How To Build A DIY MIDI Controller (2015 Edition)

[@HBSuccess]

To get a cleaner job drilling the large holes - use a forstner bit not a spade bit - and back up every hole with a scrap piece of 2x4 or similar.

[@JohnFoley1701]

Forstner bits are the best. I never use a spade anymore.

[@imsgoalie1]

I saw the tear out on that shit and thought "he's using that?"

[@therealpepeu]

So... a 2019 edition coming up? With motorized sliders.

[@GoblinWar]

the motorized sliders increase the cost substantially

[@fvw94]

As a dj and electronic engineer, i'll just say: that's what I was waiting for. Amazing tutorial

[@Ankushdas2001]

If you were an amazing dj and electric engineer, you wouldn't be waiting for this

[@fvw94]

@@Ankushdas2001 Damn 5 years later!

[@Ankushdas2001]

@@fvw94 time flies i guess

[@infinitemagnet1210]

​@@fvw94Damn 7 years.

[@jortband]

Hi Interesting video, love the basic setup and the expansive explanation from beginning to end, great for starters! So keep em coming. I do have some tips however for soldering and the case making. First for the case: When drilling holes I can recommend three things. One: you can tape the front of your box when drilling with masking tape, this can prevent some of the damage the drill makes; two: put the inside of your box on a smaller hard surface (for example cheap mdf) when drilling, when you do this you are less likely to splinter the bottom and you get much cleaner holes; third: hand drills are great for DIY, however when you have a drill press I can highly recommend using this as it is far more precise and will involve way less clean-up. On the soldering part, I saw you used wires meant for breadboarding (the jumper wires), these are great, however using stranded core wire makes it easier to solder and is more flexible (and likely cheaper than jumper wires), furthermore you can also use shrink tubing more easily. I can also recommend resin/flux cored solder, it is a bit more expensive, however is is amazing when soldering, just coat everything with the solder and then connect, its easy and fast. P.S. Thanks for this video, really love it wish there were a lot more videos for introductions to music DIY equipment.

[@KyleMohr]

+jortband Thanks! These are great pro tips. Appreciate you sharing. They will indeed come in handy for future projects and videos. Will be sure to utilize this in my new workflow.

[@SqueakerGamingHD]

I've always wanted to know how to make a MIDI controller, great video!

[@KyleMohr]

+Guy Dude thanks!

[@noa_1104]

10,000 Subs With No Videos And I've always wanted to know how to make a mind controller! A pity I misread the title...

[@marbleempire1874]

hey, i am using 6 analogue inputs and 1 button (digital input) do I have to change the code for this? can i just leave the code the same as the original and my mac will just see less inputs than there actually are.

[@m1trek860]

@@marbleempire1874 why are u asking him lol

[@OutsideAgent]

Parts list in the description would be awesome.. +1 for the vid.

[@KyleMohr]

Full parts list with links at DJTechTools.com in the article with a step by step guide.

[@djtechtools]

Raimz Gamez Grab the full parts list here: djtechtools.com/2015/08/25/how-to-make-your-own-diy-midi-controller/

[@votouragile9190]

+Raimz Gamez what's the second potetiometer effect ? 14.51

[@TheRealHucasys]

Awesome, I haven't built anything since we made a radio in school, but maybe I'll have the guts to give this a try. Cool!

[@arthurchin997]

"instant gratification" "after 24 hours" "wait 72 hours"

[@joeelder1629]

right?

[@luisvillar4360]

Yall get over your selves. This demo is thoroughly demonstrative and this is a well crafted feat. Y'all are micromanaging.

[@TwimxMusic]

Really good video, now i really want to make one ! But it would be great if you could make a video with a bit more of theory, how to program, what we can do, all the different teensy board we can use, or other thing like this. So we could create exactly what we want ! But it style a great video, and don't stop, DJ TechTools is the best "music channel" i know !!!

[@KyleMohr]

***** Great idea! Thanks. We didn't get to cover everything, just some basics, but would love to do a follow up video with more theory and other board options for further discussion. We just wanted to show the cheapest and simplest way to get started.

[@alexbakerjazz]

Just finished building mine today. Thankyou for your help in this video. Demo coming soon on my channel if anyone’s interested

[@NicVigil]

put painters tape on the inside while you dremel it out. that will prevent a good bit of the blow out

[@volod3mir]

Can you program CC values into the tinsy board and use a regular midi port instead of usb?

[@elissitdesign]

2019 version case can be 3D printed 🤘🏽 Faders crackle and fail pretty easy. You can protect them from debris by making a slice of felt between the board cutout and mount. Nice video. Thanks.

[@MEANASSJAMSTER]

these faders can have a 100n capacitor across their output with confidence and still work fine; - they are only giving DC voltage.... - personally I always wanted to make touch controlled faders...

[@CraigHollabaugh]

Thanks, about to do something similar. Didn't know that teensy had midi over USB support, you just saved me a ton of time by not fooling with midi serial.

[@illustriouschin]

if you covered both sides of the lid with painter's tape before drilling that would help with the splitting, or just use a sheet of acryllic for the top instead.

[@illustriouschin]

Pretty good idea, Me.

[@michaelhawthorne5516]

Your soldering technique will create weak/cold solder joints. They're likely to crack under stress/vibrations. If you plan on performing in a club where volume levels will be quite high, I recommend NOT globbing solder onto your joints. Use some decent flux-core solder, apply the iron to one of your metal contacts, not to the solder. Apply solder to the opposite contact, again DO NOT TOUCH solder to the iron. The solder will take to the contact and flow toward your iron if the two pieces of metal are heated well enough, and share enough surface area. This will create a strong joint resistant to vibration damage.

[@chrism8030]

Yeah I think people got the solder to the iron from some science movie or something.

[@geoffreymartin2714]

I will chime in here a good tutorial but his soldering technique in the video needs work as you have a lot of weak and cold solder joints which is what you don't want when your soldering this technique is how I learned soldering properly which produces much stronger joints and a lot less cold joints

[@emberleona9278]

You probably will life pads like that especially if they make the preferated self destructing solder pads now.

[@jimmysp0110]

4:24 the best tool for the job

[@tonyhoff86]

Using hook up wire rather than breadboard jumper wire would clean up the interior. You can cut everything to length and make it sexy. Just be sure to strip the wire, twist it together and tin it with a little solder before attaching to your components.

[@kiliwami4086]

Im from germany and dont know what a MIDI controller is, but hey, KZbin said that I should watch this video, a midi Controller must be very interesting

[@holetoanotheruniverse4690]

Hey mate, I'm also from Germany but what has that to do with a midi-controller?

[@kiliwami4086]

123jo123lle why arent you speaking German?

[@holetoanotheruniverse4690]

Vermutlich weil unsere internationale KZbin Community auch gerne wissen will, was wir schreiben :)

[@jacschilder]

Dutchies will understand

[@jornprenger7926]

@@jacschilder echt he

[@woodzyfox4735]

Time to take this idea to the max! DYI 40 channel mix board here i come!!! Also gana make 20 Know addon, then a 10x10x4 pad DYI MAX!

[@krazywabbit]

Mad respect.

[@vibecastle5434]

can not wait to build my midi controller ! beautiful tutorial, thanks man.

[@Nicolas_Bouzin]

Really nice build.

[@MrLilgiblet]

Don't do the soldering technique used here, this can cause cold joints and insufficient wetting. it's much easier to just to apply the solder to the pad and pin directly and then melt it.

[@PrinceWesterburg]

...Or use flux

[@MythicPalette]

@@PrinceWesterburg Actually, flux just helps the solder flow onto the target joint, it does not increase the viability of the joint. The point that the solder is being attached to is still cold, causing the solder to not attach to it properly. To properly solder, you have to heat the solder joint itself (i.e. the Teensy's solder point and the wire) and touch the solder to the heated joint. This will cause the solder to bind to the heated metal. If you heat the solder then try to attach it to cold metal, the solder will envelope the metal and begin to cool but will not adhere to the metal itself, forming what is commonly called "a cold joint". This can lead to weak electrical connection/signal, as well as joint failure where the unadhered wires can simply slip out of socket. A perfect example of this in the video is when he soldered the Teensy itself and the solder created bulb forms. The solder should have flowed down into the joint and adhered to both the pin and the hole, not formed a droplet on top of it. That droplet indicates that the solder did not attach to the metal beneath it.

[@Shurdizzle]

Such a cool video, you've given me so many ideas and now I know how to start them all. Thanks DJTT

[@mestari33]

Absolutely fantastic video! I'm going to my own too. Thanks!

[@BertPlays]

great video!! but can you please show us how to make a bigger midi controller with jogwheels and how to do when you puss a button that a led turns on?

[@DeepRolleraTutGas]

+Bert Plays well the real answer is how can we put more analog inputs ?? building a simple 4 channel 4bands eq midi mixers for traktor for example..?? :) all the parts like jogwheels are not complicated using potentiometer and the learn function on the software but we first need the answer for the first question

[@borisperovic4091]

Great, comprehensive video. Thanks!

[@liamorourke2537]

Hi... nice video. I did a similar project a few years ago with an arduino UNO. I actually used a power router with a very thin bit to cut the straight lines out for the faders. It worked really nicely because the router has a guide edge so you get a perfectly straight cut. The finish looked really professional. Just thought I'd share that with you. ANyway... nice work

[@lulurapstoo1832]

4:12: unsafe, forever Nice vid

[@fisheatsyourhead]

yep the bit broke in the next scene as well imagine that flyinh into your eye

[@themo1234567890]

Please view a soldering tutorial, the way you solder is definitly not the way how you should do it. Add the solder together with the iron to the joint. The trick is do melt the solder not with the iron but with the heated up component you want to solder. Nice Video anyway!

[@angryELEPHANT4]

4.47 use painter tap on the back to prevent shredding.

[@matthewJ142]

A carpenter pencil or marker stencil works well too

[@DJSidhu24]

Wow so now you know how to make a whole mixer

[@lordchristoph49]

You are Joseph J: Cool: What a fabulous idea. Also I am inspired by the fact that you have the same cheapo but controllable soldering iron that I found on ebay.

[@wizardtuga]

even the design is Awesome being an DIY controller pretty damn good!

[@Marc_Wolfe]

This time I'm trying to remove knobs. I only ever use 1 anymore; and I'm trying to add that to another sketch; a HID keyboard plus a gamepad analog stick. I'll figure it out eventually. EDIT: I got it. Different libraries, bashed my head against example code for a bit.

[@Cmn3072]

Nice job!

[@tamirpinkas6197]

Thanks guys !!!Great video

[@gokalpcetin4763]

You got some really nice tools but I'm not sure if you actually know how to use them. Those drill bits are for making a hole on walls and tough surfaces unlike that box, and don't use that small disc cutter as holding from the back of it, but hold it firmly closer to the tip and don't let it get an angle inside the hole you are just cutting or as you have seen the disc breaks. Anyways I'm not trying to be mean or the "know it all guy", I am just trying to give some advices so that you don't hurt yourself. It is a nice tutorial by the way. Keep it going. Wish you the best.

[@rufusstewart762]

The comments section has taught me that I don't really like people who are good at soldering.

[@Envinite]

Lmao, I see their reason. I know this is just a quick tutorial to show us how it's done, but I bet that those chinese child workers cringes at his soldering skill.

[@haddoxguitars9158]

get the $50 station with the sponge tray and spiral holster for the gun. It's the secret to soldering perfectly...

[@romoalex]

dont ever be an electrical engineer

[@shaunquass3939]

Revolutionary Stewart I

[@marbleempire1874]

Hey quick question. wonder if you will know the answers. If I am using less analogue and digital inputs than there are in the code that he has written will I still have to change the values for them? for example do I have to delete the button code where it says 1:3 etc..and just have 1 of 1? And with the analogue inputs do I have to change it to my number or can i just leave it as 8 anyways

[@eNeVeFamily]

Very very cool video thank you...

[@austin5259]

I plan on making a super special unique midi with this as reference, thanks

[@Michael-hn5gi]

Welcome! In this video there are 4 potentiometers, 4 faders and 4 arcade buttons. How many potentiometers and faders and buttons together we can use in one project using arduino uno?

[@leeahegg]

Super cool!

[@MayRocknrolll]

hello can you please build a diy motorized fader midi controller usb? 1-4 fader thanks.great video.

[@osten_petersson]

i have been eyeing my midifighter original and my broken vestax vci 100 se - thinking " a scratch + button masher box would be just what i need for my traktor D player" if I just had some bonus hours then this would be a great intro to that

[@KyleMohr]

+östen petersson Would love to see what the final result looks like. That sounds awesome!

[@osten_petersson]

time will tell - probably it will end up in the box for unfinished ideas

[@34Kuro]

faders can be logarithmic as well A.K.A. audio pots

[@xerxesbass497]

plz plz plz more tutorial about made synthsizers & DJs

[@NeonblueIndustries]

Just use a cig lighter fot the heat shrink, so much better than burning it with your "SAUDERING" Iron. Plus it makes your tip dirty and which makes it harder to SAUDER.

[@MotoErgoSum]

Cherry or Oak wouldn't be so nasty to work on. The dremel would cut and sand it pretty nicely. Harder is better unless you want something that'll crush with a single hard fall. Otherwise, very cool project. Looking into the parts it's not much cheaper making your own. Large part of why I just went ahead and bought the MIDI Fighter 3D and Twister.

[@ArcanumChronicles]

use hole saw for holes bigger than 3cms (around 1/2 inch) its much more forgiving to thin plywood...

[@richardwilliams1310]

nice work

[@snookofficial7211]

I've got an obsolete Novation Nocturn, which has 8 rotary controls on it and one slider, I wonder if it would be possible to turn it into a MIDI controller, like this one. I hate throwing things away, but there's no software available for recent OSs that'll make it work.

[@kimmiesrhythms]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@DI-xe8vq]

Finally a useful tutorial. btw please learn how to soldier correctly.

[@Amanda-yl1oz]

For the slots: Oscillating Fine Saw might work great.

[@jumbejolly3129]

pretty awesome

[@khuuramnazir1124]

Thank you so much, can we use this for X32 Rack Behringer.

[@elizle]

24mm forstner bit would have worked a lot better for larger holes. I used a 24mm and a 30mm when I built my arcade stick. Cuts nice circular holes in both wood and plexiglass.

[@luisg6404]

if you want a clean look to your wood then before you drill just clamp another piece of wood to the side opposite to the direction you're drilling. this will keep the wood from chipping out and looking crappy. Also if you're going to use a dremel make sure to use eye protection!

[@ssneg]

Yeah, the 4:26 moment with the dremel was plain scary

[@reecey898]

tape the line with a roll of tape when cutting. your ll find the cut will come out clean ..GET UP THE WORK BOYS SICK VID

[@nozma6615]

Best project!!! Love it.

[@CelluloidHoax]

is it possible to make drum pads and connect them to the controller?

[@bananutelectronics8646]

If you like drum pads, we suggest you check out our controller and the documentation: bananutelectronics.com/producto/midispositivomidi/

[@talongregory4375]

If you tape the spots you plan to drill, they are less likely to blowout like that.

[@oscarmonroy4939]

It's Nice good job, but what can i do if i want to make a 24 Faders mixer? Is it possible? Thanks a lot for upload this video

[@eligarlong2209]

this is close to what i want to build. looking for motorized faders i can strap on my guitar.

[@monts4246]

I'm doing a project very similar to this, using the Teensy 2.0 as the brain. Because the Teensy only has one active and ground pin do I wire up the active and ground chains in series or parallel? It doesn't specify and this could affect the voltage that each part gets...

[@RickyDemetro]

thanks for all the hard work! great vid

[@kealtoastgaming]

Use blue tape to help with wood tear out

[@djmesk.mixdjs5318]

wow its very cool ... i like it ..

[@glemau9667]

Why do the potentiometers have 4 pins? The ones I can find online only have 3. Are those fine too?

[@ממשלאהערוץהרשמי]

very nice video, thank you so much! :)

[@I-OMusic]

"I'm gonna show you how to make a MIDI controller, first you're gonna need twice as much money than a comparable MIDI would cost."

[@SimpleTrax]

All the "kits" are quite small for my needs. I need a platform that can support at least 100 analog knobs and some digital encoders, is there one? I want the midi controller to be usable, I already have 24 knob controller, I need more.

[@RobynTapps]

yo Kyle.. never got the knobs working properly and tore the midifighter clone down.. I recently acquired a yamaha toy keyboard for like $4.. problem this time is coding the key matrx. once I get it I will post a link to the code in the comments

[@lets7121]

Hey I've built myself a midi drum pad following this videos instructions, however, I am having a problem because Logic does not seem to recognize it as a Midi Device but as an external device. All I have is 6 buttons. When I altered the coding i may have messed something up. Can You Help?

[@ejwang615]

wow dude you are amazing!

[@noiselabproject9659]

Cool but what about a project like this that has a real midi cable output ? ( i.e 5 pin din socket )

[@Dutch-Maker]

DAMN! You need to learn to solder... How many cold joints do you have?

[@KyleMohr]

+BuyMeForFree actually no cold joints! But agreed, could definitely be better. There was hours of video condensed into 15mins. So usually we just used the initial shot which sometimes looked like a blob of solder before we fixed it.

[@Dutch-Maker]

+KM Productions You really need watch this video: EEVblog #183 - Soldering Tutorial Part 2

[@KyleMohr]

+BuyMeForFree great tutorial. Thanks!

[@damianpc1]

I'm 16 and I can even solder better than this guy...

[@StarmanDeluxe2001]

+KM Productions You burned off any flux by putting the solder on the iron first then transferring it to the wire. That's the incorrect order of operations -_-

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

could you do a wire digram for each parts or do complete digram please i would love to build this but its confused me when i watch u to wire it all up

[@SBZ2746]

You are the man

[@NickWickedone]

very informative video, I enjoyed it but was curious to know if Bluetooth technology would have too long of a response time considering latency but still would love to try it just for the fun

[@TheHappy1337]

Where can I find a midi controller similar to this? with the 4 buttons, faders & knobs, just simple like that? There's no way I'm building one at the moment haha.

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

Korg Nanocontrol? Probably cheaper.

[@Weston_Guidero]

i may have missed it in the video, but are the buttons/pads velocity sensitive?

[@djkimey9175]

I like your idea can you do an update video could you do it with a raspberry pie pico

[@puikegast]

for beginner level, i can really advice a game controller board like the IPAC or similar, no need for soldering, plug and play

[@EdgarAcosta97]

great video guuys!!!

[@onomoto88]

Is there a way to replace a fader with a rotary knob?

[@DKzAcronym]

I recommend cheese cloth and not a rag for staining wood.

[@alexmillette]

Any reason for 220 ohms resistor? When i look at calculator it says 90 ohm for a 3.2v white 20ma led to work with 5v source?

[@EspenFrafalne]

AWESOME!!! I cant wait to get some custom controllers designed specifically for my favorite Komplete 11 Ultimate software :P

[@041c0unt3rPart]

Very helpful thank you.

[@ca-6randomprojects841]

Which is better? A Linear or Logarithmic type potentiometer for this?

[@eroximity1171]

Oh surprisingly I have all those things right next to me.

[@eichoevers4199]

Where do you purchase these components..? Sliders in particular are hard to find on the inexpensive side.

[@adisatrio3871]

i want to buy the diy controller instead of the branded product. it looks cool and simple

[@patrick9580]

Is it possible to make this but all of em are the arcade button? Like the midi fighter 3d?

[@yourbeardispatchyaf]

Even tho I'm late, this man literally built his own MIDI controller from scratch that WORKED and you guys were givin him shit for not soldering exactly correct?