i've been waiting to make a proper ultrascience debut until i had a proper project worthy of my favorite steel benders' time. for many months i've waited to have a contribution, and the time has come. i've been on the market for a new MIDI controller for some time now, and have found few that have had what i wanted. oh sure, you can have a few knobs and faders for a few hundred bucks, or you can sell a few organs and get a rig that will run a 5.1 surround sound system with real-time panning, open every garage door on the block, and invade guatemala by remote... but there doesn't seem to be much on the market in between.

for a while, i had my eye on evolution's UC-33 control surface, a slick little unit that has a decent amount of knobs and faders for a good price. it's designed to work with a lot of the softwarei use both live and in the studio, and evolution makes a quality piece of gear for their price. however, it just doesn't have enough buttons for my liking. those who have had the misfortune of hearing me live know that i have little patience and tend to switch things up pretty frequently and start and stop sounds at random.

in MIDI speak, that means triggers, and lots of them. so i basically need a giant bank of buttons, because i really hate switching through presets and running jog wheels to find things. this isn't techno... if i want a sound, i want it now, because my whole rhythm scheme is going to change in about three seconds, and that's my trigger window. so i've been spinning my wheels and saving money for the right controller to come along. my heart skipped a beat when i found this site: http://www.ucapps.de/

there's enough info on here to keep you busy for a week or so, but here's the short and skinny of it: 1) 64 contollers. of any kind. 2) design your own interface. it doesn't matter what goes where. 3) lcd monitor (unheard of in affordable MIDI controllers). 4) open source driver software and firmware. 5) costs about as much in parts as the smell of an allen and heath. for instance, compare richie hawtin's custom "my daddy designed this and allen and heath will only build this for me me me" toy, the ctrl:live; www.derivativeinc.com/Events/15-Plastikman/images/P51853221.jpg to this midiBox64 customization; http://www.midibox.org/midibox_gallery/elektromeier1.jpg

i can tell you which one i'd rather have. and besides, for the theoretical price of the A&H job, i could build this with the budget: http://www.midibox.org/midibox_gallery/axel17.jpg in short, i now present ultrascience labs with a new challenge. togeher, we have designed and built hardware that has taken my music from being horrible shit that no one likes to being really well produced horrible shit that no one likes. it is high time we threw more buttons, lights, and faders into the mixture.

brian, if you can find the time, i'd like you to look over the site and let me know what you think. throw me a budget and i'll get cracking on a design. interested?

Comments

bruce42
Wed, 10/26/2005 - 09:29
Totally Down
Yes! More Buttons! I was worried for a bit as I don't have a PIC Programmer (although I just found a couple DIY's online), but their Online Store has kits and pre-programmed PICs; we wouldn't even have to make a PCB! I'll look through the site again and browse some Components Catalogs. I should be able to toss together a coarse Budget and Part List without too much difficulty.
"Your mission is to obey the commands of whoever is able to strike the Master Key of Electricity... I once read in a book that all things are regulated by exact laws of nature" - SPAM

forcedperfect
Thu, 10/27/2005 - 14:43
supa rough.
http://www.noobersonic.org/site/content/171365.html?PHPSESSID=b35c737f68... just for a basic idea of the layout. these controllers are just there to represent type, not to represent design.