DIY: My Wooden Foot Controller (UPDATE: Version 2)

[gjm]

Version 2 is here. See Original post.

[UKRuss]

Tidy!!!

[Pasha]

Great. When you start mass production? Coupled with a Launchpad should sell like candies!
Imagine putting it through a Keystroke to MIDI converter...
Well finished and polished, let me say I like that Apple-ish glossy finishing...

[gjm]

Thank you.

I DL'd Keyboard Maestro and am currently taking a look at that. Then Bomes.

Also, I actually made 2 of these. I will daisy chain them and set one with caps lock so will have 18 assignable options

With a bit of refinement they should be quite easy to build. There are a couple of manufacturing process that depend on machinery that the average DIY person may not have. So I want to find a different way. Also MDF is not my first choice. However, everything except the dowel and the front row of knobs can be made from a standard unfinished 300mm x 600mm MDF shelf from the hardware store, which was $11.00 at my local HW store.

[Pasha]

Thank you.

I DL'd Keyboard Maestro and am currently taking a look at that. Then Bomes.

Also, I actually made 2 of these. I will daisy chain them and set one with caps lock so will have 18 assignable options

With a bit of refinement they should be quite easy to build. There are a couple of manufacturing process that depend on machinery that the average DIY person may not have. So I want to find a different way. Also MDF is not my first choice. However, everything except the dowel and the front row of knobs can be made from a standard unfinished 300mm x 600mm MDF shelf from the hardware store, which was $11.00 at my local HW store.

You could sell building kits. Ikea style.
Pack the keyboard, wood, screws, springs.. and you're done..
You could call it 'DIYPBC' (Pedal Board Control...)
A star is borne.

[mikemc]

This is well executed and it is a splendid concept. I would say there is one fault: it looks like it relies on the springiness of the keys to pop the buttons back up. I think you should put springs on the buttons themselves for this.

[gjm]

This is well executed and it is a splendid concept. I would say there is one fault: it looks like it relies on the springiness of the keys to pop the buttons back up. I think you should put springs on the buttons themselves for this.

Thanks. I actually did include springs in V2. The pedals are set up with a 3.5mm travel. The springs I found offer a nice positive feel under foot. There is a small audible sound when the disks bottom out onto the face plate, but its not a loud 'click' like with the switches usually found in MIDI foot controllers.

Cheers. G.

[gjm]

You could sell building kits. Ikea style.
Pack the keyboard, wood, screws, springs.. and you're done..

This is actually quite easily done, except people should be able to use there own keyboards. Looking for second hand ones could also be an option. There are a few refinements I would make, but if people were interested then I would look at making a small run of these. Surface coating/finishing is mostly personal, but well within the grasp of DIY'ers. It can however be a bit time consuming depending on how fussy you are.

If people are interested in a 'some assembly is required' project like this, then please register your interest here or by PM. Numbers of interest would dictate how I approached this.

Also as a side note, a smaller 7 pedal option could be made using the apple keyboard that comes without the number pad. This would be very compact and approx 330mm x 150mm or 13"x6" in plan size.

Cheers. G.

[mikemc]

This is well executed and it is a splendid concept. I would say there is one fault: it looks like it relies on the springiness of the keys to pop the buttons back up. I think you should put springs on the buttons themselves for this.

Thanks. I actually did include springs in V2. The pedals are set up with a 3.5mm travel. The springs I found offer a nice positive feel under foot. There is a small audible sound when the disks bottom out onto the face plate, but its not a loud 'click' like with the switches usually found in MIDI foot controllers.

well then, yer a freakin' genius carry on!

[Blue Monster 65]

Very cool! I'll look forward to a full review of how it works in a live situation.

[xzusa8ky]

One word!

"Iwood"