I think I've built the most versatile MIDI Controller (am I crazy?)

[Antigone]

Hey everyone,

I've been tinkering with this idea and wanted to share it with you all:



It's a MIDI controller that has holes in its display, allowing for knobs to be placed directly on top.
This way, the digital info you need is right where your hands are.
(disclaimer: I don't like touchscreens, I like to have a physical feedback)
And you can have as many "pages" as you want, your MS20 skin and knobs controlling your VST can become a Moog instantaneously

It's kind of a mix between Electra One (my favorite midi controller so far) and StreamDeck.

I have few working prototypes and have been using them both in the studio and during live sets (they work very well).

I'm really curious to hear your thoughts... probably just trying to reassure myself here and check that I'm not crazy and the only one thinking it's amazing - I think I've already fed one or two of my friends

(At this point I'm really not sure if I want to carry on this project and sell it, or simply use it for myself)

Would love to get your feedback!

[S4racen]

So you're saying that all of the display is a screen with the physical controls being fixed...

I feel the same as you with regards to touchscreens for most controls but they do offer a nice solution for touch strip style control that you may consider, as well as menu diving...

Other than that though if the controller above is an indication of the finished product then I think it's damned fine!

Be wary of going down the producing it en masse and wanting to make a fortune, the likes of Kickstarter is filled with failed boutique controllers that offer configurability down to the user...

If you can lock this in to the Ableton Live Paradigm and extend it to include Channel Strip control and the like then I think it's awesome!

What's the underlying software??

Cheers
D

[Antigone]

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes the controller above is the current prototype, I'm currently working on the next version (very similar).

I don't think producing it en masse is possible at this time: the time and care to build this is very high, and the components used are themself very pricey.. so in any case that would be a quite expensive product, a bit niche probably ?

But honestly it's a pleasure to use, I wouldn't go back to any other controller now.
For me it's been a game changer really.

It would be totally doable to include Channel Strip control and the like, if myself some customer have the need.
Today I really like the fact that it's totally generic and plug and play though: you connect it via USB, it's discovered as a compliant MIDI Device with two ports, and you have an interface to build pretty much any interface you'd like, just like Electra One, but with much more power.
We could add some more Abletonish features, but they would have to be on top of compliant MIDI I think, to keep this previous feature.

Software is mostly C++ / OpenGL

Thanks again for the feedbacks !

[dr_loop]

....intriging! But how do you do that? Where do you get displays with holes in them? Or how do you make them?
The idea actually is not so new, it's in fact almost obvious. But there is a reason why these things (hardly) exist. (They exist in the high-end audio world, e.g. the Studer Vista consoles).
And I remember a project (here on GS?) where they put the physical controls on top of the display, looked somewhat strange but kinda worked, but I don't remember the details.

BTW: I think in your design there is a major flaw. If you go to so much trouble, why do you use potentiometers and not encoders? And display the actual values on the screen? Even the simplest scribble-type controllers do that.

[Antigone]

thanks for Studer Vista reference ! I spent quite some time looking for similar ideas and never found anything that came that close.

They're obviously encoders and not potentiometers which would be totally useless here ! The caps still have a small indicator in that picture (that's why I've painted them black, trying to hide it), but I'll receive new custom-made caps next week

Everything is custom made, the base displays are regular laptop displays, but I'm now switching to much more brighter displays so you could use this controller in plain daylight more easily. I cannot fully disclose the technologies used here, as I'm in the process of validating a patent.

What is the reason why these things hardly exist in your mind ? Too expensive ? Too hard to make ? Not enough interest, too niche ?

(I'll try to do a proper video/demo in the upcoming weeks)

Thanks !

[CH7]

....intriging! But how do you do that? Where do you get displays with holes in them? Or how do you make them?
The idea actually is not so new, it's in fact almost obvious. But there is a reason why these things (hardly) exist. (They exist in the high-end audio world, e.g. the Studer Vista consoles).
And I remember a project (here on GS?) where they put the physical controls on top of the display, looked somewhat strange but kinda worked, but I don't remember the details.

BTW: I think in your design there is a major flaw. If you go to so much trouble, why do you use potentiometers and not encoders? And display the actual values on the screen? Even the simplest scribble-type controllers do that.

How?

Well, I can see how you could do this by creating a sandwich. A transparent plastic sheet that you drill out and attach the controllers to, you would paint where the wires were routed so you won't see them from above. Then you just lay that on top of a regular screen, which you program later to align with the pots. In other words, you don't put holes in the screen, just the plastic sheet above that screen. Neat.

As for why you do this?

You could flip between screens, have different values automatically appear, do automation, and still have that tactile connection. You could even swap out one layout of controls for another. Not that the cost for screens are that expensive. Of course you could go the other route and lay sensors on a large-screen tv and treat it like a high-end monster touch screen tablet.

[Acid303]

Incredible. I've dreamed of something like this with a proper hardware layout and dynamic controls that has enough knobs to work well on soft synths. Can we see some videos of it working? Great work! I've been thinking of picking up an electra (but not convinced i'll be able to make it work properly in live - to dynamically switch presets between whichever device I select in Live)) or mp midi but this is just better.

[randi]

I've been thinking of picking up an electra (but not convinced i'll be able to make it work properly in live - to dynamically switch presets between whichever device I select in Live))

There's a dedicated remote control script for the Electra, which does exactly that (and more), check the Electra forum https://forum.electra.one/t/ableton-liv ... face/1420/

[chapelier fou]

I’ve been wanting this for years !
Quick question : can you dynamically change the displayed texts ? Over sysex or OSC would be nice.
In my opinion, this feature is what would make it even better !
I’m super super interested, congrats !

[Antigone]

Thank you for your positive feedbacks

I've finished the last prototype in July and I think it's now ready to be sold in small batches to enthusiasts!

I've made a (quick and dirty) website if you're interested: https://www.veloursdevices.com
I'm planning to make a video soon !

@Acid303:
For now, updating the display when you're switching device in Live is not supported, but' it's definitely something I'll be working on.
It's not on my "live" workflow where I tend to be as far as possible from my laptop, but that would be a joy to work with in a studio configuration.
That will require a remote script to be installed in Ableton Live but it's totally doable.
Right now, KARL only does "MIDI".


@chapelier fou:
OSC is not supported yet, but you're not the first one to ask, so I will add this quickly.
Once it's done, dynamically changing displayed texts from a OSC message will be easy to implement.
Out of curiosity what exact use case are you thinking about ?

For the past year, I've been mostly working on hardware and low level firmware integration, to be sure that everything works fine at this level, because once it's into your hand, that's the thing I won't be able to update.
The software part is easier: the updater works and updates like this would not be a problem to ship

I'm thinking about creating a forum where we could have threads for those ideas.

If you have any ideas or suggestions I'm all ears !

[randi]

I've made a (quick and dirty) website if you're interested: www.veloursdevices.com
I'm planning to make a video soon !

Somehow this is forum messes up the url and puts ableton forum in front of it

[Antigone]

Added https:// in front of it to fix that. Thanks !

[torstenlehmann]

Just an update on this, because I'm hyped since I saw this thing in real life at Superbooth 2025.

Website now provides more information: https://www.veloursdevices.com
Especially this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoaUtFiDrTA

I touched this thing. It's real

[Angstrom]

Hahah, wow. I saw this thread bumped and I thought "oh what a shame for OP, because I know that someone has demonstrated this idea recently at superbooth and it's much more comprehensive too"

and it's OP's project that I saw.
Well done dude!

[Antigone]

Thanks a lot !

It's been quite a journey since that post

The plan is now to polish everything and add more features for the official release in September (yes, this is the fun part)... so don't hesitate if you have ideas