architeq Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 Hello there, I am relativly to the world of making Midi Controllers... Basically, I am a producer but there's nothing that is as simple as I want on the market with a half decent build quality to meet my needs for a midi controller.Basically I have (roughly) designed what I want and I was just wondering if this sort of design is possible with the Midibox system...?Here's a link to the rough plan's... Basically the controls required are http://www.geocities.com/architeq_band/samsmidicontroller.jpg9x Faders (100mm)48x Knobs8x Buttons (not on plans)2x VU Meters based on Master Output from Ableton Live (Possible!?!?!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK. Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 Hi,the link to the .jpg file doesn't work. However, from the specs this seems to be a simple and good working configuration. Not sure about the VU meters, but from my experience transmitting them via MIDI is not accurate enough, better to build a analog circuit hereBest Regards, Thorsten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinnsyk Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 The VU meter should be build analog, there are many circuits to find with google to build. Not so difficult.About your box, you will need 2 AIN4X (48 + 9 = 57 => 7 non-used pins), and NO DIN4X module (you can stuff 8 buttons on the core directly, right? (not sure)).I would advise you to implant some cool stuff, like a joystick (4 inputs) for effects or something like that. It would be a shame if you don't use the 7 analoge inputs that are left free at this moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEEF Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 (in firefox) right click on the link & save it, ive managed to see it. actually hang on i'll rehost it....sorry i cant seem to display it, it opens on my computer but not when i host it. strange.looks cool though, what program will you be using it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
architeq Posted June 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 I'll be using it with Ableton Live... It's the best sequencing software for the music I make (www.myspace.com/architeq) and the easiest as far as assigning Midi to hardware is concerned...I think the VU's are out of the question but just for the aesthetic valuue I might hook up a headphone amplifier (or 2) so that they ressemble the output accuratly and I have the lights in the VU's to show that it has powered up... To use up the rest of the controls left, I'm going put your std rec/play/stop/rev/fwd buttons in the master section and 2 buttons at the top of each fader to stop clips and mute tracks in ableton live. I'm also going to put an on/off switch next to EQ secction on every channel to switch EQ in and out.Does anyone have any idea how much this will cost to order parts apart from the casing etc?I'm also wondering if I buy a Midibox 64 Kit: 1 x MBHP_CORE, 2 x MBHP_AINX42 x MBHP_DINX4, 2 x MBHP_DOUTX41 x LTCWhat will I need to buy (apart from pots/faders/switches etc) to get the thing working?Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinnsyk Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Well, if you are going to use more buttons than you do now, you will need an DINX4 module (or more).I don't know how many controls you want to use, and if you use it very much, but perhaps you could try this with some encoders.I'm planning an Ableton controller as well, and I think encoders could be very very handy with ableton.Something like an 7 tracks mix panel, with 3 potentiometers for equalizers or something like that per track, and 2 encoders per track for effects. With the midibox 64E firmware, you can select a group for the encoders, so that you can control up to 16 parameters per track.Unlimited tweaking ;)Some buttons / channel could control play stop rec etc, and you will need 1 encoder for the scene selection. (Ableton will allow you to use an encoder to scroll through your clips, press the MIDI assign in Ableton and you will see the additional functionality)Perhaps an encoder for your BPM, and an encoder for the quantisation.You can only use 128 virtual encoders, so an 8 channel mixer would fill it all up (16 * 8 = 128). With a 7 channel mixer, you could add 2 encoders that control BPM, quantization, and scene select. You would need 8 buttons to select the encoder group they are controlling.I'm designing my controller, I would post a picture when my final version is finished. Perhaps you could get some ideas to build your own super-midi-mixer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEEF Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 architeq - i thought it might be Live you're using. Glad to hear you're including the track stop buttons but why not the track start buttons? That way you can stop and start any track without using a mouse. Maybe you dont need to be able to do that but seems like an important feature to me. Just sounds funny to me putting a mute and a stop track button on each fader when they (can) function as the samething. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 You can get away with using a single button for Start/Stop if you set the Launch mode of your clips to Toggle.Saves DIN's, buttons and space if things are tight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEEF Posted June 28, 2006 Report Share Posted June 28, 2006 yes sorry you are right, id almost forgotten about launch modes :o :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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