Music projects

Midi wireless with XBee

Last updated: 18/12/17

I wanted to use Midi over air and found this interesting page on adafruit: https://learn.adafruit.com/xbee-radios/midi-link.

I bought two XBee S1 (802.15.4) modules. The adafruit adapter with her FTDI cable is the easiest way to reprogram the XBee modules. It can be done on a breadboard but pay attention. The XBee module uses only 3V (not 5V!!) and also RTS/CTS for the communication. So the best way is to use an FTDI cable (Wiring).

Changing the baudrate

First update the XBee firmware. Download the XCTU software from . Digi is the producer of XBee modules. Happily the Software runs on Linux :). Standard baudrate is 9600 (8N1).

After the upgrade we set the baudrate to the MIDI baudrate of 31250 bit/s. We can use the terminal software in XCTU or another terminal software like CuteCom or CleverTerm.

To be able to send commands to the module we send 3 plus signs (+++) without Carriage Return (CR, 0x0D) or Linefeed (LF, 0x0A)!! After this we get an OK from the module and are able to send AT commands followed by a CR . The command ATBD returns the baudrate. 3 is for 9600 bit/s:

0 1200 bit/s
1 2400 bit/s
2 4800 bit/s
3 9600 bit/s
4 19200 bit/s
5 38400 bit/s
6 57600 bit/s
7 115200 bit/s

To set the module to 31250 bit/s, we have to send the baudrate in hex (31250 = 0x7A12). After the command ATBD7A12 we test with ATBD and write the baudrate to the XBee memory with ATWR. Now we reconnect with 31250 bit/s an verify if the baudrate is ok. Mark your module with a sticker to remember the baudrate has changed!

Circuits

The circuits are basically the standard midi circuits, including a DC-DC Converter to get 3V for the XBEE modules.

midi wireless circuit

BOM
3 220Ω
1 2k2Ω
1 3k3Ω
4 100nF
4 10µF
2 MCP1825S
1 74HCT04
2 XBee S1 (802.15.4)
2 Midi Jack
2 pin header 2pol

Building the hardware

With a handful of components, no need to draw a layout. The circuits are mounted on breadboards:

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