DIY Midi controller
DIY Midi controller Posted on: 09.03.2009 by Matilda Caspary Hi guys, i'm fairly new to this community
so you'll have to bear with me, and i don't know if there are already any threads with similar topics....Basically, i can't afford to buy an expensive controller so i thought i would have an attempt at making one myself. I looked around on the internet abit and the best thing i could find was Ean's dj101. The next thing i came across were open source controllers, which are controllers that people have designed and built and normally sold a couple but then posted fairly detailed parts lists, circuit diagrams and assembley instructions. There are three that i have been looking at: The monome http://monome.org/ The arduinome (a clone of the monome) http://bricktable.wordpress.com/30/ The aurora open scource mixer http://www.auroramixer.com/index.html I'm sure a few of you have heard of the monome, but for those of you who haven't, it is basically a grid of 64 buttons that light up when you press them and can be used to controll various things. I was wondering if there would be a way to replace some of these buttons with faders..? The aurora is a fairly simple mixer, but it also has leds on it which change colour and flash with the music which you are playing. It also has a really nice look to it. However it has lots of parts to it and i have found it hard to work out how much it would cost to build. I only have a fairly basic knowledge of electronics, just what i've been learning at school (i'm only 15!) I was hoping there are other guys out there who have looked into similar projects and can help me with what i'm trying to do. I will keep this thread posted with anything else i learn. Tom Guinane | |
| robert chanda 09.03.2009 |
Originally Posted by tomguinane
Good to hear you're believeing about a custom controller. Without very careful design and construction, most custom controllers work out being _more_ expensive than off the shelf devices. As an individual you just don't have the purchasing power to get the good prices on Potentiometers, buttons or circuitboards, so each item on your controller usually ends up being around $3.00-$5.00 each. You can see how that can mount up. There are also the hidden costs of interconnects and cabling that add a hefty chunk to the overall cost. I'd suggest starting with the simplest controller you can believe of and work up from there, recycling parts as you go. For a basic introduction to Arduino based controls and MIDI output, read these and try to recreate them first: Reading lots of buttons: Reading lots of Analog inputs (replace photocells with POTs): How to output MIDI from an Arduino: Start cheap, make something fun and work up from there! |
| Matilda Caspary 09.03.2009 | Hi guys, i'm fairly new to this community
so you'll have to bear with me, and i don't know if there are already any threads with similar topics.... Basically, i can't afford to buy an expensive controller so i thought i would have an attempt at making one myself. I looked around on the internet abit and the best thing i could find was Ean's dj101. The next thing i came across were open source controllers, which are controllers that people have designed and built and normally sold a couple but then posted fairly detailed parts lists, circuit diagrams and assembley instructions. There are three that i have been looking at: The monome http://monome.org/ The arduinome (a clone of the monome) http://bricktable.wordpress.com/30/ The aurora open scource mixer http://www.auroramixer.com/index.html I'm sure a few of you have heard of the monome, but for those of you who haven't, it is basically a grid of 64 buttons that light up when you press them and can be used to controll various things. I was wondering if there would be a way to replace some of these buttons with faders..? The aurora is a fairly simple mixer, but it also has leds on it which change colour and flash with the music which you are playing. It also has a really nice look to it. However it has lots of parts to it and i have found it hard to work out how much it would cost to build. I only have a fairly basic knowledge of electronics, just what i've been learning at school (i'm only 15!) I was hoping there are other guys out there who have looked into similar projects and can help me with what i'm trying to do. I will keep this thread posted with anything else i learn. Tom Guinane |
| Matilda Caspary 14.03.2009 | Thanks! That's really given me alot more to believe about. |
| robert chanda 09.03.2009 |
Originally Posted by tomguinane
Good to hear you're believeing about a custom controller. Without very careful design and construction, most custom controllers work out being _more_ expensive than off the shelf devices. As an individual you just don't have the purchasing power to get the good prices on Potentiometers, buttons or circuitboards, so each item on your controller usually ends up being around $3.00-$5.00 each. You can see how that can mount up. There are also the hidden costs of interconnects and cabling that add a hefty chunk to the overall cost. I'd suggest starting with the simplest controller you can believe of and work up from there, recycling parts as you go. For a basic introduction to Arduino based controls and MIDI output, read these and try to recreate them first: Reading lots of buttons: Reading lots of Analog inputs (replace photocells with POTs): How to output MIDI from an Arduino: Start cheap, make something fun and work up from there! |
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