Today I built a DIY cardboard MIDI controller. I used an Atmega168 with code written in Arduino and programmed on an Arduino NG. The whole circuit is breadboarded and connects to the computer via a single USB cable. The serial output of the MIDI controller is parsed by a MaxMSP patch to the IAC Driver on my MacBookPro. I tested the controller with Ableton Live and it worked without a problem. I also included an LCD display that shows the current value of the controller knobs as they are tweaked and holds the last value of the last knob turned. The pushbuttons send MIDI continuous controller messages that alternate between 0 and 127 and an LED reflects the current value.
DIY cardboard MIDI controller
I am planning on using this Arduino based prototype to experiment with fine tuning the firmware for a line of boutique and custom MIDI controllers. The final project will be ported to C using the AVR C library and I will make the whole project open source.
Here is a look at the back. I just used whatever pots I had, so they aren’t matched. The LCD is a serial one from SparkFun.
Underbelly of the cardboard MIDI controller
really nice work man lol i want it.