Since I have posted a few comments in other threads about my new build, I thought it would be sensible to start a new thread on the subject.
The premise is to build a complete DJ solution for going round your mates house. For example, you want it to be cheap … really cheap … so, if there is an accident you won’t spend too long crying about the loss of funds.
Another part of the idea is to make it as easy as possible to use Traktor in a ‘foreign’ environment, so I really wanted to be able to take all my gear with me. I came up with the idea of building a PC in an old Technics 1210 flight case and using a home made Traktor controller.
Since I had built a few PC’s over the years, I had a few parts lying around that I was able to utilise. The hard drive (160gb Pata) came free with a piece of OEM equipment I bought some months ago. The DVD drive was taken from an older computer I had built, as were some of the case accessories I needed to install the metalwork which was required to fit out the 1210 case. Ram is relatively cheap to buy these days, but I did have 1 x 1gb of ram in the house, so I used it. Here is an early shot of the computer.
As far as the controller goes, I wanted to make it as easy to use as possible. I’ve spent too long at parties looking through vinyl, getting the right pitch, performing the mix and then starting over for the next record, to be bothered with it any more. My friends know I can mix reasonably well, so I don’t think they are going to be too bothered if they see me turn up with out my beloved 1210’s. In fact some of them may even get the chance to speak to me for a bit.
I wanted something that would resemble a 3 channel mixer. Something that made it simple to mix with. I came up with this…
The 10 arcade buttons on the top will be assignable for effects. The blue button will be a second function (Shift key), so you can perform other tricks. The round pots will be bass and treble, depending on whether you have the shift button pressed. The black will be sync. Faders will be volume, red will be load track and green will be play track. The small on-off-on switches will be used for track selection, pitch nudge and pitch select. Remember I only want to carry out the basic functions of tractor at the cheapest possible price. I have set a budget of less than £300 and so far I am on target for doing just that.
I will be putting a 15" or 17" monitor in the top half of the flight case (you can pick one up on Ebay for about £40), surrounded by lots of foam. There will be a panel fitted across the top of the PC side, as well as a 4 way - 100w amplifier fitted as well.
The controller is very lightweight and tough, as it’s 3mm aluminium. I also have a Final Scratch Scratchamp that I’m hoping to use for headphone monitoring.
Sorry, I’m a little confused. Are you putting the screen on the inside? If so how are you then going to use the controls?
Edit: Wait, I may have misunderstood this thing altogether. Is the PC inside the controller, or are they two separate things altogether? Right now I was under the impression that the PC was inside the controller for some reason
Yeah, the flight case is more or less an over-sized laptop. The controller is a separate thing all together, although when I open the flight case up I’m hoping to be able to put the controller on top of the bottom section of it.
Yeah, I will need a mouse and keyboard just to get the computer to work as normal. I have a mini keyboard that operates from a USB port and a spare ‘mouse in the house’.
I’m also toying with the idea of using a old game pad along with the home made controller, but I’m not sure how or if I would be able to use the two controllers in Traktor at the same time. Anyone got any info on this?
I’ve managed to get a little bit more done, but it is time consuming and i’m rushed off my feet with my daughter and work. This could be a long time in getting to completion. I haven’t even got any more done on the MIDI controller.
Anyway, here are a few more photo’s.
Total cost so far £160. The PC part of the project would have been powered up tonight, but I had an oversight on the length of one of the IDE cables. I will have to buy a longer one or some kind of adaptor tomorrow. Then I will be able to start putting Windows on to it. Sometime soon, hopefully…
This is really easy actually, you just use a hid to midi converter to convert the gamepad to MIDI, and you can set them up to work fine in Traktor.
Here’s a link to an article full of HID/Midi program options (it’s using a touchpad, but it’s the same concept) and there are tons more programs out there.
The PC booted up first time. It’s downloading updates, drivers, anti virus etc, etc as we speak. I may even get Traktor downloaded to it before the end of this Bank Holiday weekend.
All I have to do to this part of the project is get all the right programs downloaded on to it and then make it look better than it does now.
Ok, so the amplifier (the bid red thing) I bought was utter crap. You live and learn.
I’ve also been on holiday for a few weeks to a Spanish Island with my gorgeous wife and my cute baby girl, but I’m back now and I may have a few minutes spare to devote some time to this project again.
Having seen the price of the Otus XP5’s & 10’s, I’m seriously considering buying a couple of them to compliment my new portable set up. I have a question though. If I were to buy two Otus XP5 or 10’s, would I still have to buy a separate sound card for a third channel, or could I route it through one of the XP sound cards?
I’m still building the midi controller, but work on that has come to a stand still until I figure out how I can play with 3 decks.
To recap, the photo’s you see above are of basically, an oversized laptop, fitted in to a 1210 case. The other MIDI controller will be all buttons and faders.
the EKS Xp 5/10s only have one stereo out. If youre using internal mixing anyway you could use one for cueing and one for the rest. However, they don't have a headphone output, so I guess youde need an extra headphone amp.
Right, I’m starting to look at getting the MIDI controller up to speed soon, but I have a few questions I’m hoping some of you good people can answer.
I’m looking at buying the Leo Bodnar controller as it has a lot of options on it. I’m also hoping to put some rotary encoders for selecting tunes, pitch bend/adjust and scanning through a whole song quickly.
My questions are : Will Glovepie support lots of switches and rotary encoders? And, has anyone used rotary encoders for this type of thing before, and what problems did you face.
Here are links to the controller and the encoders.
Once again, a big thanks to all who reply, your help is much appreciated.
My Alps faders finally came through and so did a few other pieces. Still waiting on the encoders, but I’m in no hurry considering they only cost me a tenner. I’m a little drunk right now and I’m so, so happy.
I did manage to get more done today. Now I have the exact dimensions of the faders, I managed to cut out the spaces for them. This has been the hardest part of the build so far. I had bought milling drill bits which I assumed would cut through aluminium no bother; but unfortunately it proved to be really, really difficult. I ended up using an electric Jigsaw and drill bits, trying to make sure I got the dimensions correct to the best of my ability (it’s all been done by hand).
I can’t wait to get this thing up and running.
There have been more than a few design changes (mostly due to my own faults), but it’s all been part of the learning curve. I’ve added leds, a joystick and extra buttons. Anyone planning on doing something along these lines needs to keep there plans fluid. Make your standard layout,but leave room to accept your mistakes.
I reckon I will be completely finished between January/February.
My wife wont let me buy a laptop. There’s 4 PC’s in the house already and she would crack up if I wasted money on one. Most of the parts for the computer I had lying around and it’s a fairly powerful rig considering. It will only be used for house parties anyway, so if anything happens to it I can replace parts on my own rather than paying someone to repair a laptop.
I eventually got the amplifier working as it should and I can run 4 x 100 watt speakers off it. That should get the party started.
It’s something I wanted to try out and see if I could do also. A personal challenge, if you like.
Right, so this is how it will look when it’s finished.
I’ve got the rotary encoders, rotary pots and all buttons working so far. I’ve just got to find time to wire the sliders, joystick and leds.
I might need some advice when it comes to mapping out the second function (shift) buttons, but I’m doing better than I’d hoped to be doing at this stage. At the moment I’m thinking of going along these lines…
Green buttons - Play/Cue
Red buttons - Load selected track on deck A, B, or C
Black buttons - Sync
Dark blue buttons (latching with leds) - Preview track
Light blue button - Second function (shift)
Small silver rotary encoders (middle) - pitch bend
Small silver rotary encoder (bottom) - Select track
Large silver pots - Bass/Treble
Joystick - effects
White arcades - Juggling etc. Five assigned for channel 1 & 3 each.
The LEDS under the sliders will illuminate when the fader is in use.
I would like peoples opinion on whether I should paint this. Personally I like the brushed aluminium, but it scratches very easily. All comments welcome, good or bad. I’ve got thick skin.
this is rad.. thanks for the inspiration… I’m in the middle of building a MIDI controller, but have been going back and forth over which micro-controller to use..
