project summary

downloads
Visio Layout (1.1mb) - This is the main layout file I used. Can export to DXF, EPS, etc.
Blender Concept (5.8mb) - This is the 3D model made from a DXF export of the layout.

the mission
To build a hardware based MIDI controller cool enough to make jamming, writing and performing music fun again.

the rules
1. Must finish the project. No half-assed attempts or adding to the room of forgotten projects.
2. Must try keep costs down, but it's gotta have sex appeal.
3. Verbosely document & publish every stage & aspect of the process, including photos, problems & their solutions, costs of & places to purchase all material/parts/tools and anything else relevant to the completion of the project. This is to hopefully return some value to the MIDIBox and music community at large, to help others with their own project and serve as a warning & reality-check to unaware punters.
4. Don't mess with Rule #1.

the dream
Once I build the thing, get it working, get apt at using it and upload a few action videos, if it turns out to be a cool device and peeps catch on (and if approved by TK and the MIDIBox licence owners), building more boxes or parts of boxes for others may be an alternative way of life.

intro
I'm putting ZERO any effort into fluffing this site up, it's just for content and I don't want to waste more time in ancillary tasks. I know a blog is not the best format but it will do and allow for daily updates and comments and so on. I'm also posting a lot of stuff in retrospect because I didn't have this blog setup when I started the project.
Also note that the target audience here is not the pro or seasoned 'do-this-kind-of-thing' person. Yeah you have to be technically minded but there's no rocket science in any of this stuff.Anyway, the idea was inspired by Monodeck2 built by Robert Henke from MonoLake and Ableton. This was based on a PIC micro-controller modular MIDI hardware platform developed by TK and grown by the MIDIBox community. When I saw him demo'ing his deck I wet my pants and awoke the concept that making music on a computer WITHOUT having to bludgen your creative work with a mouse and keyboard is a dream closer to reality than I assumed. I won't go into anything more as you read the links if you're interested. Basically I just wanted to have Robert's deck, but he has no idea who I am amd it's a not-for-sale-one-off and I'm not going to track down where he lives and steal it, so I'll just make one instead.
Even though I've always thought about it I've never done something like this before. As a kid I played with electronics and used to fart-ass around in Dad's workshop a lot. Although familiarizing myself with, I spend most of the time breaking machinery, losing tools and generally screwing up his workshop, but years of partying and working as a IT pleb has washed most of that away, so what I'm trying to show you is I'm just and every-day, office-working, tax-paying, going-nowhere gimp, just like you, no super powers. I do believe that if you put your heart and mind to something you really want, you will achieve it, so that's why I know I'm going to pull this off.

design approach & initial thoughts
Being based on MIDI, the device will be universal to any other device or software app that supports MIDI. MIDI is an oldskool (albiet mature and reliable) serial based control protocol and is thankfully being superseeded with OSC - a much more comprehensive open source control protocol which can run over more progressive hardware platforms and is being adotpted by pros such as Cycling74 and communities such as Monome. I was OK with doing a few more rounds with good ol' trusty MIDI as I knew she could get the job done and when we woke up in the morning together I would not feel like knawing my own arm off. MIDI means that you can put say 1000 knobs in a box and then configure any app to use those knobs for whatever that app allows you to configure MIDI for, which means the design of the layout is universal and could be very addaptive, provided some thought went into it.
Half of the project is the electronics (the MIDI smarts) which is kind of already done for you. The other half is the hardware or mechanical engineering (the housing, knobs, plugs, buttons, power and crap). For the electronics, all you need to do is work out your design as far as how many buttons, knobs, faders, lights and other crap you wanna have. Once you do that, you can buy 'kits' online from the MIDIBox community which contain all the neccesary parts to solder up your own solution. There's plenty of doco available on how to get it all working and diagnose problems and I find the community to be extremly helpful. Personally I spent a few weeks reading up on the MIDIBox hardware platform to try and wrap my head around it as a whole, so I could make an educated decision in relation to design.
I didn't want to complicate the design (too many buttons and knobs makes Jack a dull boy) but I'm tired of lame MIDI controllers where you get like 3 knobs and 2 buttons per channel, so wanted to find a happy ballance, which took several weeks of scratching my chin like a doctor and re-working the layout. I decided early on that I wanted to manage the design/layout in a software app that provides layering and can export to DXF, EPS, PDF and formats that might be required if I outsource things to other companies (like front panel laser cutting, etc). I ended up using Visio, because it was available and supported my requirements, albeit not the best package for this kind of thing (also ended using InkScape for some exporting, which is free).




After weeks of re-designs I concluded on the layout pictured above which hopefully provides a lot of versatility, a happy balance between not-enough and too-much control, and is universal enough so it can fit different applications (studio/remixing/performance/live/jamming) - also small enough to fit in box smaller than a snooker table so you can get away with taking it on a flight as carry-on luggage. It is based around 8 channel strips and a master section (8 faders, 120 knobs & 128 color-buttons). As far as MidiBox hardware is concerened, this is 2 x MB64 kits. What i purchased was 2 x MB64 kits + LCD from MikesMidiShop, which arrived a week after purchase. I had no problems with payment or delivery and the guys I dealt with were great.
For the housing I decided to build my own, which I had no idea how to do, but was convinced there was a way. After several nights wandering the ailes of Bunnings after work I soon found the way to do it. Using aliumunium angle strips and perspex it would be easy, light-weight and not too expensive. I decided that I would first complete the electronics part and if that works I would move on to the housing and go from there.

reality check / disclaimer
I want to make clear to that anyone who reads this and decides to embark on any part of this journey, it is at your own peril. DYI is a realm in which you learn, share, empower, liberate and grow, but it is also a realm in which bank accounts empty, friends dissappear, jobs terminate and divorces occur. I was single when I embarked on this mission and I will remain single and in limited contact with friends and family until I finish it, which may be months, which lucky for me my family and friends understand.
During the course of this project I have unexpectedly lost large sums of money and expectedly aquired several small machines and power tools, have converted an otherwise boring study into a metal workshop, converted an otherwise dormant spare table into an electronics workshop, converted an otherwise peacefull coffee table into a layout/prototype/display room, wasted precious hours at work making phone calls, researching and thinking about the project when I should have been working, and laid awake most nights thinking how I can solve the latest challenge.
Every moment I've spent on this project has been utter bliss, but I should caution those with partners, children, needy friends/family or micro-managing bosses - you will be completely distracted by taking on a project like this in your spare time and may lose the ability to juggle it with your other commitments!
As far as legal flim-flam goes,I am not responsible for any action, loss, damage or any other form of negative effect experienced by or carried out by any person as a result of the information on this website. I am not qualified to perform any duty or give professional advice in relation to anything at all. If you choose to act on anything you read or see on this website then you do so at your own risk. The information provided here is probably flawed and should not be taken seriously.

credits and thanks
There is not a doubt in the world that I would have been able to do all this myself. I am lucky to have a few mates in the right circles who have been a wealth of knowledge and help. I won't go into names as you know who you are - to you a huge thanks.
To the MIDIBox community that helped - thank you, and to the receivers of so many ridiculous noob questions suffered as a result of me embarking on the project - thank you!