Greetings people here is my latest venture into modding things.
What I wanted to build was a button matrix controller that I could change the layout of whenever I felt like it.
Because I’m on a tight budget I decided to hack a pc keyboard for the brains and because arcade buttons are out of the question at the moment I have used tactile switches instead.
The whole idea of this project was to have a controller that was cheap to build and have multiple uses.
This is 1 of 2 controllers that will be interlinked together totaling 80 buttons.
Here are a few pics to show you where I’m going with this bearing in mind I have still got to build an outer case (the pictures shown are the insides)
If this turns out anything like your last mod then we will all be drooling over it for months. All the best of luck in building this, not that you’ll need it.
My only question is, Are you using one keyboard or two? I’ve heard using two can cause conflict problems. I take it you bought a keyboard with lots of assignable buttons?
Oh, and where did you get those templates from? Are they self made? They look quality.
Thanks Archie yes I’m using 2 keyboards but glovepie solves the problem of 2 or 3 or 4 keyboards
The overlays are just some ideas I printed out on A4 paper and laminated.
My color printers out of ink at the moment so i had to print in black and white.
I must say you’ve done a fair bit of groundwork there already. Are you a tradesman like myself (I’m guessing a joiner/carpenter)? Apologies if you are a multi skilled technician with degrees in mechanical/electrical engineering…
but if it doesnt work out, the novation dicers are a good alternative. for ~$100 you have 2 controllers. each with 5 buttons and 6 layers. totaling 60 buttons. map in a modifier (shift key) on each controller (to keep them independent) and now you have 120 buttons. and its responsive as hell. (LED feedback is a nice bonus too)
mad props for what you did though! my suggestion is just for if you want a shit ton more buttons and the keyboards crap out on you
I like the way you’ve created ‘buttons’ on top of the microswitches. One thing though - isn’t there too much empty space around each microswitch? seems like if you press one of the laminated buttons on the side (rather than in the middle) you might tear/stretch the laminate since there’s empty vertical space around the edges (where you’ve cut the circles in the wood). Sorry if I haven’t explained it well! Perhaps some foam, cut to shame, would solve this?
Can you show some pictures of how you’ve wired it all up?
The empty space helps the button action because if you press right on the edge it will still activate the switch if you know what I mean?
There’s no danger of warping, stretching or ripping the sheets once laminated don’t forget each one of them holes is only 20mm.
I’ve already made my script in Glovepie and I mapped one of the layouts in Traktor earlier and it works great.
I bought some black cast acrylic perspex a couple of weeks, just got to go and get some glue / cement? tomorrow.
I’ve never cut this stuff before so I’m hoping all goes well. I’m going to be using my beast of a router and make a couple of jigs to make the process easier.
Because I wanted the tactile switches to be evenly spaced I ended up mounting them onto stripboard for that pro finish.
I’m thinking about having a go at making my own pcb’s for future projects and to cut down on time.
Wish me luck…
More pics coming tomorrow (gotta sort some tracks out for my radio show tonight)
I am also tryinh to do something like this, but how did u wire it up? When i opened it up, is saw 9+18 connections on the pcb, but there are much more buttons!?
