I’ve found my old Atari 2600 Paddle Joysticks but no signs of the console, so I’ve decided to make a small chiptune instrument.

I’ve used an Atari Paddle Joystick, an Arduino Nano clone, a 7 segment display and Mozzi library. Joystick pot is read using analog input and mapped to an array of pentatonic frequencies in E. To know where the knob is, segments in the display are changed according to wheel position. Sound is generated right in the Arduino, no Midi involved.

Side story At the same time I’ve received an offer to write a book about music projects for Arduino I’ve found my Atari 2600 Paddle joystick, so this project is more a consequence of those unrelated circumstances than anything else. I’ve programmed the code to read Atari's Joysticks potentiometer and button values and then produce some kind of interesting chiptune sound from a cheap Arduino clone with the help of Mozzi library.

With visual aid from a 7 segment display, an Oscil sine wave is generated according to a fixed pentatonic scale mapping.

Atari Chiptune Synth is fun to jam and there is a little something about the hardware appeal that makes a world of difference.