2008diy midi controller
here is the recipe for my rough and ready controller, built around the doepfer usb64 midi controller kit.
you don’t need a great deal of experience to do this. basic soldering skills and a rudimentary understanding of electrical circuits should see you through…
ingredients:
1 x doepfer usb64 midi interface kit
28 x sanwa arcade buttons
12 x small momentary push buttons
19 x 10k rotary potentiometers + caps (knobs)
3 x 45mm linear potentiometers + caps (faders)
2 x 60mm linear potentiometers + caps
a load of 1mm single core wire
tube of solder
small sheet of 4mm mdf
short length of 1cm square dowel
10 small wood screws
pva glue
tube of black acrylic paint
tools:
soldering iron
wire strippers
plyers
knife
needle-nose plyers
helping hands/craft vice
paint brush
multimeter (for testing solders/connections)
method:
(the usb64 manual explains in detail how to wire everything up. these are the basic steps)
1. design controller layout – i used photoshop, with units/rulers set to millimetres
2. transfer design to sheet of mdf – i used a solvent to transfer ink from print of design onto the mdf
3. cut mdf to size and drill/cut all holes for buttons, knobs and faders. cut pdf for sides of case, attached to top panel with square dowel and pva glue
4. paint top and sides of case
5. fit buttons, knobs and faders – i used a few pieces of mdf and glue on the underside to pad the knobs and faders to they sat nice and flush on the top side, once their caps were attached
6. solder wires to join all the positive and ground terminals of the pots and faders in groups of 8 (the usb64 has 8 ribbon cables)
7. do the same as step 6 for the buttons, inserting a 10k resistor (from the sub64 kit) between the ground terminals and the wires
7. join the 8 sets of wires set up in steps 6 and 7 to the positive and ground wires on the 8 ribbon cables from the usb64 kit
8. solder the wiper/middle terminals (i.e. the one that isn’t the positive or ground) of the pots and faders to any of the remaining wires on the 8 ribbon cables
9 . do the same at step 8 for the buttons, except the wires are soldered to the ground terminal (before the 10k resistor)
10. make rest of box for controller
11. attach usb64 circuit board to bottom of case, making a hole in the back to attach the usb cable
12. set the jumpers on the usb64 for the midi channel/note/controller settings you wish to use
13. attach the 8 ribbon cables from the completed top-panel to the usb64 board
14. close case using wood screws
15. plug in to usb port on computer
16. test the midi, and work out which knobs/buttons/faders are not working
17. open case, inspect solders/wires/connections for bad connections, repair
18. close case
19. repeat steps 15-18 as many times as required until all controls are sending the right midi signal/s
20. wallow in self-satisfied stupor
your awesome! thanks for the helpful pictures and instructions