10 amazing Raspberry Pi audio projects

By Rob Zwetsloot. Posted

Raspberry Pi is not-so-secretly a multimedia powerhouse. With software like Kodi for TV streaming, RetroPie for a bit of gaming, and even jukebox software for your parties, it can handle just about anything. Here are some of our favourite ways that its audio skills have been put to use.

Wavepad

Wave away music

We like yelling at our digital home assistant thing to skip the track it’s currently playing. It feels very Star Trek. Sometimes it’s more dramatic to wave the music away – just like with the Wavepad.

Pi Zero Talking Radio

Pathé news, now!

This radio reads out your notifications from a variety of services. It doesn’t have an old-fashioned news bulletin voice, but it’s the spirit that counts.

P.S.S.P. – Pi Single Song Player

One song only

Want to listen to one song, and one song only? Close a contact on this Raspberry Pi project for just that. Simple.

Google Pi Intercom

Old-school personal assistant

Martin Mander made this with the AIY Projects kit that came with The MagPi #57. We love the meta idea of how this has been repurposed.

Play your own theme tune

Dramatic music player

Feel like a sitcom character and have some slapping bass tunes play as you walk through the door. What’s the deal with theme tunes, anyway?

Flirt Pi

Retro internet radio

This is a 1970 Flirt radio that upcycling maestro Martin Mander has turned into a Raspberry Pi-powered internet radio, without sacrificing much of its wonderful aesthetics.

Piano stairs

Tom Hanks inspired

Using a light tripwire to sense where you are, (carefully) dancing up and down these stairs should help with your scales and arpeggios.

Raspberry Pi music fingers

Finger drumming goodness

As well as being a lot of fun, this is a neat little conductivity experiment so you know how capacitive touch works. With a little beat added to it.

Ultrasonic theramin

Outer space vibes

This official Raspberry Pi project uses an ultrasonic distance sensor – something you mostly find on robots – to create a theremin sound as you move your hand through it.

Audio radar

Accessible sodar

Using sound to detect distance is pretty standard tech, but it always helps to make it easier. This sodar project helps you do that.

From The MagPi store

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