Reply to DIY Midi controller

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