[Rubber button group buy?]

Hi Screaming_Rabbit,

I strongly disagree!  ;)

There are rubber button pads on my mikroKONTROL and there are rubber buttons on my Electribe. All of these are nicely to touch, easy to trigger and provide a good haptic feedback.

The switches I used to build in various DIY-stuff really suck. They are expensive, even more expensive with visual feedback (LEDs), they begin to make noises somewhen (quieek! ...no joke: LED-Switches for 4,- EUR each), they're ugly, you have to concentrate to get the position, because they are tiny and the distance to the panel is too long, that is, you cannot easily "flow" over the panel with your fingers... let's say the rubbery ones remind me of a modern computer keyboard, while the others are like industrial typewriters.

Of course I don't know how these matrix-buttons feel, but looking at the backside, I expect them to have a nice feeling (and looking at the price, I expect that, too ;D )

But I agree with Jidis, it would be interesting having someone around here who has a Monome or maybe worked with this Button Matrix!

Best regards,

Michael

You mentioned visual feedback...

I have yet to build a midibox but i'll be ordering some stuff from smashtv later on.  Are you going to be using midiio128 or something else?  I'm just not sure exactly how we'll get the visual feedback from the program to work properly :-/

[Rubber button group buy?]

Why would somebody go for the bad feeling of rubber pad buttons? - To break down production costs! But for this price (100 pads = when you order 1600 pcs. of switches) you get decent switches with a nice tactile feel.

Greets, Roger

I happen to really like the feeling of rubber pad buttons.  I think the other upshot to this is that you can place leds behind the buttons as indicators to what it is doing and color codes to show what channel it is modifying.

[Rubber button group buy?]

That would be (hypothetically ;D ) more than delicious! 8)

Unfortunately I never created a PCB design, but maybe someone else here likes the idea?

Just in case, here is the link to the original pcb for these button pads:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8033

Yo, audiocommand, do you have aim or msn?  if so can you hit me up with your screenname in a PM?

Thanks!

[Rubber button group buy?]

i've been thinking about the pcbs...

"What if, and belive me, this is sooo hypothetical" (office space)

I (or someone) created a pcb design for the buttons using all SMD components?

The backside would have all the DIN and DOUT modules on it and the frontside would have the button contacts as well as places for smd leds.

This would be a fairly cheap board since it could be made with no holes what so ever...

The boards could either be 8x8 or 4x4

[Rubber button group buy?]

Yo!  I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a group buy of the spark fun 4x4 button pads.

I'm sure everyone has been lusting after these for their latest midi contraptions as I have been too.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=7835#

Any takers?  I don't know if I really want to be the one organizing this, someone else is more than welcome to take charge.

[Piezo elements possible?]

Yo!

I've put my monome clone on the backburner for quite some time but i've decided to revive the project as my microkontrol has kicked the bucket and needs repair...

however, I am interested in using piezos in my HUI so i can have 8 large (4" by 4") drum pads on the bottom, all connected to piezos.  The problem is i don't know what, if any, of the modules support this.  I have yet to see any one do this.

It appears that the microkontrol gets its velocity sensetivity from piezos...

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

i know what the monome does.

I actually know a good bit about midi fwiw.

I am waiting for their midi mapping software because it seems like it will make mapping things in certain software much easier and it will give me the led feedback.

[Clear buttons?]

something about a rubber membrane being used on a tactile microswitch just doesn't seem right...it would have an odd feeling to it...

at first i was more interested in some buttons for tactile switches but these look awfully nice... sadly i dont have the cash to get any at the moment...

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

go right ahead and bid on it, i'm still thinking about exactly what i want to do...

and the monome isn't a synth, its just a midi controller.  i'm waiting until they release the software for it (supposedly open source) so i can see if it can be modified for the midibox, if not i think i'll be building the midibox seq...

[Clear buttons?]

Hello!  In my journey to complete my 64 button midibox controller i am currently stuck...

I ordered 200 tactile pushbuttons from ebay which have the right hardware for standard button caps.

I really want to use clear button caps for these so i can illuminate them using a Dout module and some spiffy blue or UV leds.

but I have searched high and low for clear caps that will fit on these to no avail...

I thought about making my own but that seems like way too much work.  i'd like for them to be largish, 3/4 of an inch would be fantastic but i can totally live with 1/2 inch if thats all that is available...

Thanks!

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

would you be willing to elaborate?

What i'm trying to do is make my setup as one man electronica friendly as possible...

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

i'd like to add some faders to my box as well...

i've searched but i couldn't find how many ohms they need to be...

sry for the n00b question

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

oh believe me, i have scoured this site thoroughly many a time in search of spiffy projects  ;D

So, leds are possible without any recompiling or crap like that?

and i'd just need a core module pcb, 2 dout, and 2 din boards?

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

just so we're clear...does midios have to be recompiled for each individual application or are there any kind of precompiled kernels i could use to make an 8 by 8 (or more) button box?

The flashing leds aren't my largest concern, if it doesn't have them its okay...

[Monome...is diy replicate possible?]

http://monome.org/

This is what i've been looking for!!!

But the price (when i could find it...) was pretty steep and i just can't afford it  :-[

So i figured i could turn to you guys for advice...

Would it be possible to replicate this with midibox?  My friend is interested in one as am i.

If possible i'd like to have the leds flashing just like the videos controller show (make sure you watch the wonderful video to see how it works...)

[question about PIC and cost...]

Hi,

A hex file is the already compiled code.

Just install MPLAB from microchip and use it like described here:

http://www.ucapps.de/howto_tools_mplab.html

http://www.ucapps.de/howto_tools_mpasm.html

(It's free!)

No

They are ok. I use them in my SEQ. The only disadvantage is that you sometimes unintentionally turn the knob when you just wanted to press it...

CV is no problem.

I never used more than one channel (Never needed more...).

Raphael

i was wondering what type of midibox seq the .hex file was configured for.  type of lcd, buttons, etc, everything.  this way i know what to buy and i don't have to mess around with compiling the other crap...

can smash tv program this onto the PIC for me?  or can i program it over midi with the bootloader?

THAKS!

[question about PIC and cost...]

what kind of configuration are the hex files for?

If i need to rebuild it, what does that involve?

would it be possible to do a midibox seq and a single sid using one core?

and i noticed on smash tvs website he has rotary encoders with switches...i like the idea of using the encoders as buttons in order to keep the front panel looking nice, clean, and simple to use, but i'm not sure if they are exactly what i need...do i need any kind of special knobs to go over it for the switch to work?  are they momentary?

can i set the midibox seq up to do 12 midi channels and 4 CV outputs?

Thanks for all the help and all the great projects!

[question about PIC and cost...]

hello!

a few months ago i started getting into synths and now i have a roland sh-32.  i've tried using pc sequencers before and hated them (with a passion actually).

i'm used to the "classic" method of sequencing with 16 steps and have been searching for the perfect sequencer for a loooooooooong time and when i found this site i was sooooooooo excited.

but here is my problem, i'm on a very limited budget, i can't produce my electronic music without a sequencer and i'd love to build a midibox seq and mayby later on a midibox sid synth.

Do i have to compile the code for the PIC in order to get it to run right?  If so, is there any way i could get someone here to do that for me?

i'm planning on ordering most of my stuff from smash tv's website but he(she?!) doesn't carry any buttons or knobs to put on the rotary encoders.  after scouring ebay and several other sites i found some nice (cheap) knobs to put on the encoders but i still haven't found any good (cheap) buttons to use... any ideas?  i'm in the USA, Digikey has some cool ones but they are 94 cents a piece and that adds up pretty quickly...even after bulk pricedrops...

THANKS!

[newbie, need info on song mode...]

hello!

about a year ago my neighbor started showing me how to make electronic music on a korg emx.  mere months after he first showed me i owned a synthesizer of my own but no sequencer...  i tried several pc based sequencers and hated all of them and started looking for something i could buy that had a seq. similar to the emx.

then i found this site and the awsome sequencer plans in it.  i know i can build this thing, i've done similar projects in the past.

my question is, this sequencer has song mode which i am assuming is for arranging different patterns?  if so, how many patters can be used for each song?

THANKS!