Something the same size as the Twister/Fighter but with four faders that line up with the knobs on a Twister or buttons on a Fighter. If the USB socket was located in a flexible spot, it could allow the fader bank to be lined up flush to one of the existing boxes, making a mixer-like layout. RGB internal lighting for each fader could be useful, and if there is room, some low-profile buttons alongside each fader that might be useful for mapping to solo/record arm etc.
Thanks Patch, and interesting that the Twister came out of that competition.
I think part of the appeal of the MF and MF Twister is that they are generic, and thus apt for re-purposing for all sorts of ends. Surely a commercial benefit for DJTT to reach beyond the Traktor crowd.
I don’t (yet) use any of this MIDI stuff to DJ and I don’t know what your goal is here, but perhaps instead of having the second bank of four faders at the bottom (as we’re looking at it) you could have a crossfader and a two or three rows of buttons/encoders/whatever above that?
The goal though is to mirror the basic function of the other DJTT devices. The Fighter is a bank of buttons, the Twister is a bank of encoders, there might also be room in the line-up for a bank of faders.
I think there is value in making it as neutral design as possible so, especially like the Twister, it can find a wider role: eg people using the Twister with Adobe Lightroom, or in sound design, as a sequencer etc etc. Having a crossfader or encoders would start to dilute the essence of it.
The buttons I put on the mockup aren’t strictly necessary but might be useful for adding increasing the number of parameters it can control. Otherwise it would be fairly ‘low density’ if it can only fit eight faders. Adding some buttons or switches might allow for per-fader mode switching or temporary change of CC# while a button is pressed. If the fader channels were RGB lit like the Roland TR-8s, visual feedback could be incorporated too.
The mock-up is not perfect by any means, but I can imagine using it to control synth ADSR amp and filter envelopes, for controlling channels/EQ in Ableton, to control sends, etc.
So, if I’m comprehending you correctly, you’re talking about a ‘generic’ MIDI controller that uses faders, in this case two banks of four, to send MIDI data to whatever software/hardware MIDI receiving device and execute selected commands in said device.
I haven’t seen a Midifighter in the flesh but it seems that you might be able to incorporate those buttons on the side(s) of the unit.
The side buttons could indeed be used for something like that. However, they are aren’t very accessible due to location and the force required to press them. You have to hold the unit at the same time as pressing one of them. This is useful for “major” profile changes and such, but less so for quick or transitory changes.
Okay, I can see that a device such as this might complement the existing range (from the very little I know about them) and be useful in its own right. If it’s being built from scratch (while adhering to the familial form factor) why can’t the buttons be soft touch, like performance pads and they can be placed at the front (or back) of the unit or even on each of the corners of the top faceplate (like mini, one button dicers)? Just a thought…
