any idea on mechanical part of modwheel?

[rambinator]

Hi!

As I am using a yamaha clavinova as a midi-keyboard I don't have a modwheel or pitchbend. I am know progressing with my midi box and I asked myself if it would be possible to integrate some wheels in the box but I couldn't figure out how to do this mechanically and I didn't find any spare parts on the web either...

Has anybody allready realized something like that?

cheers,

rambinator

[goyousalukis]

Well, I don't know if you will find new replacement Mod wheels easilly, but you have a couple of options. Try to find a dead keyboard to steal one from. Also you might consider using a Joystick like some manufacturers do. I found a couple of old Apple IIe joysticks at a flea market for $1 apiece, and they worked great. You can also use them for things like filters as well.

Justin

p.s. the great thing about the joysticks I got was that it had mechanical switches to change it between auto-centering and loose.

[Guest kostix]

if u would make them yourself,  i think you could do something like this to get an effect like that:

i would take the potentiometer, and drill a hole in the rod perpendicularily to the rod. then fix inside of the hole a piece of some strong wire/cable/whatever or something to make a "T" or a "+".  then i would fix the pot to some surface, with its rod parallel to the surface. after that u gotta find a couple of equal springs and fix each to the strong wire's both ends. the other ends of the springs u fix to the surface below.

i guess u would have to calculate by hand and eye how high you put the pot above the surface , and this way both springs will be pulling the wire letting rod in this "springy" state hehe

also when drilling the hole, make sure that the pot is at its middle position ..

thats it :)

[rambinator]

Thanks a lot for your replies....

@kostix: I allready thought about something like that myself, I guess thats how it works in the commercial ones... but I didn't try it yet because my father who is a mechanical engineer quite skilled in craft things laughed at me and said I wouldn get it to center at the correct position where I need it to be for the original note, because the pot doesn't have a detention at that position. But maybe I'll give it a try anyway.

@goyousalukis: That sound like it is worth playing around with. I should have an old joystick somewhere. Also the use for filters you're proposing seems interesting.

cheers

rambinator

[ryan.shuck]

Doepfer sells single (10Euro) and dual (30Euro) modwheels with removable spring return.  http://www.doepfer.de

[SMIDIRIN]

the "Some Random Thoughts About a Modulation Wheel" page perhaps ..

http://musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/ModulationWheel/ModulationWheel.html

you could make rows of these.

[rambinator]

Not bad this idea.

But as far as I understand, this is just an endless rotary encoder, based on optical elements, just like in a mechanical computer-mouse.

It wouldn't provide the tactile properties of a modwheel, which goes back automatically to the zero-position etc...

[illogik]

Hi

But as far as I understand, this is just an endless rotary encoder, based on optical elements, just like in a mechanical computer-mouse.

not exactly, this is more like vactrol control: the light which falls on the photocell is changing it's resistance (you don't get steps).

I've been experimenting with vactrols and IMO they sound wicked, as long as you don't get light from the surroundings they are pretty stable (so you could get nice center position as long as you get it right with the springs) and have a real analog feel/sound to them(read: they are not as quick as some other controls so you can hear it going to a stable value).

haven't used them in controllers though so this might be totally different

let us know if you try it out

cheers, marcel