MIDIBOX Controller with LED/LCD

[wackazong]

Hi!

I am completely new to the MIDIBOX, but I would like to build my own MIDI controller, and it looks as if MIDIBOX could do the job. What I require ist:

- about 100 buttons, each with an LED to show whether its on/off. Pressing the button sends a CC Message on a predefined channel, on receiving a cc value, the LED should light (with value 127) or go off (with value 0). Pretty easy so far, I suppose.

- about 32 endless rotary encoders, each with an LED ring that shows the current fader position and can also be set via a MIDI CC message (the same CC the encoders sends when turned)

- an LCD display for each encoder, which can receive MIDI Messages (SysEx, I suppose) and display arbitary text sent by the SysEx Message.

Would that be possible? Any comments would be very much appreciated, as I am completely new to MIDIBOX and MIOS, but very willing to learn :)

Thanks, ALEXander.

[stryd_one]

welcome aboard mate :)

What you want to do is possible, but maybe a little impractical. 100 buttons+leds is not soooo bad by itself, and nor is 32 encoders plus led rings, but in order to have both in one box you will require multiple core modules.

32 displays is possible but very impractical - each core can handle a single LCD, unless you're talking about PCD8544 screens (nokia) then you can have 8 per core.

I would suggest two things: Firstly, have a read on the forums and wiki about DOUTs and DINs and how they work and how many can be handled, and also think about the way in which most midiboxes and commercial controllers work, in that they use 'banks' of controllers, like they might use 4 banks of 8 encoders instead of 32 physical encoders.

Hope that helps!

[wackazong]

Thanks! MIDIBOX never sleeps :)

I will have a look at the DIN and DOUT, and at what happens when you use 4 cores together. I know about banks and so on, but I really want that many buttons, it will be an interface for improvisation, and life's too short to switch banks :)

But thanks a lot, it seems generally possible, now I will go into studying the details.

Best, ALEXander.

[wackazong]

Another question: The Nokia display is pretty big, I would just need one character line, maximum two, with maybe 20 characters. Is there a display that is compatible to the nokia and could do that?

And: I do have different banks for the encoders, and when I switch banks I want to change the 32 lcd displays all at one. Is that possible in a recent amount of time (<0.5 sec)?

Thanks very much!

[stryd_one]

You do realise, that in order to have 32x 2x20 LCDs, the box will be so big that you will need to walk from one side to the other?

Everything you have spoken of is as possible as it is impractical ;)

[wackazong]

Of course, I realized that. Thats why i want 1x16 displays, or even 1x8. But I am still in the brainstorming stage :). But it would be nice to see directly at the encoder what it is assigned to, wouldn't it? 32 encoders is not that unusual, look at the bcr from behringer for example. How do you remember which encoder has which function on you controller, especially if you have like 5 different presets for it? I thought the best would be to label them directly, using the displays. Sort of like the new Novation SL controllers, but better.

[ilmenator]

Take a look at the MIDIbox UC in the Wiki: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=midibox_uc

We have grouped 16 rotary encoders with button function around 2 vertical 64x240 pixels graphic displays. This way you have at least two lines with 10 characters each per encoder for parameter description etc. You could use the same hardware and modify the MIOS application running on it to fit your needs. It is C code, so you can read it quite well (as opposed to assembler - I hope).

Best regards, ilmenator

[Sasha]

I would rather go with nokia displays as stryd suggested. I think it would be better and more comfortable than 1x8 modules.

Your controller can be more compact if you put encoders and displays in 2 lines if it suits your design.

[stryd_one]

Funny, I was thinking of the MBUC earlier also...

As you can see from that and most other controllers, usually more than one encoder will share a single LCD, rather than having multiple smaller LCDs. I think you should consider that methodology.