Seeed Studio Music Shield

Music is quite the phenomenon in our modern world, and seems to be enjoyed by all cultures, races and societies throughout the world. This is so true, in fact, that almost every vehicle and smart device since as far back as the 1990’s (or even earlier in some cases) have been equipped with audio-playback capabilities by default, making music one of the most widespread forms of entertainment available nowadays. This is why we always jump at the opportunity to get great quality Audio Modules like the Seeed Studio Music Shield, which has been designed to work with almost any Arduino board on the market, so as to let you build your very own (very customised) audio playback device.

While there are certainly loads of other options for audio modules that you could choose from when building your own audio playback device to complement your vehicle, living room or your handheld devices, we particularly like the Seeed Studio Music Shield because of its diverse compatibility with Arduino Boards such as the UNO and the Mega2560. This makes it not only extremely easy to use (by simply plugging the shield into the top of the Arduino and loading up the library) but also versatile, as you can choose to make a lightweight UNO-based audio device, or you can step it up with the beefy Mega2560.

In terms of actual playback functionality, the Seeed Studio Music Shield is capable of operating in two distinct modes, with the first being a real-time MIDI instrument and music player, and the second mode being a standard audio player that supports MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, MIDI, FLAC and OGG Vorbis codecs. This makes it a great fit for almost anyone who loves audio, as well as for Makers who simply want to make a custom audio player. And if that still wasn’t enough to convince you of the awesomeness of this music player shield, remember that it can also be used in conjunction with a range of other Arduino Shields as well, making the options for building your own custom music player truly diverse.

Typical Applications for the Seeed Studio Music Shield:

When utilising the Seeed Studio Music Shield and experimenting with its capabilities, we were quite impressed by the build quality of this beautiful module. Additionally, it is great to find an audio module that not only offers good quality, but also easy operations, with many Audio Modules typically requiring a solid understanding in audio engineering just to get working to an adequate level. With the Seeed Studio Music Shield, however, you can simply plug it into your favourite Arduino board, install the libraries and upload the code, and then enjoy extremely easy audio playback from SD Card.

Furthermore, with a good range of options of how you want to control the playback of this shield, you can also choose to design a case that utilises the onboard multifunction button, or you can choose to integrate the controls into your Arduino code, possibly even adding Bluetooth functionality and writing your own smart device application to control it wireless too. So, as you can see, the potential of the Seeed Studio Music Shield is nearly limitless, and offers the perfect platform for Makers like you to design, build and experiment with your very own custom audio playback device.

Additional Resources:

• If you’re eager to find out more details and specifics about this awesome Music Shield, be sure to check out the official Seeed Studio Music Shield Wiki Page, which offers insights, instructions and handy examples of code to help you get started quickly.
• This is the official Seeed Studio Music Shield GitHub Page, where you can find the necessary code and examples to use in conjunction with Arduino based boards, as well as other details about usage instructions, API functions and more.