is the analog value and the other is a digital 'enable' signal. (See Using Analog Signals for more details on this technique.)
Operation
The TONE input doubles as the 'GO' switch. It must be held at '0' until the sound is to be played.
The sound begins only when this input changes from '0'! Then it will play a sound with the voice specified by what that value is. <see table below> The sound will last only about 1 second and fades away. If the tone input goes to '0' and then changes from '0' again before the first note fades, then the second note will be played and the first note will be cut short.
The PITCH input controls the frequency of the sound and spans one octave. The pitch equals the "western scale" where C = '0', C# = '1', D = '2' . . . C2 = 'C'. <lol - C is C> Then C2# = 'D' and D2 = 'E' If the pitch value is 'F' (1.5V) the generator plays a silent note or 'pause'. The frequencies played are very close to standard reference pitches. You can play along with your real piano and they should be in tune! If this input is not connected, it plays the lowest pitch.
The OCTAVE input shifts the frequency of the sound down an octave or two according to its value. However it can only be changed by 2 octaves (or the values '0' through '2'). Any value over '2' is played as the highest pitch. If this input is not connected, it acts as if it were a '2'.
The VOLUME input controls -of course- the volume of the sound. When it is '0' the ouput is muted and an 'F' is full volume output. If this input is not connected, the volume will be at maximum.
TONE (or Voice) chart
| 0 | ready mode |
| 1 | Bell |
| 2 | Organ |
| 3 | Ping |
| 4 | Strings |
| 5 | Trumpet |
| 6 | Vocal "doo" |
| 7 | Piano |
| 8 | Piano Sustain |
| 9 | Drums |
For the drum channel, the tone input sets the drum sound as follows:
| 0 | Snare |
| 1 | Bass Drum |
| 2 | Closed High Hat |
| 3 | Pedal High Hat |
| 4 | Open High Hat |
| 5 | Low Tom |
| 6 | High Tom |
| 7 | Crash |
| 8 | Ride |
| 9 | Handclap |
Uses
- It can be used to scare some animals away.
- With a lot of other circuitry, it can play music.
- Hook it up to a RTC and it can chime different tones at different times.
- Connected to other circuitry, it can play warning tones in adventure maps.
Notes
- The sound generator was added in version 1.23.
- The wording in the description and chip label may unfortunately be confusing. The term 'note' gets multiple meanings in music theory. It properly describes the totality of one continuous sound, including the pitch, octave, tonal quality and duration. However it is often used to describe just the frequency (pitch) of a sound. The term 'tone' is often misused as well, also often used in place of pitch. The pitch of a note is actually the combined effect of the 'pitch' plus octave.
- The actual effect on animals is still unknown. Whether animals nearer to the device or the player are affected more or not is one outstanding question. When these issues are known, the information will be provided...
- As of 1.29, Sound generators produce small notes when they produce sounds. The piano sustain and drum channels were also added.