Arduino MIDI Controller: Part 3 - Multiplexers

Part 3 of the Arduino Midi Controller project. This time we add more inputs with the help of Multiplexers.
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[@asdfssdfghgdfy5940]

So I don't normally leave comments on videos, but this is without a doubt the best explanation on basic multiplexing I have seen! Concise and clear amongst videos that try and explain this in 1 minute or one hour. You've got yourself a new subscriber and paton :)

[@PatrickJWenzel]

Nicely done! You clarified all the hurdles I had to get me started with Arduino. Very concise and all my intermediate questions were answered along the way, as if you knew I was asking them.

[@UrThysis]

Wow , this is great!!! I've been looking to make my own controller since no one offers a customize option and this video is really straight forward and easy to understand , thanks !!!

[@vegansynths7757]

I had no idea what a multiplexer was and you explained it so clearly and accompanied it with extremely clear visuals and graphics. Thank you for teaching me this.

[@QGMODS]

thank you so much for these videos, they've been very informative and allowed me to build an awesome midi controller without knowing much about electronics. keep up the great work

[@lupe_g2]

I made a midi arduino footswitch using this design; made it all in one night. Was having trouble figuring out how to have my computer read the MIDI messages, but I figured it out. The video I was watching to figure out the programming for my arduino was by Nick Leonard who adopted your code. After seeing this video it all came full circle. Thank you so much for your work; it's so useful and informative.

[@brianmichaelfuller]

No doubt one of the best made videos on this stuff!!! Clear, concise, complete and professional!!! Thank You

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thank you Brian!

[@onpatrolforthejuice]

thank you so much. I just ordered all the stuff to make a 16 step sequencer which will each have an on-off button, a knob for pitch, and a knob for velocity (or some other modulations) I'm really grateful to get such detailed instructions.

[@kklaxx1]

Hi, how do you think to do the sequencer?

[@11219tt]

Dude!!!! You speak to me as a beginner and now I finally get it!!! Thank you!!!

[@patrickw2585]

You are such an amazing teacher. Thanks to you, from literally zero electronics experience, to building a custom MIDI controller in a few days. Your instructions and videos are so clear, and you get straight to the point. Thank you from the Small Island across the pond :)

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Patrick! I really appreciate it :)

[@Tyborg82]

This series and accompanying sketch are really great and the use of multiplexers is fantastic as a Uno owner. Very nice work and Thank you for sharing!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Tyborg!

[@kevinbeer6958]

AMAZING TUTORIAL THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR AT LAST PLEASE KEEP THESE PROJECTS COMING THANK YOU

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Kevin!

[@mopesca]

Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for and didnt know how to describe it!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Awesome mopesca!

[@victorrey4568]

so many tanks from france! i make an midi controler for ableton in 2 days and it's work perfectly at the first try... so amazing tutorial and perfectly code!

[@karlvonkrakau3719]

Thanks a ton for putting up this video series, very well explained and easy to follow :) Great job!

[@itscrawford]

Wow this was amazingly well done. Coming accross a straight forward, well formatted tutorial with clear diagrams narrated by a clear, well spoken voice is like finding a Unicorn in a garbage dump. 10/10 - SUBSCRIBED.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Wow! Thanks Crawford. I appreciate that :)

[@itscrawford]

there's a problem though, when I go to verify the code, it says " 'Mux' does not name a type" why is that?

[@omerkagan3653]

DUDE ITS LITERALLY THE BEST EXPLANATION I HAVE EVER SEEN... YOURE THE BEST

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Omer!

[@robertrobert5583]

Thanks again for another superb tutorial. So clear and beautifully produced. Exceptional work.

[@sergemo4607]

Man, you are a great teacher. Very well explained. Wow.

[@EricBalcon]

Our Dave is the best ! , I love the clarity of your explanations, you rock !

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Eric!

[@JGaryThompson]

Great video! Thanks for making this series.

[@trumankong7053]

This series of videos are so well explained and so well done ...

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Truman!

[@marinkojukic6498]

So far the best video and best channel for this stuff!

[@DiegoSynth]

This is an amazing tutorial with all steps, theory and practice exceptionally explained! Thank you very much for this, it was a great learning experience and the best tutorial I've found on the topic. Subscribed and thumbs up! :)

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Diego!

[@faithinverity8523]

The Best e-Maker Video Ever. You are a superb teacher. Thank you.

[@tallgeese1]

This brings back fond memories of my electronics design days, many years ago.

[@NotesAndVolts]

That's great tallgeese!

[@andreasl4318]

Wonderful! Videos like this really adds something of value to this world. I'll have lots of use from this when I start on my own project. Thanks!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Andreas!

[@haribukkeprasad4612]

This is such an amazing video. Thanks a lot for explaining everything in the simplest words!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Hari! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@matthewb7721]

Exactly what i was looking for in great detail! Thank you from a beginner.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Matthew!

[@cooljhef31485]

this is the real deal man , thanks' a lot I've been looking for these . God Bless you..

[@donkeystudio3556]

i am pretty new in the technical side of midi and got curious about the arduino. after some checking i actually wanted to stop because it was so messy information for beginners everywhere, but you saved my plan! aagreat videos, thank you very much to be one step closer to my daw footswitch controller!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Glad I could help!

[@MathiasDahl]

Great video, and very simple to follow as usual!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Mathias!

[@Imbecillen]

The best tutorial out there! Great code as well, especially for beginners!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Sebastian! Appreciate it :)

[@seanblue9417]

Thank you for this whole series!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Sean!

[@909Thumper909]

OMG, THIS is exactly what I needed. ❤️❤️❤️

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Stu! That's great.

[@HETRM]

thankyou so much sir... for the 3 part tutorial...ive been looking for this...since long..best part was that.. i was able to learn a bit of arduino as well with midi and mutliplexing...so detailed and step by step explanation...you rarely get.God bless you sir

[@NotesAndVolts]

You are most welcome

[@heinrichsmit2]

Thank you for the effort, this is next level brother!

[@thjs]

the best explanation i ve ever seen so far.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Holger!

[@xstreamlaser]

thank you. i am really grateful for this perfect tutorial. Now i can make my own midi control board

[@AlexusDelphi]

This helped me finally understand multiplexers

[@NicStage]

Really nice and complete explanation. Thank you!

[@LukeGeaney]

Trying this one next - I became a patron on patreon too (for the first time) hope it works! Your videos are superb.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thank BB! Let me know how it goes

[@xakmusic5573]

Thanks so much! excited to get building!

[@vinchelo]

This is great!!!!. Please do Encoder video midi !!! Cool Notes & Volts

[@yeguanting7629]

thanks for the tutorial!!!I cant wait to try it!

[@damionmortenson84]

,,Here's how you describe a button: Start the line with the command word button to indicate that this is a button object.'' I love how a superior language that has such a great accuracy (programming languages) makes smart people sound like their suffering from a stroke. great video. Keep it up...

[@NotesAndVolts]

LoL! Thanks Damion

[@sanjeevkashyap3136]

Thanks a lot for these videos. you made designing MIDI super easy. Thanks a ton again. :-)

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Sanjeev!

[@vinchelo]

This is great!!!!. Please do Encoder video midi !!! Cool Notes & Volts

[@sonicmistress]

I'm surprised you don't have more Subs as this is without doubt, the easiest Tutorial to follow on the Arduino and Midi Control, I came here from Look Mum (Sam) and now I know why he uses your method. Going to Sub now and have a good look around. Thanks.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thank you John! Welcome aboard :)

[@1_HighDuke]

Your videos are always well produced and your circuits are always sooooo clean :) Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. Just out of curiosity, what is your background?

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks HighDuke! I appreciate that :) I'm an electronics technician who has been fascinated by circuits since I was a little kid. I was also a musician for a couple of decades so I guess that explains the musical nature of a lot of my stuff.

[@thecyberben]

This is great and works the same with nte4051b multiplexer. My controller has 8 pots

[@Thekingmaker]

You are the midi lord

[@shogunai]

Man, you're a genius. I feel like I'm getting much closer to figuring out how Keybed matrixes work. I'm trying to fuigure out how to connect a 61 key Fatar keybed to the arduino, along with 16 x buttons and 16 x pots. I am seriously hoping you have a video dedicated to that, but I thought I should start at the start! Thanks so much though.

[@beau.seidon]

the mkp mini keybed im hacking right now has 25 keys with 2 contacts each. the 2nd contact is to provide velocity sensitivity: the microcontroller will measure the difference in time between contact closures and calculate the input velocity using some curve. every contact has a (row, column) coordinate on the 8x8 grid connected via a diode to avoid "ghosting" and "masking". im going to use an output multiplexer and connect each Y pin to a column, and connect a second multiplexer as an input from the rows. i will scan through the column outputs writing HIGH, and for each column, read every row. the keyboard buttons which are pressed should pass the HIGH voltage from the output mux to the input mux and show the button is pressed. or maybe ill write LOW first to see if that works without melting anything lol. after i map out which keys go to which pair of grid coordinates ill see if my esp32/multiplexers are fast enough to handle the velocity detection.

[@davidgarciaaranda3370]

Amazing Midi Controller!! Please make a video with rotary encoders!!!! I do all examples of "Arduino MIDI Controller" and work perfectly! Thank you Notes and Volts!!!

[@legosteveb]

Hi Dave, Great video, perfect pacing, perfect depth. I follow several KZbinrs and know you guys like to hear what we'd like to learn, so here goes... I'd love to see an encoder tutorial and an expansion on the note on/off and cc messages to a multi byte SysEx message. Also combine the MIDI in circuit with a MIDI "learn" mode. Thanks again for the video... And inspiration, I'll be dusting off my Uno this weekend. Steve

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Steve! Those are some great suggestions. I will keep them in mind for future projects.

[@sergirainey6526]

It would be interesting if you could explain now shift registers. You make a great job and the best midi-arduino tutorials out there.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Sergi. I'll add that to my list for the future.

[@brettholman3606]

I second this request!

[@JohnnyWalkerArt]

Outstanding! Thank you!!!

[@NotesAndVolts]

You're very welcome!

[@marcoam90]

Hi Dave! Thank you for creating this series! I've been doodling an idea for a USB midi controller these past few days based on an Arduino, and just last night came across this series! So now I feel confident to make it happen :) I wanted to ask you if it would be OK to use a different Arduino chip, like a Nano, since I'm only planning on using pots (64 of them) and I'd like to make the enclosure as small as possible. I'd also like to power it just with USB, if it was possible to handle 4 16-pin mux and all those pots. Cheers!!

[@techtinkerin]

Cool explanation ❤️👍😊

[@thegreenguy8837]

This is awesome, thank you so mutch.

[@loicdesprairies2598]

Thanks a lot!!! Great tutorials. Do you know if it is possible to use like a 'on/off' switch to make differents midi notes on pot or buttons, depending on the position of the switch?

[@antonoceanu280]

Hello Dave. Great series of videos. Thank you. Can this be adapted to work with the Arduino Leonardo ?

[@marciogdesousa]

Congratulations on the very enlightening video. I would like you to make a video showing how to put a potentiometer encoder (jog) in this project.

[@richtigPL]

The best tutorial I found, for a beginner like me. Thanks a lot, man! It will handle more than 2 multiplexers, right? Just need to add them to the code?

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Pawel! Yes you can add more than 2 mux. One thing to keep in mind is the more controls you add, the longer it takes the code to check them all. Analog controls (pots) take more time than digital controls (buttons) to read as well. I'm not sure what the upper limit is.

[@vjalt5247]

Thanks, bro! I'll try this out soon! =D

[@spino290650]

Great job. Can we hope for a midiusb version in the future? This could be very appreciated.

[@daddydanny5588]

gr8 vid, gr8 explanation ... in some utube videos, they r mentioning about hairless .. but u haven't mentioned it here

[@WTclub]

So if you can multiplex a mutiplexer, would it be possible to get 40 inputs into an Arduino Uno? Or would I be better off with an Arduino model with more input ports?

[@DirtyCasual36]

I'm a pharmacy student, meaning I have ZERO knowledge about electronics or programming. With that said, the fact that i can easily understand everything you just said just speaks about how great this tutorial was! Thanks man!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Dennis! That's awesome :)

[@DirtyCasual36]

no problem!a few quick questions tho, I'm planning to use 74HC4067 to make a 20 button midi controller (16 buttons for the midi notes on the mux and 4 buttonson the uno to choose banks) based on the midi fighter 3d: 1) will the 74HC4067 cause any latency issues when playing since the signal has to travel thru basically two chips? and; 2) do I have to change the code for the 4 buttons to be dedicated to changing banks like the midi fighter 3d or is that something i have to configure on the DAW itself instead, namely ableton? 3)is it still possible to use a usb b instead of a midi port and program that as a usb-midi port? or alternatively, flash the arduino uno to be recognized as a midi device? thank you so much in advance!

[@MrRockism]

I'm not a professional by any stretch but I guess I can answer your questions somewhat. 1) I believe multiplexers are sufficiently fast as to not introduce any noticeable latency. Maybe latency could come from how the Arduino code handles the multiplexers, but to be honest 20 inputs doesn't seem like a lot of inputs regardless. 2) You need to change the code so your buttons send CC 0 or CC 32, which are the Bank Select MSB and LSB messages respectively. You might want to look into how MIDI deals with both the Bank Select and Program Change messages, because they work in a slightly different manner: you have to supply some parameter value so they actually do anything. 3) Technically yes, but you need to hack the Uno. The Uno has two microcontrollers, the 16u2 and the AT328. The 16u2 can be hacked to load a firmware which enables HID support, therefore making it possible for the Uno to be recognized as something like a keyboard, mouse or MIDI controller. To hack the 16u2 you'd need either another Uno or a way to access your Uno's ICSP port. Anyways, I think it would be easier if you used something with built-in HID support, such as the Micro or Micro Pro (they both have the 32u4 microcontroller). Again, I'm no expert so whoever reads this, please correct me if I've dun goofed.

[@DirtyCasual36]

MrRockism thank you! That helps alot, actually!

[@ParametricToroid]

Great video! Much easier to learn than trying to read a bunch of articles. Do you have any videos on using an encoder with an 8 or 16 input multiplexer? Thanks!

[@stalkOptimum10]

Hi, great videos! I was just looking at your code and was wondering, what would be the easiest way of including a "note holder" function, so that the last pressed note is held for ever until the hold button is pressed again. Any ideas?

[@Skandawin78]

have you connected the other end of the midi cable to a keyboard? I'm confused when u say connect to the device you are controlling. please clarify.

[@Roelasia]

an 1,2,3, explenation. absolutely the best.

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thank you!

[@chromypone]

I had a question: because the multiplexers all use the same control pins, does that have any implications for the polyphony of notes across different multiplexers? Like, say I have an input on one multiplexer pressed that requires the 3 control pins to be H H L, and I press a button on a different multiplexer that requires the control pins to be H L H

[@ReginatorNet]

I'm considering using an Arduino Mega because I have over 70 knobs, 25 buttons and 50 LED's in the controller I'm building. Will there be much difference between what I've learned in your Uno tutorials and applying that to the Mega?

[@Waldydo]

Hi! I'm planing to make a controller with 20 digital rotary encoders and some switchers, which Arduino do you recommend, or any other brand, no need MIDI connections just USB Thanks

[@veeceeoh]

Thanks for this well-explained video tutorial! I don't know enough about C to figure out whether your controller library can be modified to allow "coarse" (7-bit) NPRN parameters to be assigned to pots / buttons on this shield project. However, it seems if an NRPN flag is added to the "command" variable, and if the "note number" / "byte command" variables can hold a 14-bit value for the number of the NRPN parameter to change, then a routine could be added to issue the 9 bytes that make up the NPRN parameter change command (CC / #99 / MSB of NPRN parameter / CC/ #98 / LSB of NPRN parameter / CC/ #6 / 7-bit parameter value to send). Is this possible?

[@mutejackmidifactory7775]

Holi shit. It is what I'm exactly wanted!!!!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Awesome!

[@photocanonn]

awesome work guys. I am really to want a build this thing now... i am ready to order 16x chanel mux )))

[@Enigma758]

I would think you should use pull up or pull down resistors on the buttons, otherwise the switch input can float and the mux input is indeterminate in that case.

[@5_ina_syncro16]

Hi. Great work (and very rare)! Thank you because it is very difficult to do it be myself without basic knowledge. But I'm working on it. I wonder how to use only Sysex message (so as to control specifics parameters in my Roland Jd-Xi). How to do? Are you planning a planning a tuto or something like?

[@wadeeliason969]

I like your videos. one question how would I add a drum pad to this code or a FSR to control the hi hat. Thanks

[@lloydrmc]

Truly fabulous! I watched the entire series, even though KZbin served me just this episode, based on my previous interest in other multiplexer/demultiplexer videos. Have you formally set rights to your marvelous code? Otherwise, would you accept change with attribution?

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thank you. You can use the code as you want and attributions are always appreciated :)

[@topgeckogaming4974]

Great video series, really interested in building a midi controller for guitar rig 5. Basically want a 5 button (guitar pedal stomp buttons) and 3 pots, which is easily doable with the your tutorials. Is there a way to send midi via bluetooth instead of the wired midi output? Is this even a thing (midi was never my thing), is thisout of scope of the arduino board?

[@heinrichsmit2]

Hey, is it possible to add one ontop of another to exponentially multiply the analog inputs?

[@joaogoncalves8220]

If i have 2 potentiometers hooked up to a multiplexer and spin them both at the same time, will the multiplexer be able to process the two inputs and send them at the same time or can it only send one input at a time?

[@AlessandroGiancane]

Excellent

[@pabloramirez8745]

First of all, thank you so much for your tutorials they are so professional and well documented. I build this project with an Arduino Uno with a multiplexer and everything worked out, it's really great. But then I tried to adapt it to my Arduino pro micro with one multiplexer and it seems a totally different story. I'm trying to send the midi through the USB port but I can't find the way. Do you have any ideas? Do you know how can I adapt this project to this board?

[@Skandawin78]

My keyboard scan matrix is 4X8 . Can I get 8 columns from multiplexer and 4 rows from arduino's digital output pins ?

[@neytaldub1093]

Hi, i got a question, will this run on Arduino MEga 2560 (Atmega)??

[@josh.graham]

Hey Dave, I was wondering if you've come across code that will work with a pitch wheel? (I found a replacement part from a korg, and added it to my project) I've just coded it as a regular pot, but it seems to only go +/- 70% each way.. .wondering if there's any code you know of to make it a native MIDI pitch bend wheel? Thanks so much for your help mate!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Hi Josh. Midi pitch bend is a little different that a standard CC message in that it uses two data bytes (14 Bits total) for a range of 0 to 16383. It is mapped like this: 0 = max down bend 8192 = no bend 16383 = max up bend. Unfortunately, the code in this example does not handle pitch bend.

[@foamesh]

This works great with the parts I could find. I am thinking about how to add a button or buttons in the code that adds bank(s) functionality. When the button for bank two is pressed, the pots would output a different CC# or on a different MIDI channel. A relatively small control surface with 16 pots and 16 buttons could then be used to control DAW software with 8, 16, ? however many tracks. My coding skills are rusty and were never that great to begin with ;), but thanks to your great videos and clear, simple instruction, I am moved to improve. Thank you sir!

[@SomeOne-pd6vm]

you could potentially just add a button that increments the midi cc # by a certain amount? maybe a bit of a janky way of going about it but i think it would work.

[@Skandawin78]

I'm trying to connect my 25 key keyboard . how many shift registers 74hc595N should I use ? also my keyboard has 2 wheels and 8 knobs. pls advise

[@TheRedstoneGamerOfficial]

would this multiplexer make a midi keyboard monophonic? (as in you could only play one note at a time?)

[@NotesAndVolts]

Hi Win. No, the controller only puts out Midi note on and off commands. It's up to the receiving instrument to determine how to handle them.

[@andrelewisrecording786]

Can this process also be used with the teensy 3.2 but without the use of the midi output circuit to communicate over usb?

[@pekkagronfors7304]

Thanks man. Very nice series. It would also be nice if you could do some in depth code explanation of MIDI.h and your own MIDI_Controller_v1-2. But anyway: Great stuff!

[@NotesAndVolts]

Thanks Pekka! I'll put that on the list.

[@gcbzzzz]

couldn't agree more! that would be sweet

[@leonardopabon4478]

wow, this is amazing, thank you so much. I have 2 questions: 1- can I connect rotary encoders ky040 in the multiplexers? 2- Can I connect buttons and rotary encoder to the multiplexers? greetings and thank you very much!

[@ricardovincenzi8832]

Hi, Any chance to run it in an Arduino Due (it is 84MHz and could handle more multiplex ports than UNO or Mega) Is there a math to calculate the maximum multiplex channels Arduino Uno can manage without delay the control ? Tks

[@verdugoseiscuerdas]

i want to add 2 more multiplexers with buttons on the digital inputs, i dont know how to do that, can help me plz?

[@RBIBIANO]

Nice! It can be used with piezoelectric sensors instead the potentiometer? The arduino command lines keep the same?

[@karan_gour]

Great video! I got one question, and it's real nooby - can you rotate both those knobs at the same time and get two signals simultaneously? I know that I connect the knobs directly to the arduino that'll work since no switching has to happen, but with multiplexers I am not sure.