Custom MIDI Controller - School Project
Custom MIDI Controller - School Project Posted on: 09.02.2011 by Jacquelyne Amponsah Hey guys, first time post in these modding community
s, but long time reader.Basically, for a school systems project I've decided to make a MIDI controller. The design takes quite a few cues from the custom wooden Midi Fighter that can be seen on the front page. Before getting started, I need a bit of help regarding the 'brain'. I believe I have decided upon an HID interface with a signal conversion software, as MIDI interfaces were out of my budget (around $120 or so.) For the HID interface I was believeing of either a U-HID (less money to spend on other components but lots of inputs) or linking together xbox controllers (about 3 or so.) Only problem with the latter option is I'm not quite sure how to do it! If anyone could give me some advice I would be very appreciate, and I'll be sure to give you a mention in my resources Also, I was believeing of using a combination of the Monome-esque buttons that Sparkfun sell (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/7835) in combination with the Sanwa arcade buttons. If anybody could give me some advice about making the contacts for the button pad, that would be great! Thanks for reading this rather long post, and if you're interested I could do a pretty in depth (albeit long) build log, which would probably make for a good folio anyway! Cheers! | |
| Louisa Oberc 16.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by Fatlimey
NOT THE CASE!!! They are expensive because of the quality components cost more than one would believe.. arcade buttons can run from $2-$3 each... Unless you are buying in massive volumes.
Originally Posted by Fatlimey
Not to mention the wealth of knowledge available on the internet.. You have these community s right here, the arduino community s, avrfreaks, etc... Hell, the schematic and source code to the midifighter is available to the world for no charge... just build the whole thing yourself for... rough guess.... $50 or less (assuming cheaper buttons)... all it is is a bunch of buttons, a few ic's to handle the buttons and leds and the microcontroller... build the schematic, upload the free code and bang! instafighter! Myself I've built a bunch of controllers for experimentation and tweaking... Right now I'm working on a transport/fx controller that has a built in modified mF (not using their code directly, but (after looking at it -- sick code guys) I may end up using some... I am also working on (long term project) a complete 4 channel controller with dozens of pots/encoders and a couple hundred buttons and leds... The electronics cost? Aside from any custom PCB's, homebrew would be roughly $50 CAD... The hardware (faders, encoders, buttons, etc) is likely to be close to $300 CAD, hence the long term nature of it Enough rambling, time for bed |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 17.02.2011 | I'm in Geelong, Victoria. Just to clarify for non-Australians, year 9 is 14-15 and year 10 is 15-16 here. |
| Marva Cupid 17.02.2011 | what part of aus are u from im in vic at the moment in year 9 |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 16.02.2011 | I'm actually Australian year 10, dunno US equivilent. |
| Soon Zafer 16.02.2011 | Random question: what school are you at/what major |
| Louisa Oberc 16.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by Fatlimey
NOT THE CASE!!! They are expensive because of the quality components cost more than one would believe.. arcade buttons can run from $2-$3 each... Unless you are buying in massive volumes.
Originally Posted by Fatlimey
Not to mention the wealth of knowledge available on the internet.. You have these community s right here, the arduino community s, avrfreaks, etc... Hell, the schematic and source code to the midifighter is available to the world for no charge... just build the whole thing yourself for... rough guess.... $50 or less (assuming cheaper buttons)... all it is is a bunch of buttons, a few ic's to handle the buttons and leds and the microcontroller... build the schematic, upload the free code and bang! instafighter! Myself I've built a bunch of controllers for experimentation and tweaking... Right now I'm working on a transport/fx controller that has a built in modified mF (not using their code directly, but (after looking at it -- sick code guys) I may end up using some... I am also working on (long term project) a complete 4 channel controller with dozens of pots/encoders and a couple hundred buttons and leds... The electronics cost? Aside from any custom PCB's, homebrew would be roughly $50 CAD... The hardware (faders, encoders, buttons, etc) is likely to be close to $300 CAD, hence the long term nature of it Enough rambling, time for bed |
| robert chanda 16.02.2011 | If you can follow instructions, building a bare-bones Arduino or Teensyduino will set you back $15. These $150 MIDI brains are mind blowing to me, you're paying entirely for the software, when free, open source systems are already out there that do more. Microcontrollers are nothing to be scared of! You'll be spending ten times the cost on your buttons and sliders, and you'll get real USB-MIDI for free. |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 16.02.2011 | Sorry for lack of posts recently. Build log shall probably start fairly soon, as soon as I can get the materials (clear, matte acrylic sheet and appropriate wood) I can start building the case. One question I have for now is, I've heard it's possible to plug a keyboard into an arduino using only 3 pins. I figure that gives me a lot of digital inputs, and I can get a cheap USB keyboard for about $9. |
| Louisa Oberc 12.02.2011 | Well, you don't need to go nuts like me A single CD4021BE (they cost around $0.25) will give you 8 digital inputs using 3 pins on your arduino... and since you can daisy chain them, two of them gives you 16 inputs using 3 pins, etc... A single CD4051BE (again, dirt cheap) will give you 8 analog inputs, using 4 pins on your arduino (3 digital pins and 1 analog pin).. Also chainable, so two would give you 16 analog inputs using 5 arduino pins (3 digital and 2 analog; one per chip). There are plenty of examples over at the arduino playground... |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 12.02.2011 | Heh, a lot more ambitious than what I am attempting, good luck with it! Well definitely have to have a look around, thanks for the help so far. |
| Louisa Oberc 12.02.2011 | You could use a normal arduino uno along with a few multipler IC's... My controller (when finished) will have >64 pots and >150 buttons... Using a handful of CD4021's (digital) and CD4051's (analog), I can get away with using only 8-10 pins... |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 12.02.2011 | Regarding the Arduino option, could anybody give me a suggestion about a suitable board that can handle 8-12 analog inputs, 17 digital inputs and 20 or so LEDs? The Arduino Mega Clone fits these requirements, but if anybody could tell me a cheaper option it would be great. |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 11.02.2011 | Really depends whether or not I can get my hands on a few xbox controllers or I have to purchase an interface (Arduino perhaps?) |
| Marva Cupid 10.02.2011 | I like it. I prefer the first one only cause I don't like the 2x3 button thing . Depends what you are using as the guts though as to what inputs u have. |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 10.02.2011 | Okay, so here are some design ideas that I had. The blue button is a shift key, so I can get a lot more functionality out of limited inputs. |
| Lisa Lochotzki 09.02.2011 | There's quite few tact switch model available, so its not a problem. |
| Louisa Oberc 09.02.2011 | when it comes to the buttons you have selected, I feel that it would be a little difficult to use them on a breadboard, since the actual electrical 'switch' is part of the breakout board I linked to, you would have to create something similar on a breadboard, and that is just not that easy |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 09.02.2011 | Thanks very much for input guys. Have the class tomorrow so will run by teacher and see what he believes. |
| Lisa Lochotzki 09.02.2011 | Midi Fighter is open source, that should be enough to get you started at a minimum cost. Source code is pretty well documented, schematic is well done too. There's also the Microchip's Framework. It has some USB MIDI code examples in. my 2 cents. |
| Jonelle Pahulu 09.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by coolmatic
check out this link mate it will help you alot with linking controllers and everything else related to it (soldering,pcb,etc...) http://slagcoin.com/joystick/pcb_wir...PCB_ATTRIBUTES yet i recommend using a pcb like arduino or u-hid since linking multiple controllers is known for major issues of interfering signals or u can simply use multiple usb controllers/keyboards or whatever goes tru your mind and plug them all into a powered usb hub then translate the signals to midi (using translation programs like glovepie) and use them with the program of ur choice and its the cheapest way out there specially if u are a person like me who prefers using whats laid around instead of buying new items |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 09.02.2011 | I have indeed seen those, but I was wondering if it was possible to do with a breadboard and some wire or something? I have seen it done like that before, but thought somebody on here may be able to shed some light. I would prefer be able to do it myself and take a bit longer than be spending $15AUD that could be used on other components! |
| Louisa Oberc 09.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by coolmatic
You mean these contacts? |
| Jacquelyne Amponsah 09.02.2011 | Having read threads on using xbox PCBs in the past, it seems that there are 2 USB ports already on there, so you just solder any extra controllers in series(?). I was also believeing about an Arduino board, and I've done a bit of coding so anything that needs to be done shouldn't be an issue. |
| Marva Cupid 09.02.2011 | i am working on a project sismilar to this but its not for school lol. i just put a powered usb hub inside my box and soldired the ontacts from the game pad to where the female usb socket solders onto the board. good luck |
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