Jero Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Hello everyone, I'm completely new here, and new to the idea of building any type of MIDI devices. I do however have an electronics supplier where I can get parts at cost and I'm an trades electrician with limited electronics knowledge but enough to understand what most things do. I've been tossing around this idea in my head for a long time so I came searching the net for an answer and found this forum. What I want is very basic, all I want to build is basically a one octave MIDI controller keyboard on as small of a scale as possible. Just an on or off sort of thing, no velocity sensitivity or anything fancy, just a row of 12 buttons and that's all. I'd like to be able to hook it up to my laptop just to get the very basic functionality of a MIDI controller with Propellerheads Reason 4, and I'd like to then be able to attach it to my guitar for live performance, so I want it to be very small. I'm just wondering where the best place to start would be, and if anyone has an idea of approximately how small I could build such a device. I'm hoping in the order of not much more than 2"W x 8"L x 1.5"D.... Is this possible? Thanks a lot! --JERO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nILS Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Welcome aboard, Jero :)Place to start: Read up on ucapps.deYou dimension idea: Yes, this is possible. It'll take some fiddling and you'll definitely have to etch your own boards (or have the etched) or build the whole thing on a perfboard, but it's definitely possible.Cheerio, nILS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jero Posted November 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Wow, great and thanks for the fast response! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jero Posted November 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Alright, so from what I understand so far, if I were to order a CORE kit, a DIN kit, some MIDI jacks and buttons, I should be good for most of the parts? Also, could I operate a device this size from a 9v Battery? And for buttons I was thinking of doing sumthing like ripping apart an old PC keyboard and using a strip of keys somehow as the buttons, haha I dunno just tossing ideas around. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 No problem for the 9v battery (hehe, i love portable devices too), Then, do not use a screen, because it will suck most af your batterie juice...But, i suggest that you order a lcd screen to debug, and when you app is ready, just disconect the screen ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nILS Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Power: Ummm, since you're not using any audio stuff you could just take the 5V from an USB or PS/2 port of the laptop ;-)DIN module: Since you're not connecting any further boards to the Core you might even get away without one. After all, not connecting any other boards leaves a lot of pins on the pic empty. Get one though - it's a pretty cheap item and will keep development simple. Getting the kits - which is a good way to start and an easy one, too - will limit the size though. The core board is 3.1x2.35 inches iirc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 ..or you could use Minty Boost and power it from 2xAA batteries: http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/ ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 ..or you could use Minty Boost and power it from 2xAA batteries: http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/ ;)or you could use it with a 9V-battery and a 78L05 ;DSSCN0787.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jero Posted November 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I'm gettin excited now haha, a 9V would be perfect cause I don't want to have an LCD connected when it's finished anyway, but as suggested I'll pick one up for debugging. I do like the idea of powering from USB but that would mean having two cables going from my box to my laptop which I'd like to avoid if possible by keeping a battery contained in the unit. Then again It would be nice however to have the option included though if the battery dies and I don't have a replacement. and as for the size of the CORE kit being 3.1 x 2.35, I think that maybe the smart thing for me to do right now is just sacrifice some of the size and make it slightly bigger for now while I get the hang of how to do all this stuff, a CORE kit like you said seems to be a safer route for a first timer. It would be nice if I could eliminate the DIN though, I want this thing to be as basic and simple as possible. And those little battery units are pretty neat, something to look into anyways. Thank again for all the help everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBunsen Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Even smaller without buttons ;DThe MIDIO128 is probably the code/hardware model you should be looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 tactile switches are smaller than keyboard switches (and inexpensive). also, they have a nice click feel to them so when you're playing guitar, you'd be able to feel the switch being pressed. i think timing your presses with a tact switch would be easier than a keyboard switch, and less motion because tact switches have a very short travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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