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I have a design that would benefit greatly from a module such as this one. I've never built a Midibox before or any electronic device for that matter so I don't think I would be beneficial as a beta tester other than putting the module into practice. If I end up building without this type of capability then I am looking at connecting buttons using 2, 4x4 AIN's. My main question is in terms of parts and PCB availability. Are these things available at Smash.tv or would they need to be built to spec using parts from multiple suppliers? How complicated is the design to fabricate?

Hi Thorsten, I have a design that might really benefit from something like this (ability to hook up a keyboard). Is it possible to get schematics for this? Is there a module under development?

I figured with the flexibility of MIOS, all it would take is assigning the command that is normally reserved for octave up/down to another button or key. Mmmm, I'm also assuming that MIOS can shift through octaves, I'm not really sure though.

In my search for resource to construct this design, I stumbled upon POS keyboards, or the special keyboard that shops set up and program to add up orders or checkout customers among other things. They came in all shapes and sizes and configurations, in many cases you just pop on the color of keycap you want on each key. Just look at some of these (they are expensive here, but can be found on ebay for considerably less) http://www.posmicro.com/KEYBOARDS/Logic%20Controls/Logic%20Keyboards.htm The other option is to buy individual cherry keys, mount them on a PCB and wire then into an 8x8 scan matrix or 4xDIN's. The idea of dissecting a keyboard and rearranging the innards to suit my design is attractive to me mostly because of the ability to power off USB, plug and play, etc. I figure I could get a 49 key board with lots of knobs, LCD, etc. for ~$100. Then again, MIOS sounds very attractive also. I would love to have some sort of key that pushes up or down an octave when held down. Sort of like a shift key but for octave's when playing the keyboard. I also come from a background where I am comfortable playing on a keypad as opposed to standard keyboard. This is the reason for the key layout. It's compact, but still retains it's own logic. You can see a pattern forming, cascading if you look at the key layout on my unit. It might take some getting used to, but it's just a new, efficient, compact way of having a full size keyboard right at your fingertips.

A new music project community just popped up the other day. Has forums, and also a place where people can post up their new compositions for feedback and discussion or listen to other muscians compositions. There will be group project functions once it picks up in membership, maybe even sourceforge type features where several users can work on a project, album, patches together. In any event, drop by if you have a chance and contribute a little if you would like to get the community going. the URL is http://www.rfrsh.com

I was also thinking of making a Shift + Caps Lock type key where when you hold it, it shifts the entire keyboard up an octave, the Caps Lock equivalent would keep the keyboard an octave up. And also a few banks where you could switch the keyboard to send CC's. Does anyone have an idea how I can make this thing velocity sensitive? I would imagine this isn't possible but it would be great to have semi-weighted keys.

I am thinking about creating a MIDI controller with a unique spec, 61 keys in one layout, think computer keyboard type layout but 6 rows of 10 keys at roughly the same size. I want to use it as a suppliment to a full sized keyboard. I know I could easily just buy a small quater sized keyboard and shift up octaves but I would like to have access to a range of 61 notes at once. I also feel comfortable playing notes on a computer keyboard but want to make a similar experience that isn't as limited and is more like a hybrid between playing on a computer keyboard and MIDI keyboard. Velocity sensitivity would be a big plus. One option is to simply buy a MIDI controller and take it apart and reassemble the components in the case according to my desired layout and then hook the key contacts up to my buttons. My question is this; Does anyone have an idea of what I should expect from the innards of a modern MIDI controller keyboard? Since the footprint of the controller I wish to make is so small, I'm afraid that the inside of the MIDI keyboard I want to dissect will be too large or long. Is this the case? Or is it such that aside from the large external container of the keyboard, inside is just small modular parts which I would be able to rearrange into my idea for a small case. Has anyone taken one apart? Any idea if I could accomplish what I want to do by using the insides of an existing MIDI keyboard? Is there a MIDIBOX project that sounds like the right fit for my idea? Could someone tell me the best shop to purchase buttons, have a unique case made and other parts for my design? Here is a picture of what I have in mind.