This github repository describes and contains the source code and other materials for a 3D printed, teensy 3.6 based MIDI controller. The controller has a 5x5 array of switches, each with an individually adressable ws2812B colored LED, four rotary controllers, a 3.5" touchscreen, inputs for four (4) standard 1/4" expression pedals, a 1/8" stereo jack used for a serial port, and the main USB type "A" connector, a USB host port, and, lol, a volt/amp meter to monitor the USB power supply.
four rotary controllers
3.5" touchscreen
inputs for four (4) standard 1/4" expression pedals, 1/8" stereo jack for serial port, and the main USB type "A" connector
USB host port, and volt/amp meter on USB power supply
It is intended to be a foot controller ... hence the tiered setup which makes it easier to press buttons with your toes without having to reach over other buttons. FWIW, I play the guitar barefooted, while sitting in a chair.
There are two major aspects to this project. First there is the hardware, which is relatively straight forward, and there are circuit diagrams, fusion 360 files, some instructions, and so on that might allow someone to create a copy if they wanted to.
The second major aspect is the software. Inasmuch as this was conceived as BOTH an experimental platform to let me mess with USB midi, and particularly the Fishman FTP Triple Play dongle/controller, it also has been programmed to fit into my existing performance setup. For me, it is "gig ready", as well as a place I can try different experiments with various things.
The software does not present itself as a general purpose, commercially viable, consumer product. Though that could be done, it is not my primary focus. So, while I would be able to create, for example, a box on which the end user could map the buttons to various MIDI CC control messages at "run time", that is not currently implemented.
Because the entire thing can be (fairly) easily programmed from the Arduino IDE, at this time I am selfishly doing whatever the heck I want in C++. Some stuff has been modularized and incorporated into things like a system configuration "preferences" page, with persistent values stored in EEPROM, other stuff is "hard coded" into the C++, an approach which limits the use of this by less technically saavy "consumer" or "nubie" readers and potential users.
That's what it is at this point.
There is still, in my opinion, considerable value in making this public, and so, here, in the middle of my ongoing development, I am creating a public github repository so that I can present it in some way, shape, or form.
This repository is a completely separate (denormalized manual branch) of my ongoing personal developemt environment. It represents a static moment in time when everything compiled, was 3D printed, and worked, in a certain way.
The project includes several personal libraries that I have written, along with a few public libraries that are either necessary to build the thing, or which I have additionally tweaked to get things working "my way". That is not always because it was the best, or most sound engineering approach to take, but has often been the case because of my lack of a given part, or sufficient understanding, at a given time, and having to work around those limitations by sometimes modifying Arduino, Teensy, or other publically available libraries.
I try to document those kinds of changes, and why I made them, as I go along.
If you are reading this, try not to get too hung up in the specifics.
For example, when I was prototyping the box, I started off using a different, much faster and more teensy compatible 2.8" SPI touch screen. One night I burned it, and because I did not want to wait 6 weeks for a replacement (I live on a remote island in the tropics) I was forced to go to a slower speed 8 bit parallel Arduino touch screen ... which in turn required me to port the LCDWIKI library for it to the teensy 3.6, which I did.
It was not always pretty. Nor necessarily were "best practices" followed :-)
Yet, in the end, I decided it was better to post what I have, warts, wrinkles, and all, than to wait for some perfect future that might never come around.
An interested reader may find a gem they were looking for in this repository. Or it may just provide general inspiration for creating a similar project.
I dunno. Don't really care :-)
"Let there be songs .... to fill the air"
So, apart from this brief introduction, you can find other materials and information in the following subfolders of this repository
- root directory - contains this readme.md file
- arduino/ - contains the source code and libraries to build the program
- arduino/libraries - mine, and a couple other libraries used in the build
- arduino/teensyExpression - the main INO program and additional classes that are specific to the project
- fusion/ - contains the STL, fusion 360 files, and notes on how to print and assemble the box
- hardware/ - contains the basic schematic, circuit diagrams, and information about the electronics hardware design
- ftp/ - contains separate discussions and documents regarding my reverse engineering efforts on the FTP Triple play dongle and controller
Pretty much everything I do has been tremendously influenced by, and is more or less a direct result of the work done by Paul Stoffregen and his wonderful teensy series of MPU boards.
Please visit his website at prjc.com and support him by purchasing teensy boards and teensy related parts and accessories. He also has github, hackaday, and facebook pages that you can find easily on the internet. The man's a giant to me, and has forged important new ground not only with the boards he makes, but also with the vast amount of open source software he has created, not the least of which includes the ws2812 and ili9431 libraries, but also his audio library, and well, what can you say ... so much more!
Also thanks to the many folks who have contributed to the lcdwiki project. Though I can't name them by name, many are the times when I have visited their website and utilized their code.
That's it!
Time for an initial rude, crude, commit.
Thanks for checking this out!
July 2020 - Patrick