MIDI foot controller project

[RobA]

I went looking for MIDI foot controllers again yesterday and was once again put off by the price, size, complexity, etc. of what I found. I've done this several times now. I have the Behringer tank/aircraft carrier thing, but it's, um a little oversized. (And I hate programming it.) So, I've got this idea in my head of building one using one of the little Arduino embedded boards as the brain. I think this part would be pretty easy. There's a decent MIDI library for Arduino and I've written a MIDI controller in software before.

If I'm going to do this, I'd kinda like it to be a useful project in general instead of just focused on the one thing I have in mind. So, I was wondering if there would be others here interested in teaming up to work on this.

The features I'd like to see would be:

• Compact
• Multiple foot switches
• Expression pedal or CV input
• Simple read out options, two line LCD or simple 7 segment numbers
• Battery powered with Li-Po batteries and onboard 9V recharging input

I think most of these would be pretty simple to include. The only on I can see being a bit of a problem is the battery charger because all these parts are SMD. They don't have a lot of pins though, so it wouldn't be too bad.

Anyone interested?

[Vallhagen]

This is a cool idea.

Fact is, that one (of two) things that actually got me into this DIY-hobby was an idea to build a plain expression/wahwah pedal with midi out. Because - as far as i know - there is no such product out there. The closest should be Line6 FBV Express MKII, which i were close to buy once, but i got put off because it didnt work with my (the old) version of POD 2.0, and the floorboard are rather expensive for what it does. Anyway, I thought - and still Think - i need a toy like that for guitar recording in a full digital DAW Environment.

So i did some research, found a wah shell, and i was verrrrrrry close to buy me some PICKIT programming stuff. Though, during research, i also found info about how to build your own tubescreamer... and since then I havent came back to that midi thread..., that wah Shell is still empty  .

[selfdestroyer]

I have wanted to make one for my Strymon Timeline FOREVER but never really nailed down how I wanted to do it. I have seen some make them from Arduino's which I have a few laying around but just need to read up some more.  I would love to see where your project goes and maybe I need to revisit mine and we can share some ideas.

Cody

[RobA]

...
Anyway, I thought - and still Think - i need a toy like that for guitar recording in a full digital DAW Environment.
...

Since you were looking at using a wah shell, I take it that you were mainly interested in controlling effects parameters by mapping MIDI CC's to the parameter in the DAW. That should be pretty doable. Would you need USB input for MIDI over USB or would you go with straight MIDI connectors. I think having MIDI over USB would be nice, but I think it's a bit more complicated.

[RobA]

...
I would love to see where your project goes and maybe I need to revisit mine and we can share some ideas.

That would be great. Here, at the beginning stages, input about possible uses and what it would need to be able to do would be great. It looks like there are a few ways that this could be done and it would help to narrow down which way to go just by knowing how something like this might be used.

[Vallhagen]

I take it that you were mainly interested in controlling effects parameters by mapping MIDI CC's to the parameter in the DAW. That should be pretty doable.

Yep, that's exactly what i am lookin for. Definately doable, even simple, at least in theory. Its really just to translate the expression moves (one pot) to midi 0-127. If i remember right, i actually solved it theoretically: i found some info on the web with a similar idea. 

What i should need to learn is two things; get into midi programming and the technique in programming EPROMs, i havent done that since early 90-s. (or maybe it isnt really EPROMs nowaday? EEPROM? Flash?).

I remember i looked at "Pickit", but you talk about Arduino. Is there any important difference, that makes Arduino better?

But then again, my DIY-work took Another direction. But u get me into thinkin that i should pick up this idea again. I can do some "backresearch" and see how far i was...

Cheers

[Thomas_H]

I would be interested in this but I am not doing Ardunio as I think one of those buggers is enough but if you  are interested in PIC programming and development I can help out.

[RobA]

I take it that you were mainly interested in controlling effects parameters by mapping MIDI CC's to the parameter in the DAW. That should be pretty doable.

Yep, that's exactly what i am lookin for. Definately doable, even simple, at least in theory. Its really just to translate the expression moves (one pot) to midi 0-127. If i remember right, i actually solved it theoretically: i found some info on the web with a similar idea. 

What i should need to learn is two things; get into midi programming and the technique in programming EPROMs, i havent done that since early 90-s. (or maybe it isnt really EPROMs nowaday? EEPROM? Flash?).

I remember i looked at "Pickit", but you talk about Arduino. Is there any important difference, that makes Arduino better?

But then again, my DIY-work took Another direction. But u get me into thinkin that i should pick up this idea again. I can do some "backresearch" and see how far i was...

Cheers

Two things make using AVR/Arduinos nice for this. There is an Arduino library for doing MIDI that is pretty complete. It's probably overkill for doing just the expression pedal. It would be useful for doing more advanced MIDI stuff like clock syncing and such. The scond is how easy they are to program and load the software on. If you are using an actual Arduino, then you just need a USB connection to your computer and the Arduino programming environment. Even if you just go with bare AVR's (or PIC's for that matter) the programming is quite a bit easier than doing EEPROM's etc. They pretty much all have some form of ISP connection where it just takes a simple program that has a USB connection to your computer.

Depending on what you are looking to control, you may want to use the mod wheel or breath controller output instead of a general CC. The higher bit depth definitely helps to avoid zippering.

[RobA]

I would be interested in this but I am not doing Ardunio as I think one of those buggers is enough but if you  are interested in PIC programming and development I can help out.

I don't understand what you mean by "one of those buggers is enough." Is there an Arduino based MIDI foot controller project out there that's pretty complete? I've seen a few people using Arduinos for specific MIDI controller projects, but they were pretty much aimed at doing the control for a specific performance or task.

The primary reason I was looking at an Arduino based system was for ease of programming for everyone involved. For working on general microcontroller projects, I've got programmers for ARM, AVR, and PIC. But most people don't, so I figured Arduino would make it easier to collaborate as a group.

The other thing is that although I like the PIC processors, they have specific issues with their complier licenses that make them unworkable for me in an open source/open hardware setting. It's unfortunate because the PICs have some really useful features for audio, especially the dsPICS. In the end, the newer ARM cortex stuff is well above the capability of PICs and has good support for open source projects. So, I've decided to work with AVR processors for lower level stuff and ARM MCU's for things that need more power.

[raulduke]

I was going to build myself something similar, and this looked like the best (and most flexible) option.

Pretty cheap too.

http://www.analoguehaven.com/doepfer/pocketelectronics/

Livid instruments also make somethings similar (in a modular format).

[raulduke]

Just found this, which looks even better, is USB powered, and is cheaper.

Gonna buy one and make my own foot controller me thinks.

http://shop.lividinstruments.com/brain-jr-starter-kit/

[RobA]

The Doepfer stuff is so very cool. I've wanted one of their ribbon controllers for a while now. But, the prices in the US are way too much, especially compared to what they are in the EU. I wish they would find some more distributors here.

The Brain thing looks nice. I can't find the programming info. Can you program it? Do you need to program it? Need more info. Guess I'll have to watch the vids, but it's too early and my ears aren't awake yet.

[raulduke]

Here you go:

http://wiki.lividinstruments.com/wiki/Brain_Jr

If Midi control is all you are after, and you factor in the time required programming an Arduino etc. the Brain Jr appears to be a erm.... no brainer (excuse the pun  )

[RobA]

Thanks for the link. I did watch the video and then found the software editor and then from there got the link over to the manual. (It looks like they wrote the software editor in Max. It's clunky.)

I'm not sure, but it looks like the CC's are limited to the 7 bit value (0, 127) CC's, which I've found can be a problem with some effects where being able to use the full mod wheel/breath controller resolution helps. But, depending on what you are looking for, it could be a really easy way to do it. Although, using a small AVR processor to do this would only cost about $2(US). So, I'm still kinda leaning that way for even the really simple task.

For the main thing I need to do with it, I need to be able to use the foot switches to send bank and program selections. I can't figure out yet if that's supported.

Over all though, for building up customized MPC like controllers with lots of switches and buttons, this could be pretty slick. I'll have to keep reading to see if can figure out if it can be configured to do what I need.

[RobA]

I think I've hit a the thing that will make it so I can't use the Brain Jr. It doesn't look like it's got a MIDI jack, just MIDI over USB. That's great for the direct computer interface, but kills it for what I need. I'd have to move up to the full Brain V1 and that pretty much prices it right out of the range for this.

Still, this does look like a really cool set of tools. You could probably put together a pretty slick force sensitive drum controller for not a whole lot of cash just using the Brain Jr and some force sensors and accelerometers.