As a complete novice to all of this, can I ask if anyone will supply any info regarding building your own MIDI controller. Specifically the types of hardware (USB-MIDI) to control software, as well as their pro’s and cons.
As far as I am aware I have only found 3 solutions.
I consider myself relatively competent on the physical building of a system (I’m an electrician), but the software part may take a bit of getting used to.
I would look to be controlling Traktor, and possibly Ableton, (if I get the hang of Traktor first).
I have had a quick look through the forum but can’t find any threads on this. If there is one already created, feel free to merge this thread with it.
Hale Micro UMC32 seems like a good little board to use for your first controller. Not sure where teh best place to get them from is though. I’m in the UK and it looks like the only place i could get them fronm is amarica.
Im going down the UMC32 route myself. The reason for this is that its all set upi for you. You just get your parts, wire them up and then plug it in. No programming is needed to get it to work.
Its more expensive than some other systems but it should work with the least amount of fuss
would this thing in the lfirst link above work as it seems mega cheap , if i could use them i would be well up for having a go at this. Does it not give out midi though ?
Not sure. I can’t even remember how I stumbled on it now. I’ve spent half the day looking at other peoples threads, astounded that all of this is possible.
I’ve built a few PC’s in my time and feel confident about the wiring etc, but the MIDI and programming still baffles me a little. I’m more than willing to learn though. I remember splicing cables to try and mix tape decks together when I was a teenager (some time ago now). My mother went daft.
hahahaha .. i will definately be keeping my eye on this thread as if you can use them controllers they seem really cheap compared to the rest of teh stuff out there
the first and second link are HID devices (think of joysticks and gamepads) that need to be converted to MIDI signals by software like rejoice.
they work well, but only allow a very limited number of faders/knobs. the number of faders/knobs you can connect depends on how many axes the board supports (e.g. the standard playstation pads have 3 axes. the x and y axis on one joystick, and the z axis on the other one).
a device like the umc32 will allow you to use either a fader/knob or a button for each input.
One other question while I’m here. Is it possible to have some kind of second function button, so when that button is pressed and you then push another, it performs a different function in the software, thus saving you outputs on your MIDI device?
I’m really sorry if this is old ground I’m going over, but I have looked through some of the forum and can’t find any answers in the first 4 or 5 pages.
Hi, yes thats totally possible. I am looking at the same thing, basically a shift button so the controls do two things. For example I have a pot that controls the amount of the effect, but when you hold the shift and turn it the effect type will change
i think the ultimarc a-pac is a great device for its price. you can hook up 4 faders/knobs and 24 buttons.
that would make a nice button matrix similar to the midifighter.
the one from leo bodnar even takes up to 8 faders/knobs and 32 buttons + 8 POV-buttons. at the given price thats unbeatable!
I might post some of my ideas later on. I’m thinking of building the enclosure myself from perspex and making it similar to a 3 channel mixer with effects. I prefer the feel of a mixer rather than just an effects box and if I’m going to a house party, I can just drag the new build along with a laptop, rather than hauling other expensive gear I don’t need to take.
I’ve got a 14 month old daughter who takes up most of my time, so it might be a long build though.
Hey just wanted to let you know, I have something similar to the mini-pac you linked. Its the u-hid you buy it from the same ultimarc people.
The uhid might be similar but I think its what you would use insted of the mini-pac. I think the uhid has more features, im not sure if the one you were looking at supports analog pots, knobs.
Heres my quick story about the u-hid. I bought it and I was super excited about it until I learned it only can do 8 analogs. It turns out that it is because windows only can do 8 analogs per hid device and that means all the hid devices are like this unless the board can show up as 2 joysticks in windows (hid devices show in windows and gamepad/joystik). Other than that the u-hid is great. It supports led’s that you can configure. It has a shift feature that changes everything to a 2nd set. It is really easy to configure. After the 8 analogs you still have 40 or so regular on/off devices you can use like arcade buttons.
I will be using a script program called glovepie to have my hid device run as midi and in that program there is alot you can do you could even build a shift feature in that or have 1 thing control more than 1 midi, ect. I will be using that until all the programs use hid or osc
As far as getting more analogs I am eigther going to buy 2 u-hid mini boards or a umc-32 (analog only on the midi device.
1 last thing I also want to buy from ultimarc some roatery encoders they have that seem really percise and they are usb (still researching on getting those mapped to traktor but they should work exactly like those that have build diy jog things from usb mouse)
Oh and… I bought a ultrastik 360 that if unlike a normal arcade joystick. normal ones just have 4 or 8 buttons that do direction like 8 way joystik. The one I bought has fully x,y resolution like a kaos pad or x,y pad.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I’m very much a beginner at this, (although I’ve been a DJ for many years now), and I have been truly inspired by some of the things I’ve seen on this forum. The decks vs computer argument won’t go away, but no one can deny that this is the way DJ’s will be playing to crowds in the years to come.
Any advice given will be given serious consideration, as I’m certain I will be taking this further. As an older guy I feel I will be playing catch up for some time though.
