Building a MIDI Controller Using Arduino

День тому

What do you do when you don't have enough controls on your MIDI keyboard? You build a MIDI controller of course! Using an Arduino and some basic components this is an easier feat than you may imagine!
Remember to check out PCBWay's bit holiday sale (there are discounts and gifts) over at:
www.pcbway.com/activity/chris...
----------------------------
Download the code and circuit diagram for this project here:
github.com/SwitchAndLever/the...
MIDI Tutorial for Programmers
www.music-software-development...
MIDI Basics - Common Terms Explained
www.noterepeat.com/articles/h...
Expanded MIDI Messages List
www.midi.org/specifications-o...
What Is MIDI?: 11 Things You Need to Know About Music’s Most Powerful Tool
blog.landr.com/what-is-midi/
(also, thank you to Landr for allowing me to use some of their imagery in this video)
Digital audio workstation
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_...
loopMIDI
www.tobias-erichsen.de/softwa...
Hairless Serial to MIDI Bridge
projectgus.github.io/hairless...
Ragnarök VST
www.fullbucket.de/music/ragna...
MaxSynths: DR-910 VST
www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?...
Phutura VST
www.phuturetone.com
----------------------------
Get your merch on: switchandlever.com/merch
Follow and like Switch & Lever on:
Facebook: / switchandlever
Instagram: / switchandlever
Twitter: / switchandlever
Pinterest: / switchandlever
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/profile/view?...
And check out the Switch & Lever online store at:
www.switchandlever.com/store/

КОМЕНТАРІ: 740

@encryptedmaze 4 роки тому

"I do enjoy making random sounds for no other reason than to entertain myself." I understand this so much! I'm awful at making music but I love playing around with music software. Awesome video! I've never heard of your channel before, but I'm glad this showed up in my recommended.

@Renzsu 4 роки тому

Hah I can totally relate as well.. currently infatuated by The NDLR and IOS creative sequencers (Fugue Machine, etc.).

@jamkaramasu4167 4 роки тому

Yep.. it's a bug people have.. me too..

@xfbhhhhh 3 роки тому

Just like every starting musician. Music takes practice nothing else

@mutably 3 роки тому

Actually that's what music is all about : having a good time making sounds.

@shanmukeshr1696 Рік тому

Ahh i thought i was the only one doing that 🙁

@joshbasho 2 роки тому

thank you so much for doing more of a theoretical overview rather then a step by step guide. So much more useful when trying to wrap my head around how all these different things fit together.

@IsaacMayMusic 4 роки тому

I'm only 3 minutes into the video and I had to pause to comment on your motion graphics on this video. Seriously, holy cow. It's some of the highest caliper work I've seen on UKposts. Keep up the amazing work in both making and production.

@gerbilspals 4 роки тому

What a great video! I appreciate your detailed narration, beautiful graphics, clear camera work, and playful demeanor! I’m excited to share your channel with a few friends. Thank you!

@davidholmes3776 4 роки тому

This is very cool man! I’m very impressed with the exterior as well as the electronics! Great video - subbed so hope to see more!

@rhitosparsha 4 роки тому

When UKposts recommends you good stuff...

@ristomatti 4 роки тому

I've had a shitty day and was watching mind numbing random videos as no one I'm subscribed to had published anything interesting. But this instead was so relaxing and enjoyable to watch it made me smile the whole time. I've been wanting to build a MIDI controller also just for fun (I used to enjoy making music some 15-20 years ago). Now I don't have to and I can happily continue building light controllers for my home automation. Loved the editing and self aware references to other this type of videos. Subscribed!

@warpman74 4 роки тому

Your graphics and animations are seriously kicking ass, much impress!!

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Thanks man, I appreciate it! It takes a lot of time to do them so I'm glad that they're well received 🙂

@warpman74 4 роки тому

@@SwitchAndLever Det märks att du lagt mycket tid på det, jädrigt snyggt! 🙂

@xhackerethical200 4 роки тому

Yea true man

@labmainframe Рік тому

Very quality peace of content. I like it much!

@johnmalcolm4822 3 роки тому

You can probably assume that someone wanting to know how to build a MIDI controller knows what MIDI is, but seriously thanks for eventually getting around to telling us what we came to learn.

@SwitchAndLever 3 роки тому

You’d be amazed over how many people watch my videos despite not being into the underlying subject matter, so I wouldn’t be so quick to assume 🙂

@timfairfield407 4 роки тому

I really like the laser cutting and the clever foil tape as a power rails. Nice work!

@turpialito 4 роки тому

My sincere congratulations, sir. This is perfect for physically-challenged musicians. Hardly any limit to the physical interface itself, short of a BCI. Liked, commented, shared, and kudo-ed!

@davebauerart 4 роки тому

Awesome style, great overview of all the parts to customize and build your own.

@pinkponyofprey1965 4 роки тому

Yes! Definitely looking forward to this.

@LdotSdot210 4 роки тому

this is pretty cool. particularly liked that rotary switch idea.

@cutseencinematics 4 роки тому

yeah 100%

@luga5903 4 роки тому

Thank you for sharing that, this is probably one of the most complete midi tutorial on arduino around here! Thank you!

@micahkeren-zvi9208 3 роки тому

ach so cool , well thought out and well executed. I'm a musician with a fascination for electronics who is just learning to program, so this is very relevant. Dire Straits at the end is a nice touch too.

@FuzzyWobble 4 роки тому

beautiful. love the raw wood exterior.

@DimartinoS 7 місяців тому

the way you synced the title with the drums in the intro makes you a musician, that was clean af

@stephenhookings1985 4 роки тому

Smart how you use the 6 way to extend the physical encoders. I did this using an old PS2 keyboard and used the keys to change mode - could used your keypad for that too. But there is something very pleasing about your solution that I like. Thanks for sharing. I added an LCD onto my box to give some additional feedback. I saw another dude making his own "cs80" style slide switch via serial chain of resistors as a voltage divider with a wire to tap off of Veroboard. Really neat.

@jacquesmertens3369 3 роки тому

This must be the most informative and best made video on midi vs Arduino that I have ever seen. Subscribers = subscribers + 1

@stoopitfresh7533 4 роки тому

you can tell alot of work went into making this vid..! awesome work!

@Conservator. 4 роки тому

Switch & Lever Maybe not a musician but certainly a magician! I very much like the content but also your humor and awesome video editing and production skills. I’ve no idea how much time you put into these video’s but must be quite a lot (and it’s undoubtedly 5x more than that;-) Liked and subscribed.

@zenahrb8316 4 роки тому

the editing on this is amazing

@ekids.bassment 4 роки тому

I thought about this yesterday, and today your video was recommended (finally a good recommendation)

@Theguyguyguy 3 роки тому

Same thing for me

@TandaMadison 4 роки тому

Great project! I particularly liked the "bus bar tape". What a great idea for cleaning up the point to point wiring a bit. I will definitely file that away for future use.

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Mainly suitable for low power applications, and only on non-conductive surfaces obviously, but it does come in pretty handy from time to time. I did cover it with electrical tape off camera though, just to insulate it in case any exposed wire would come in contact with it.

@spasticjackson9578 6 місяців тому

Me too ! The copper tape bus was perfect for this !

@aaronalbores3999 4 роки тому

Beautiful video, amazing project and incredible results. I love it!

@thedogwooddandy 3 роки тому

dude, just stumbled on this, your channel is amazing and your tender care of the videos is noted. thank you!!!

@ChanceDevlin 4 роки тому

Wow. This is my favourite thing on UKposts right now. It's my dream to build my own foot playable midi controller. I could probably figure out the Arduino stuff but I don't know how to do all the fine woodworking. I'm going to google online fine woodworkers/CNC and also people who will create an Arduino project for a fee. Thanks for the inspiration!! Greetings from Canada

@stucorbishley 3 роки тому

Just stumbled across this video, such a great video! Like others have pointed out, the presentation and graphics are so slick. Also that case you made is very very nice.. Subscribed!

@mercedesescobarmusic 3 роки тому

I don't even remotely know anything about Arduino, but I enjoyed watching this. Great project!

@Dick.C.Normous 4 роки тому

Great video and your code is actually really easy to read, thanks for that especially!

@GiacoWhatever 4 роки тому

Yesss!!! Very nice, I need to try it!

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Dudes! Do it! Look at Great Scott's video where he built his own launchpad. Really good inspiration.

@Noone-of-your-Business 4 роки тому

Now _that's_ what I call "building". Other people post videos of them assembling ready-made kits and complain when you point out that a "build" involves your own _design_ . Nice one!

@pinnacle4616 Місяць тому

new to this , and this is one of the best videos ive seen thus far considering my current knowledge! 🔥

@TSmith-br5dw 2 місяці тому

your craftsmanship is impeccable, beautiful work brother

@CraigSchubert 4 роки тому

Love your style!! :-) . Cool to see what can be done with these tools.

@Zaqwilson1 4 роки тому

best video and graphics in youtube! well done man, we need you

@DoubleDoubleU 4 роки тому

DAYUM! That is a nice video. I really like the design of your controller.

@PeranMe 4 роки тому

”No shortcuts to the perfect sound” :-) Jättefint bygge! Thanks for sharing this!

@phlerpen 4 роки тому

Farbror Barbro rules!

@awesomefacepalm 4 роки тому

I actually just received my very first own designed PCB from PCBway today, kinda satisfying to get the final product in your hands

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Congrats! Indeed it is! I still feel like getting PCBs made is a little like magic to be honest 🙂

@awesomefacepalm 4 роки тому

@@SwitchAndLever Thanks! I'm doing a course on PCB design in Jönköping University right now, and it has been real fun!

@sjookyh7666 3 роки тому

Hi. This is great stuff!. Good and clear information. I am just for 1 week working on Midi with Arduino and already I can control the MinimogueVA (free VST) with external control pots and switches. No need to buy a 32U4 based Arduino, a Nano clone with CH340 USB chip works. I have tested it for Cakewalk and Ableton Live Lite. Thanks for your good work!

@michfranc1446 4 роки тому

Dude. Both your MIDI controller (that design is cool, hell yeah) and this video are really well made! Whole thing is informative and helpful. Thanks for this! owo

@SergioTashdjian Рік тому

You just made my day here! Your friends are very lucky people i bet. Thank you!

@cgonzt5636 Рік тому

Awesome presentation, thanks!

@stephentrouse2069 3 роки тому

Fabulous production!

@TheRealTeebz 2 роки тому

This was a great video. It really inspired me. I love playing synths and like you I am not a musician, I only like to make sounds. My brother is a hobbyist micro-electronics guy and also loves synths and electronic sounds. I am trying to convince him that together we should start building bespoke midi controllers according to customer specifications and go into business together. At the very least one should be built that I can use that has at least 64 knobs, 64 faders, 64 buttons and 64 pads. Gigantic? I know, but it's a dream.

@macswanton9622 4 роки тому

Making and using devices is your version of writing and singing songs, and I think many would say you are prodigious, in the age of makers, in your field of endeavor.

@maximeestevn5319 4 роки тому

I subbed for no other reason than your satisfying animations

@LocalForecast 4 роки тому

Such steady heands! Such craftsmanship.

@lightfusionproductions4891 4 роки тому

That's the coolest thing! Thanks for making this vid.

@backgroundpianist6733 4 роки тому

That was awesome. Talk about inspiration!

@ChrisLeeW00 4 роки тому

Great video, my kind of project!

@alanburgess2203 4 роки тому

Fantastic project, hat off to you sir!

@BehradDavoudi 4 роки тому

thank you so much! now i want to make midi controllers. great channel. subbed!

@scarletnotes 4 роки тому

I always dreamt about getting Sanwa denshi arcade buttons in my midi controller and map them to program up/down function. This give me hopes that is is quite possible :) Great video man, thanx!

@bicycleninja1685 3 роки тому

Nice job! Beautiful instrument.

@ivanbergamo8815 3 роки тому

nice one! Hyped to program a Groovebox now

@torbjornahman 4 роки тому

Oh, that brought back some memories... I actually wrote a complete midi-player (sequencer) back in the days, probably around 1994. I enjoyed the sound from my sb16 + wave blaster and my connected Roland keyboard. Most for the fun of it of course, but it worked nicely... I have to dig that up and run it in a dosBox or something.

@purpshell 3 роки тому

Tick with no replies? My spot!

@SeriouslySeriousGrim 3 роки тому

@@purpshell I’ll take second

@tomsanderson1515 2 роки тому

Effort!

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers 3 роки тому

You’re a genius! Beautifully made product!

@pumpdumpster 4 роки тому

Brilliant, thank you.

@sriragkt 4 роки тому

Salute for your skill and humbleness

@Nikc-Nack 4 роки тому

Dang, this video is wicked. Your editing and animations are awesome and I love the project. I want to try something very similar for a footswitch I can use while playing

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Thank you, hearing that really means a lot considering how much work goes into making a video like that. You can definitely make a pedal quite easily using this method, it's just one button if you want it to just be on and off. If you want it to have a range, so you can do things like velocity control with the pedal, you need a different solution though to sense the difference.

@ontime8109 4 роки тому

soldering montage was very enjoyable :)

@ciucametrix 4 роки тому

You're a real talent! Congrats!

@unfortunate2565 4 роки тому

Great idea with that phone keyboard! Neat and awesome build.

@harrypehkonen 4 роки тому

The use of copper strips for power rails seemed like a cool idea. I might give it a try!

@massimookissed1023 4 роки тому

Thick single-core copper wire will work well too. The kind of stuff used in domestic wiring in your walls & ceiling.

@tomhrio 4 роки тому

interesting use of compound switching layers. reminds of some korg synths

@andli 4 роки тому

Brilliant as always, such a pro

@NACHOXVALLE 3 роки тому

Fabulous teaching.

@electron7373 2 роки тому

Love the enclosure design and graphics! Wish I had a laser cutter like yours😢

@SergioToledoSeralto 3 роки тому

Very well produced video. Congrats!

@CTCTraining1 4 роки тому

Great project idea ... think I might give that a go over Xmas. Much appreciated. Keep up the good work!

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Do it! It can be done a lot simpler than what I made. 🙂

@mutantejoetromundo1148 4 роки тому

cara, seu projeto é muito maneiro!!! obrigado por compartilhar... ☎🎹🎶

@deniszbuhran 9 місяців тому

Woah! I have like 10 vintage telephone keybeds in my home and wanted to do this! Great to see its possible

@telugunewmovies3697 4 роки тому

Super excited

@katieguerrero3105 4 роки тому

Real nice design

@adochshanov 4 роки тому

Simply awesome!!!

@pascaldeshayes5459 4 роки тому

OMG this is beautiful!

@43audio89 3 роки тому

Very informative. I even went to go grab that Phuture VST you plugged in the video. Excited to try i

@SwitchAndLever 3 роки тому

Yeah, there are lots of really good free VSTs out there.

@43audio89 3 роки тому

@@SwitchAndLever This was honestly the first free one I've messed with. I really liked the Synth but the Filter plugin!!! Super dope. Little Jbridge and badda-boom! been making presets ever since. Cant wait to tell my mentor about it! thx again

@stevekoehn1675 2 роки тому

I love that 5/gnd tape idea!!! Have to find and order some

@SwitchAndLever 2 роки тому

Copper tape is pretty common. Look at gardening stores, it’s often sold as snail repellant.

@slmjkdbtl 4 роки тому

the video production is so good

@dsfromsomewhere 4 роки тому

Nice work!

@alnitak1003 4 роки тому

Fantastic design... this should have more views.....!!!!

@patrickkelly3053 3 роки тому

Hey, This is great. Making my own version right now and I just wanted to let everyone know that I could not find a version of loopMIDI for MAC. But MACs do have built in midi settings you can find in your system preferences that works great. Also, make sure to check your baud rate matches. So far my prototype is way more stable than "MAX connection kit." This is prime content.

@ilikemyrealname 2 роки тому

How did yours come out and are you still using it? I’m considering making on with many rotary encoders to control plugin parameters when mixing/mastering. Any advice is welcome.

@patrickkelly3053 2 роки тому

@@ilikemyrealname Works great. Has not broken on me once. Some support software like hairless midi serial for mac needed to be updated when the OS stopped supporting 32bit programs. But I was able to find a 64bit version of hairless midi. Its a great project, let me know how yours turns out.

@ilikemyrealname 2 роки тому

@@patrickkelly3053 Thanks for the tip! Great news that it’s been working well for you. If I may ask, did you use encoders and if so, which ones?

@patrickkelly3053 2 роки тому

@@ilikemyrealname I did not use encoders. Good luck, let me know how it turns out.

@Fer_jotage 4 роки тому

Great video! Cheers from Argentina

@donaldklopper 4 роки тому

Epic job dude

@CarlosEduardo-xf2xx 7 місяців тому

There's a video talking about the joystick, I liked it, keep going

@gregorysember2164 2 роки тому

Great vid! Inspired me to make my own. I decided to go with the Arduino Teensy though which has an ARM chip and can easily pretend to be a MIDI device. . . Much simpler on the software side of things.

@mestari33 Місяць тому

I love the wooden look!

@deniscassiere 4 роки тому

that was inspiring, thank you!

@omnivorace 3 роки тому

Excellent, and pretty to see. Personally, the best interface I have known is the Novation Nocturn, with its great automap software. But the endless knobs were really poor quality. I am surprised that Novation has not released a Mk2, especially since they are doing mk2 or mk3 with many other products of the brand. Your video makes me want to replace the fragile buttons with durable, solid ones. I don't know if you know the Novation Nocturn, but I think it's still an excellent base today and deserves a new life with better hardware. In any case thank you for your video, it inspires me, who's not a handyman at all.

@garagemonkeysan 4 роки тому

Your projects have such great design and fit/finish. Same is true with your videos. Great instructions. Mahalo for sharing! : )

@SwitchAndLever 4 роки тому

Thank you! I appreciate it 🙂

@coversongsonkeyboards 2 роки тому

Wow So much information! in just a few minutes,thanks for share.

@loydsa 2 роки тому

excellent video. A pleasure to watch.

@MRlukas323 4 роки тому

That's a great project! 👍🎹

@kieroto5372 3 роки тому

Thank you for this sir!

@noewacreativemusic6794 Рік тому

this is awesome!

@xhackerethical200 4 роки тому

Bruhhh your animations . Love ittt

@joonasfi 4 роки тому

Very nice and interesting! Also very clear presentation. Years ago I mucked around in Reason, but it's pretty daunting as it's very powerful and thus has some learning curve. I might have to try it again, as I'm very much like you - not talented in music but it's nice to screw around :)