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Turnado Hardware MIDI Controller

The development of a dedicated hardware MIDI controller for the Turnado audio FX software plugin.

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This project is the development of a dedicated hardware MIDI controller for 'Turnado' - a multi-award winning, real-time multi audio effect software plugin, developed by Berlin-based company Sugar Bytes.

Turnado can be controlled by any hardware MIDI controller, however using a generic MIDI controller to control Turnado doesn't always give the best experience or allow you to use the application to it's full potential. This project aims to fix this by developing a hardware controller that includes a number of features, controls and design choices specifically encompassed to allow Turnado to be controlled and used in the optimum way.

DISCLAIMER: I am not nor never have been a developer for Turnado or Sugar Bytes, nor am I sponsored or endorsed by Sugar Bytes in anyway. All images/logos of Turnado belong to Sugar Bytes.

What is Turnado?

Turnado is my personal favourite audio software FX plugin. 

It is in my opinion the best application for real-time audio manipulation, and it is especially useful for producing glitchy/IDM style music as well as for live electronic music performance and remixing. 

In a nutshell, Turnado is real-time multi effect application that has a simple interface of 8 knobs where each knob controls it's own effect in varying ways. In Dictator Mode, you can control all 8 effects simultaneously with a single fader. It contains 24 different effects - ranging from classic effects (e.g. filters, reverbs, delays) to more hi-tech effect (e.g. loopers, granular, vocoder). See below for a good features overview video.

Why Develop a Dedicated Hardware Controller?

Turnado is most useful and fun when being controlled by a hardware MIDI controller, and it is very easy to assign any MIDI controls to the 8 software knobs (as well as to many of the other plugin parameters). Being hardware controllable is essential for live performances, as in these scenarios the performer usually prefers to have direct, tangible and easy access to the software without having to mess around with computer screens, keyboards and mice. However I've found that using a generic MIDI controller to control Turnado doesn't always give the best experience or allow you to use the application to it's full potential.

Existing MIDI controllers have the following problems when being used to control Turnado:

  1. They don't always contain a set of controls that allow the user to control the Turnado Knobs or Dictator fader in the optimum way, both from an interactivity and musical aspect.
  2. They don't often contain an intuitive control layout that matches that of the software plugin, and will in most cases either not provide enough controls, or provide too many controls (where the presence of unused controls can be confusing).
  3. They often still rely on the user having to use the computer screen for visual feedback of the parameter values. 
  4. They don't often make it possible or easy to allow multiple instances of Turnado (where each instance is effecting a different DAW instrument/track) to be controlled - either simultaneously or in quick succession - by a single hardware device.

This project/device aims to solve these problems in the following ways:

  • Providing a set of thumb joysticks for controlling each of Turnado's knobs (and the Dictator fader) independently in an intuitive and ergonomic manner
  • Providing a set of controls for controlling all of Turnado's primary parameters, no more and no less.
  • Providing a control layout that roughly matches that of the software plugin, so users of Turnado will intuitively know what each set of controls do.
  • Using an LCD for providing realtime visual feedback of the plugin parameters, preventing the user from needing to use the computer screen.
  • Allowing each control to have an independent MIDI channel, allowing multiple instances of Turnado running on different DAW tracks to be controlled simultaneously.
  • Providing a quick way to change the global MIDI channel of the device, allowing the device to quickly change which instance of Turnado it is controlling.

How Does the Hardware Controller Work?

Here is a demo video of the MIDI controller is use, controlling two instances of the Turnado plugin to perform live audio manipulation/remixing of a set of audio loops:

Here is a rough annotated 2D sketch of the controller's panel:

 See the design log for more info on this, but here is a summary of the device's controls and features:

  • The main section and the most novel feature of the controller comprises of 8 pairs of...
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TurnadoHardwareMidiControllerBoM.xlsx

Bill of materials from UK suppliers

sheet - 44.08 kB - 10/20/2018 at 06:07

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DWG Drawing - 33.88 kB - 10/18/2018 at 17:41

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TurnadoHardwareMidiControllerSchematic.pdf

Schematic v1 for the project, drawn using KiCad.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 296.93 kB - 10/14/2018 at 08:44

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  • Submitting for the Finals

    Liam Lacey10/21/2018 at 13:44 0 comments

    I’m thrilled that this project has been chosen as one of the top 20 projects of the musical instrument challenge, and that it is now going into the finals of the 2018 Hackaday Prize!

    Therefore over the past couple of days I’ve been busily finishing off the last few requirements of the project:

    Enjoy!

  • Panel CAD Drawing

    Liam Lacey10/18/2018 at 18:08 0 comments

    With the help of my wonderful girlfriend, I've now got a DWG CAD file of the panel design, stating the positions and sizes of all holes that need to be made. Below is a preview, but the file can be found in the Files section of this project and in the project's git repository.

  • Project Schematic

    Liam Lacey10/14/2018 at 08:54 0 comments

    Here is the the schematic for the project drawn using KiCad:

    https://cdn.hackaday.io/files/1607926879324928/TurnadoHardwareMidiControllerSchematic.pdf

    You can also find the .sch file in the project's GitHub repository.

    It's the first time I've used EDA software to draw a schematic, and the first time I've drawn a schematic of any kind in a long time (other than using Fritzing every now and then), therefore I'm not sure if it's laid out in the optimum way. However it should tell you everything you need to know about how to wire up the circuit for this project if you wanted to give it ago yourself.

  • Demonstration Video

    Liam Lacey10/07/2018 at 17:27 0 comments

    Six weeks ago this project was just an idea in my head; but after 2220 lines of code, 112 wires to solder, 67 enclosure holes to drill, and 1 broken microcontroller, the device is finally in a usable state that I can demonstrate!

    Here is a video demonstrating the MIDI controller in use, where it is controlling two instances of the Turnado plugin to perform live audio manipulation/remixing of a set of audio loops (taken from one of my own tracks). Ableton Live is being used as the host software for the plugins, and a Novation Launchpad is being used to trigger the audio loops.

    Unfortunately it's not easy to make out the realtime control feedback on the LCD in the above video, therefore here is a quick video showing the behaviour of the LCD when controlling the software parameters, or when the software parameters are controlled directly and send MIDI back to the device:

    Enjoy!

  • Code Development

    Liam Lacey10/07/2018 at 17:10 0 comments

    I've now got the Teensy firmware code to a point where the MIDI controller is working as intended and fully usable for controlling the Turnado software. 

    All software can be seen in the project's GitHub repository, and rather than trying to describe here how the software implementation works I've commented the code as much as possible to try and explain this.

    The code I have written for this project is split over 13 files, where the Arduino/Teensy sketch code is split over 7 files (the .ino file and 6 .h files), with three classes (each split over a .h and .cpp file) that are used in the sketch.

    These are the code files that make up the project's Teensy/Arduino project:

    • TurnadoController.ino - The Teensy/Arduino sketch file. This file doesn't include much code other than includes to the sketches .h file, call's to 'setup' and 'update' functions within the .h files, and some global variables.
    • Globals.h - This file includes global defines that are needed by many of the other files.
    • PinAllocation.h - This file includes defines for the Teensy pin allocations for the project.
    • Controls.h - This file includes all code relating to reading and processing the devices controls. This is one of the largest code files of the project.
    • Lcd.h - This file includes all code related to the setup of and drawing on the LCD. This is another one of the largest code files of the project.
    • MidiIO.h - This file includes all the code relating to MIDI input and output.
    • Settings.h - This file includes all code relating to the device settings and reading from and writing to EEPROM.
    • RotaryEncoder.h / RotaryEncoder.cpp - This class handles the processing of rotary encoder controls.
    • SwitchControl.h / SwitchControl.cpp - This class handles the processing of push buttons / switches.
    • ThumbJoystick.h / ThumbJoystick.cpp - This class handles the processing of thumb joysticks (current only Y axis, and X axis and switches aren't used in this project).

  • Attaching Controls to the Enclosure pt. 2

    Liam Lacey10/05/2018 at 17:18 0 comments

    In my first 'Attaching Controls to the Enclosure' log I ended by stating two things I had left to do in regards to the enclosure:

    1. Add a laser cut frame around the LCD to tidy up the messy panel cutting
    2. Attach a USB socket to the rear of enclosure

    LCD Frame

    I've now attached a 3mm black acrylic laser-cut frame around the LCD, attached to the enclosure using the LCD screws, and it's dramatically improved the look of the overall device.

    See below for some photos (where the second photo is a 'before' shot)...

    USB Socket

    To allow the Teensy board's USB port to be accessible from the outside of the enclosure I've attached a Bulgin PX0446 Panel Mount USB connector/socket to the rear of the enclosure, where I've soldered a micro USB plug to the end if it's lead so that it can connect to the Teensy board. I'm not particularly happy about how much the socket protrudes from the surface of the enclosure, however this seems to be the only panel mountable USB socket available of it's kind. See below for photos:

    The Finished Enclosure

    With these two parts done, the enclosure (and overall hardware) is now finished! I'm toying around with the idea of added a decal to the panel to label all controls, however I really like the clean minimal look of it without this. Here are some photos...

  • Building the Electronic Circuit

    Liam Lacey10/04/2018 at 07:22 0 comments

    Over the past couple of weeks I've mainly been busy completing the electronic circuit for the device. All electronics have been done using wire and stripboard (rather than building a PCB), simply because this is what I feel most comfortable with.

    Circuit Design

    Other than needing a lot of wires to attach the controls to the Teensy microcontroller, the circuit is very simple and only requires 1 resistor (mainly thanks to the presence of the internal pullup resistors on the Teensy pins), and requires no other extra components. The main reason I chose to use a Teensy 3.6 over the smaller Teensy boards was so that all controls could be connected directly to the microcontroller without have to use multiplexers or shift registers. However as the Teensy 3.6 is probably overkill for this project in every other way, a Teensy 3.2 with some shift registers would be a more affordable option for building this device.

    I will post a circuit diagram at a later date.

    Teensy Pin Allocation

    This device uses 53 pins of the microcontroller, leaving 6 spare digital pins and 3 spare analogue pins. I have specifically left pins 0 and 1 (RX1 and TX1) spare incase I want to add serial MIDI-DIN connections in the future.

    The specific pin allocation I have chosen is based on the orientation of the Teensy in the enclosure and the position of the controls on the panel.

    Click here to see the pin allocation.

    Issues

    Other than it taking a long time to solder all wires to all controls, the main issue I had was when soldering wires to the surface mount pins on the Teensy. On my first attempt I ended up accidentally pulling off a couple of the solder pads when trying to bend the wires into position, causing the Teensy to start behaving temperamentally (resulting in me needing to replace the Teensy board altogether). However after switch from solid core wire to stranded wire (which has more flexibility) I didn't have this problem again. I had considered using right-angle headers to access the surface mount pins, however this appears to be more suited for when using protoboard (rather than stripboard), which I personally don't like to use.

    Photos

    The panel control wires. GND and 3.3V wires are daisy-chained between controls.

    Wires soldered to the surface mount pins of the Teensy.

    Teensy in a socket attached to stripboard, where the wires from the surface mount pins are attached to their own strips.

    The completed electronics.

    The mess of wires. 

  • Attaching Controls to the Enclosure pt. 1

    Liam Lacey09/24/2018 at 09:25 0 comments

    Over the past weekend I attached the majority of the controls to the enclosure, and the device is now starting to look like a working MIDI controller (from the outside anyway!).

    Parts

    These are the parts I've used:

    Enclosure Choice

    I chose to use the Takachi Electric Industrial CF27-18BB enclosure for the following reasons:

    • The sloped design of it should make the controller more usable
    • It's almost the perfect size for the controller
    • The panel faceplate can be easily removed from the frame, making it easier to drill holes in and makes it easily replaceable if needed.
    • You can access the inside of the enclosure from either the left side, right side or bottom; this will be handy if needing to repair the device once all put together.
    • Aluminium is more robust than plastic
    • Comes in black

    Panel Drilling Template

    Unfortunately I'm not yet knowledgable in using any CAD software for producing technical drawings, so for creating a template for drilling the enclosure I used a probably-questionable alternative - Photoshop. Whilst using Photoshop probably made this process harder than it needed to be, it got the job done. Also as I'm only using this drawing as a manual drilling template, as opposed to a technical drawing for a CNC routing machine, it doesn't matter too much at the moment. See below for the final template design both with and without gridlines:

    Creating the template for the joystick module was the trickiest part here, as the actual joystick isn't central on the PCB meaning the hole for the joystick is not central between the mounting screw holes.

    Drilling the Enclosure

    To make holes to attach the controls to the enclosure I only had a drill and a Dremel at my disposal - no access to a CNC routing machine (or a CAD drawing to provide to one!).

    Below are some photos of the process:

    While it's not the neatest drilling job, overall I'm happy with how it came out. I'm not too happy with the messiness of the hole for the LCD (cutting out a rectangular hole with just a drill and Dremel was particularly tricky), however I'm going to attach some kind of laser cut frame to the top of the panel to tidy this up.

    Hole sizes for the controls:

    • Joysticks - 27mm
    • Encoders - 7mm
    • Buttons - 16mm
    • Mounting screw holes - 4mm

    Attaching the Controls to the Panel

    The controls are attached to the panel in the following ways:

    • Joystick modules are attached via 4 x 12mm M3 screws, with two nuts on each screw used as spacers between the top of the PCB and the underside of the panel (see photo below). The spacing nuts were needed due to connectors and other parts being in the way.
    • LCD module is attached via 4 x 10mm M3 screws with a single nut on each screw used as spacers, like with the joystick modules.
    • Encoders are attached via nuts attached to the shaft on the topside of the panel
    • Buttons are attached via nuts attached to the shaft on the underside of the panel

    What's Left To Do

    I've got a few things left to in regards to attaching controls to the enclosure:

    1. Add a laser cut frame around the LCD to tidy up the messing panel cutting
    2. Attach a USB socket to the rear of enclosure
    3. Possibly replace the knob caps to something smaller

  • Development of the LCD Menu

    Liam Lacey09/15/2018 at 09:49 0 comments

    After getting started with developing test code for the ILI9341 TFT LCD I thought I'd continue along the same path and develop the LCD menu that will be used to configure the MIDI controller's settings. This implementation involved several elements - designing the menu layout, processing rotary encoder messages, creating a data structure for storing settings data, drawing to the LCD, and reading and writing to EEPROM - all of which I've described below.

    First, here is a quick demo video of the LCD menu in action - using the three rotary encoders to navigate through the menu, change settings values, and showing the data being recalled after powering off the microcontroller:

    (On a related note, I've now set up a GitHub repo for the project, which will include all code and design files of the project. I've made a good start on a lot of different elements of the software for the project - some of this I'll describe below, and some I'll talk about in later logs when relevant)

    Designing the Menu Layout

    As described in my design log of the project, the LCD menu is controlled by a set of three rotary encoders - one for selecting the settings category, one for selecting the category parameter, and one for adjusting the parameter value. Based on this, the most obvious layout choice is a three-column menu, which is the main reason why the encoders are positioned as they are.

    Processing Rotary Encoders Message

    To process rotary encoder messages I've created a RotaryEncoder class (see header file / source file) that uses the Teensy Encoder Library for processing encoder turns and the Teensy Bounce Library for processing the push switch messages. The classes uses callback functions to provides increment/decrement values. See the controls.h file to see how this class is used.

    Data Structure for Storing Settings Data and Metadata 

    To store settings data as well as settings metadata (e.g. setting data min and max values), I've created a couple of structs:

    I've then created an array of SettingsCategoryData for storing all needed settings data and metadata for the device. This array will be used through the code - for setting the MIDI messages that the MIDI controls transmit, for displaying values on the LCD, and for loading and saving to EEPROM. All code relating to settings is in it's own Settings.h file.

    Drawing to the LCD

    I've created an Lcd.h file that includes all code for setting up and drawing to the LCD. The basic implementation of the menu is as follows:

    • Text is drawn on the LCD using the LCD library's print() a println() functions, using the setCursor() function to position the text. For currently selected text, the text and background colours are reversed to highlight the text.
    • All category names, parameter names and parameter values displayed on the LCD are accessed from the SettingsCategoryData array described above.
    • If a new 'category' encoder message is received, it increments a 'currently selected category' value and redraws the menu's first column of text to visually update which category is selected, and then redraws the menu's second and third columns of text to show the list of parameters and their values for the new category.
    • If a new 'parameter' encoder message is received, it increments a 'currently selected parameter' value and redraws the menu's second and third columns of text to visually update which parameter and value is selected.
    • If a new 'value' encoder message is received, it increments the value of the currently selected parameter and redraws the value in the third column of text to visually update the parameter value. 

    See the Lcd.h file for the implementation of this.

    Reading and Writing to EEPROM

    In order for the settings to be recalled after the device has been powered off, the settings values need to be stored in the Teensy board's built-in EEPROM memory using the Arduino EEPROM library...

    Read more »

  • Testing the ILI9341 TFT LCD with Teensy

    Liam Lacey09/10/2018 at 08:41 5 comments

    I'm still waiting for the last few components to arrive before I can build the controller, however one thing I wanted to do first is test my chosen LCD with the Teensy microcontroller. I've never used a TFT LCD with Arduino or Teensy before, so I first wanted to make sure that I could get the desired functionality and performance out of the LCD.

    The LCD I am using is a 2.4" 320x240 TFT LCD with a ILI9341 controller chip which appears to be based off of an Adafruit design, which can be used with a Teensy-optimised Adafruit_ILI9341 library for better performance.

    Connections

    To connect the LCD to the Teensy 3.6 board I followed the connections guide on the Teensy website:

    ILI9341 PinTeensy 3.x / LC PinNotes
    VCCVINPower: 3.6 to 5.5 volts
    GNDGND
    CS10Alternate Pins: 9, 15, 20, 21
    RESET+3.3V
    D/C9Alternate Pins: 10, 15, 20, 21
    SDI (MOSI)11 (DOUT)
    SCK13 (SCK)
    LEDVINUse 100 ohm resistor
    SDO (MISO)12 (DIN)

    Arduino Library

    I decided to use the Teensy-optimised Adafruit_ILI9341 library over the standard Adafruit_ILI9341 library due to the demonstrated increased frame rate and performance of the former. I downloaded the library from the Github page and followed the provided instructions to install it into the Arduino software.

    Using the library

    After a quick online search I couldn't find any decent tutorials on using the LCD's Arduino library to draw shapes (which is mostly what I want the LCD to do), however after dissecting the example sketches that come with the library it became quite clear how to do it. The best source to find out what functionality is provided is the library's main header file, which shows all the functions that library provides such as drawRect, fillRect, fillCircle, and many more.

    Test/Example Code

    To test the LCD and Arduino library I decided to attempt to create a simple Teensy sketch that draws eight sliders on the LCD that each change their value from a MIDI CC message received over USB-MIDI - something that the final controller software will need to do. 

    Below is the code I created to do this. See the comments in the code to see how it works. The exact MIDI CC numbers I am using in this test code match the default CCs that the KORG nanoKONTROL MIDI controller sends from it's sliders (see the below example video). If you would like to upload this to a Teensy yourself, you'll need to set the 'USB Type' to 'MIDI' in the tools menu.

    #include "ILI9341_t3.h"
    
    // TFT pins
    const uint8_t TFT_DC = 9;
    const uint8_t TFT_CS = 10;
    
    // Use hardware SPI (#13, #12, #11) and the above for CS/DC
    ILI9341_t3 tft = ILI9341_t3 (TFT_CS, TFT_DC);
    
    const int LCD_FRAME_RATE = 30;
    long previousMillis = 0;
    
    const int BCKGND_COLOUR = ILI9341_BLACK;
    const int SLIDER_COLOUR = ILI9341_RED;
    const int SLIDER_BCKGND_COLOUR = ILI9341_DARKGREY;
    
    const int SLIDER_WIDTH = 20;
    const int SLIDER_MAX_SIZE = 127;
    const int SLIDER_SPACING = 40;
    
    const uint8_t NUM_OF_SLIDERS = 8;
    const uint8_t SLIDER_CC_NUMS[NUM_OF_SLIDERS] =  {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12};
    
    int sliderValue[NUM_OF_SLIDERS] = {0};
    int prevSliderValue[NUM_OF_SLIDERS] = {0};
    
    uint8_t midiCcValue[NUM_OF_SLIDERS] = {0};
    uint8_t prevMidiCcValue[NUM_OF_SLIDERS] = {0};
    
    void setup()
    {
      tft.begin();
      tft.setRotation (3);
      tft.fillScreen (BCKGND_COLOUR);
    
      //draw a vertical rectangle 'slider' at the bottom of the screen
      for (uint8_t i = 0; i < NUM_OF_SLIDERS; i++)
        tft.fillRect (i * SLIDER_SPACING, tft.height() - SLIDER_MAX_SIZE, SLIDER_WIDTH, SLIDER_MAX_SIZE, SLIDER_BCKGND_COLOUR);
    
      usbMIDI.setHandleControlChange(ProcessMidiControlChange);
    
    }
    
    void loop()
    {
      //Read from USB MIDI-in
      usbMIDI.read();
    
      //update the LCD display at the set frame rate
      if ((millis() - previousMillis) > (1000.0 / (float)LCD_FRAME_RATE))
      {
        updateDisplay();
        previousMillis = millis();
      }
    }
    
    void ProcessMidiControlChange (byte channel, byte control, byte value)
    {
      for (uint8_t i = 0; i < NUM_OF_SLIDERS; i++)
      {
        if (control == SLIDER_CC_NUMS[i])
        {
     midiCcValue[i]...
    Read more »

View all 12 project logs

  • 1
    Cut/drill out the enclosure holes
    1. Cut/drill out the enclosure panel holes using either of the following templates - Annotated PNG or CAD DWG File.
    2. Cut/drill out a single 20mm hole of the rear of the enclosure (on the right side) for the USB connector.

    The final result should look something like this.

  • 2
    Solder wires to the controls

    Solder wires to the following control pins:

    • Joystick modules:
      • GND 
      • VCC
    • Switched rotary encoders: 
      • Pin A (left pin of 3-set) 
      • Pin B (right pin of 3-set) 
      • Switch (either pin of the 2-set)
      • GND 1 (centre pin of 3-set)
      • GND 2 (remaining pin of the 2-set)
    • Non-switch rotary encoders:
      • Pin A (left pin of 3-set) 
      • Pin B (right pin of 3-set) 
      • GND (centre pin of 3-set)
    • Push Buttons:
      • Switch (either of the two pins)
      • GND (the remaining pin)
    • LCD:
      • VCC
      • GND
      • CS
      • RESET
      • D/C
      • SDI (MOSI)
      • SCK
      • LED
      • SDO (MISO)
      • Ignore any SD card or 'touch' pins (if present)

    Wire colours - It is preferable to use black wire for all GND pins; red wire for all VCC pins; and all other colours for all other pins.

    Wire lengths - Joystick VCC and all GND wires only need to be about 6cm as these wires will be daisy-chained between each control. All other wires need to be about 15cm so that they can comfortably connect to the microcontroller when inside the enclosure. However one joystick VCC and one GND wire instead need to be about 15cm too so that they can also connect to the microcontroller.

    Wire types - For my build I used solid core wire for all wires here, however this proved slightly problematic when coming to trying to fit all electronics in the enclosure due to needing 'compress' the stripboard closer to the panel. Therefore I recommend the following:

    • For wires between controls and the microcontroller, use stranded wire (for flexibility)
    • For the VCC and GND wires daisy-chained between the controls, use solid core wire
  • 3
    Mount controls to the enclosure panel

    Mount all controls to the enclosure panel in the following way:

    • Joystick modules - for each module:
      • insert a 12mm M3 screw into each of the 4 x 3.5mm holes from the top of the panel
      • attach 2 M3 hex nuts to each of the 4 screws, tightening the screw to the panel
      • attach the joystick module to the screws with the connection pins orientated towards the front of the enclosure
      • attach a third hex nut to each of the four screws, tightening the joystick module to the panel
      • The final result should look something like this.
    • LCD:
      • insert a 12mm M3 screw into each of the 4 x 3.5mm holes from the top of the panel
      • attach 1 M3 hex nuts to each of the 4 screws, tightening the screw to the panel
      • attach the LCD module to the screws with the connection pins on the left hand side when looking from the top of the panel
      • attach a second hex nut to each of the four screws, tightening the LCD module to the panel
    • Rotary encoders:
      • Use the provided washer and hex nut to mount the encoders to the panel, placing the washer on the top of the panel with nut being placed over this. The encoder can be position at any angle, though having the connection pins facing the left and d right sides (as opposed to the front and back sides) makes it slightly easier to connect the wires to the microcontroller.
    • Push Buttons:
      • Use the provided washer and hex nut to mount the buttons to the panel, placing the washer on the bottom of the panel with nut being placed over this. The button can be position at any angle.

    The final result should look something like this.

View all 13 instructions

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Discussions

margatmail wrote 04/13/2021 at 07:50 point

Great project! New DIY target for 2021 :) I'm considering to buy a brekout socket like this: https://www.tindie.com/products/loglow/teensy-3536-breakout-revision-a-standard/

This project is an inspiration to migrate my custom Ableton looper controller, from Mega Board with HIDUINO (lot of pain...), to Teensy 3.6 board with Daniel Gilbert breakout board. Yes... I'm Breakout board lover 

  Are you sure? yes | no

stevewhite99 wrote 02/07/2020 at 18:26 point

Hi Liam, I just finished making my own controller following your design and instructions. I'm delighted to say it's working perfectly, both via USB on my desktop and with a Bluetooth midi adapter on my iPad. Absolutely brilliant, it's been quite a learning curve for me, thank you so much for the idea and the comprehensive instructions.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Liam Lacey wrote 02/19/2020 at 12:02 point

Hi Steve, I'm really happy to hear that this project has been both inspiring and educational for you. I would love to see your project if possible?

  Are you sure? yes | no

stevewhite99 wrote 02/26/2020 at 22:18 point

Hi Liam - have pm'd you with some pics.

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Gandrasg wrote 01/12/2020 at 15:05 point

hi liam! 

very cool project, thanks for sharing

Andras

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Liam Lacey wrote 02/19/2020 at 12:02 point

Thanks Andras!

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stevewhite99 wrote 07/27/2019 at 10:47 point

Hello Liam, this project is hugely inspiring, thank you so much for making it and sharing all the information. It's sent me down a creative path I never imagined taking and now can't imagine ever  turning back. I'm now on to my own mark III controller, each one better than the last.  I'm considering replicating yours, or if my skills grow swiftly enough, making my own bespoke version. Thanks again, brilliant, brilliant.

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ben biles wrote 05/02/2019 at 04:27 point

does it remember the knob positions when you switch it off / loose power ? memory recall ? I've been playing about with the bournes absolute encoders which know what position they are in but find them to expensive and not very smooth. I'm thinking you can write to flash the last knob positions but that's a lot of writing to flash all the time :)

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Liam Lacey wrote 05/06/2019 at 21:24 point

It doesn't remember knob positions between power cycles, as the controller is designed to have these values set by that of the Turnado software plugin it is connected to (therefore the 'knob positions' are stored as part of the connected plugin state). 

There are some global settings of the controller that are stored in flash, however I only write to flash periodically rather than on every knob turn to help preserve the life of the flash (though with this method there is a chance that the last set value might not be stored if the user powers off the controller immediately afterwards).

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ben biles wrote 05/07/2019 at 05:21 point

that makes sense, I guess it does't matter what position the knobs are in since there's no zero -> max physical knob position and the plugin tells you where you are. there are quite nice rotary encoders out there that have LED rings that display position I think but probably to heavy on power for me ( making a portable battery thing ) The absolute encoders I have don't have a zero / max stop position so they can jump from 0 -> 255 if you go to far ! I could stop that in software but think I'll change them for something with stop positions. anyway , great looking project ! love the box. My field recorder mixer project started life as a usb midi controlled ADC and DAC. I used a novation knob controller with usb shield and arduino uno. it was great way for me to start learning I2C SPI etc :)

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