Anyone building a custom controller?

DJ Padawan · Post by **DJ Padawan** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:05 am

Is there anyone out there building a custom midi controller? Post your advice or projects.

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:20 am

Look in:

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25914

MrYellow · Post by **MrYellow** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:33 am

Kit form? PIC programming?

What kinda level u looking at?

I've been writting software for a piezo trigger drummachine with velocity....
Got it down for 1 channel, got the LCD worked out..... just bit busy to finish
it off as 8 channels with the LCD all in the one bit of code.

Learning ASM wasn't so hard..... but then I am a programmer.....

I image the kit form stuff is really easy, especially seeing that the MIDIOS
from MIDIBox is really well developed.

-Ben

elemental · Post by **elemental** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:55 am

i've been thinking abou this again. As much as I like the faderfoxes, the idea of a proper mixer-style custom controller is enticing me ...

If there was a way of replicating a very simplified version of the ableton session view, using say 4 rows of 16 slots, with a little LCD for each one displaying its name, with dedicated buttons for scene select, and a mute, solo, start/stop for each channel, plus at least 3 pots for eq and fx send on each channel.

That would be sweet!

fall · Post by **fall** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:47 am

I don't think it would be possible to have leds that display clip names etc. Midi doesn't send out this kind of data. Maybe with usb but I don't know if you would be able to write software that interfaces with live in such a way.

I just use a (very cheap - 10 euro or something) arcade-style joystick... I use up/down for switchin scenes, and it's got eight buttons, which I use for starting and stopping clips in the currently selected scene.
Then I use a ps2-style controller for playing with FX, and the mouse wheel for cross fading.

robin · Post by **robin** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:07 am

I have a friend who's building a Doepfer based controller as we speak. Saw a picture of the front panel as it will look yesterday. When he's finished it I'll get him to post pictures.

The big problem with all the controllers available is the button situation.

Personally I'm going to try a Faderfox LV1 soon and see how i get on with that.

elemental · Post by **elemental** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:43 am

yeah for me 2x LV1 is the best controller i've found so far, and is esp convenient because of its size. It takes some practice though to get quick at flicking through channels/clips scenes, like zooming quickly to one channel to give it a quick send to the delay before switching scenes .. it can get fiddly sometimes, though limitations often push creativity....

DJ Padawan · Post by **DJ Padawan** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:44 pm

I'm looking into building a MIDIbox but I'm still in the research phase. I like the layout of Sasha's Maven and Hawtin's CTRL but I haven't played enough gigs with Live to decide what I want yet. I just want to know if anyone (not Super DJ status) was taking on such tasks or waiting for someone to start putting out controllers geared more to Live's power.

kineticUk · Post by **kineticUk** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:47 pm

I am making it my next big project to design a custom interface as well.
I want it to be based around the session view of live so that I can play my music Live.I love session view and want a controller so that I can control it without touching the computer if possible.
I think it will be a difficult task but worth it in the end.
The best controllers for Live I have seen seem to be custom made.

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:18 pm

I looked into this a while back. I kept hitting the same wall time and again.

I could never find the answer to this simple question:

What are the general steps for building a controller?

In effect:
I need to know what kind of soldering skill and equipment is required.
I need to know what kind of PROGRAMMING skill and equipment is required.
I need to know which PCB/Board makers are the easiest to use. (I can't tell the difference between uCapps and Dopfler.)

If programming (or just installing SYSEX/firmware/etc using an Intel machine) is necessary at all, I don't even need to THINK about starting a project like this. I would HATE to invest in all the parts and time just to find out when I have the thing built that I need a Masters in Pascal Programming to turn the thing on.

DJ Padawan · Post by **DJ Padawan** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:42 pm

kabuki wrote:
I would HATE to invest in all the parts and time just to find out when I have the thing built that I need a Masters in Pascal Programming to turn the thing on.

I feel the same way, I know there is shareware for programing the MIDIbox but I don't know more than that.

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:35 am

If you base it on the Doepfer hardware, there shouldn't be any programming involved. Not if you only want your controllers to send out CCs and note ons that has a fixed mapping per button/knob.

If you want to be able to remap on the fly, change setups in the controller etc, then you will need to do at least some "programming" in Midi Ox, Synth Edit or equivalent.

Macrostructure · Post by **Macrostructure** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:08 am

DJ Padawan wrote:Is there anyone out there building a custom midi controller? Post your advice or projects.

Go to http://www.doepfer.com

Also http://www.macrostructure.net/unitfive.htm

The basic stages are:

Preparation: draw layout, pick enclosure, modify layout to suit available enclosures, chose MIDI technology (Doepfer or MIDIbox), choose panel-mount or PCB-mount switch technology (a complex and critical decision with far reaching consequences), then choose knobs and buttons, cost estimate, revise specification, re-cost etc etc, order all the parts

Manufacture: machine casing, install knobs and buttons, manufacture and/or install PCBs, solder all the wires, test and play.

I thought I would get mine made in 6 weeks. It took 5 months. I thought it would cost 500ukp. It cost triple that but I admit it is pretty much top quality everything. And I have some basic skills in engineering, electronics and MIDI.

Things to remember:

1. It will not be a linear devlopment process no matter how much you plan
2. It will not work first time so if you don't have the patience, forget it
3. Prototyping costs loads of money and you are building a prototype
4. It's custom - if someone is spending that much money they will not want one just like yours so it's probably a commercial failure from the get go.

The most important thing is to understand the size, complexity and cost of the task of making even a basic custom controller. It is not "easy" as some have suggested and MIDIbox does not make the process simple at all. The challenges are not in the MIDI, they are in cost, time, organisation, assembly and coordinating parts from different manufacturers into a working whole.

By the way, one big problem is indeed the buttons - mounting choice, type, size, feel, functions and cost!

Having said that the sense of achievement at the end is huge and the product can be wonderful to own and use!

Feel free to ask any questions here or via email. Private email address is on my website. There's a lot of knowledge in my head about building these things that I would like to share.

Alternatively I could be tempted to build another one for someone else if an accurate spec could be agreed....

tomperson · Post by **tomperson** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 12:48 pm

Dummy post for future reference in case needed (you know, search).

kineticUk · Post by **kineticUk** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 2:32 pm

Thanks for the information macrostructure
That advice will help me out alot

Anyone building a custom controller?

Anyone building a custom controller?

Re: Anyone building a custom controller?