Hey guys, first time post in these modding forums, 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 thinking 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 thinking of using a combination of the Monome-esque buttons that Sparkfun sell (Button Pad 4x4 - LED Compatible - SparkFun Electronics) 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!
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
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 thinking about an Arduino board, and I’ve done a bit of coding so anything that needs to be done shouldn’t be an issue.
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!
check out this link mate it will help you alot with linking controllers and everything else related to it (soldering,pcb,etc…)
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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…
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).
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.
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.
So very very true… I am blown away by the price of the brains… they should be the cheapest part, since quality buttons and faders are fairly pricey… I used to wonder why the good mixers and controllers cost so much money. I figured they were complex beasts that would defy all but the brightest…
NOT THE CASE!!! They are expensive because of the quality components cost more than one would think.. arcade buttons can run from $2-$3 each… Unless you are buying in massive volumes.
My thoughts exactly… programming for an arduino or most other microcontroller is pretty much as simple as plain old c or c++. Granted, if you cannot learn to program then you would be better off saving for an s4, but if you can program the electronics part is fairly simple.
Not to mention the wealth of knowledge available on the internet.. You have these forums right here, the arduino forums, 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
