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11-09-2011, 05:11 AM
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#1
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 381
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Control Surface - Reaper DIY Kits
There's been a lot of talk on here about control surfaces, compatibility, lack of support from manufacturers etc etc....
So, I propose a solution: we define a hardware control surface, package them as DIY kits (or sell them assembled), and define our own Reaper Control Unit protocol. Perhaps a starter is here: http://lividinstruments.com/hardware_builder.php
It would need:
- motorised faders
- transport control buttons
- rotary encoders
- automapping for ReaPlugs
Just putting this idea out there, very interested to see how it progresses with input from the forum!
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11-09-2011, 06:37 AM
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#2
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 226
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Those Livid units are INSANELY expensive. Better to make our own, I think.
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11-09-2011, 06:38 AM
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#3
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 226
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highlyliquid.com/midi-controllers/midi-cpu/
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11-09-2011, 07:15 AM
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#4
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rictus
highlyliquid.com/midi-controllers/midi-cpu/
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That's a start. But I'm thinking we will need more than 24 signals. Can these be chained?
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11-09-2011, 07:54 AM
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#5
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 226
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I don't know.
Let's forget about specific hardware and first settle on a design. What is it most Reaper users want in a control surface? I'm not fortunate enough to own one, so I have little experiece, but I think what I'd like is:
- transport: play, record, stop, seek
- ~8 encoders for plugins
- 1 fader for channel level and/or writing automation
- channel selection: next, previous
For something like that, 16 inputs is enough. What about other users? I realise some will want 48 faders and pan pots, but I think it's better to design something small first, a la Faderport.
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11-09-2011, 07:58 AM
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#6
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 381
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rictus
I don't know.
Let's forget about specific hardware and first settle on a design. What is it most Reaper users want in a control surface? I'm not fortunate enough to own one, so I have little experiece, but I think what I'd like is:
- transport: play, record, stop, seek
- ~8 encoders for plugins
- 1 fader for channel level and/or writing automation
- channel selection: next, previous
For something like that, 16 inputs is enough. What about other users? I realise some will want 48 faders and pan pots, but I think it's better to design something small first, a la Faderport.
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Fair point.
- For ReaEQ, you would need minimum 9 pots (LP Freq, HP Freq, 2 x (gain, freq, q)).
- 8 motorised faders, each with solo, mute, arm, record, pan pot
- LCD display for track name and track level?
Maybe we branch to mini and pro surface? Hardware and control protocol.
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11-12-2011, 12:19 AM
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#7
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 96
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rictus
Those Livid units are INSANELY expensive. Better to make our own, I think.
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http://www.ucapps.de/
i think that Midibox can be a good alternative but i don't see so simple..
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11-12-2011, 08:27 PM
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#8
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,057
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Ask NYM.
FWIW, you can use an Arduino as the brain if you want to do it through MIDI. http://arduino.cc/ (The new UNO may allow it to be seen as a UART over USB- don't know. I have an older one)
You can also use a Teensy http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensypp_pins.html It DOES show up as a UART over USB. i.e., Reaper SEES it as MIDI hardware
Just about any controls except motorized faders can be found for very cheap.
__________________
Comp Specs: WIN XPSP3, Q6600, ASUSP5K, 3 GB PC6400 RAM, Focusrite Saffire, AlphaTrack, lots of plugins and hardware.
Last edited by audioguytodd; 11-12-2011 at 08:34 PM.
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11-13-2011, 02:40 AM
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#9
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 226
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I was thinking maybe the TI MSP430 series could be a good bet... The Launchpad development kit is less than $5 so would be super cost-effective.
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11-14-2011, 07:48 AM
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#11
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 319
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HOFX
There's been a lot of talk on here about control surfaces, compatibility, lack of support from manufacturers etc etc....
So, I propose a solution: we define a hardware control surface, package them as DIY kits (or sell them assembled), and define our own Reaper Control Unit protocol. Perhaps a starter is here: http://lividinstruments.com/hardware_builder.php
It would need:
- motorised faders
- transport control buttons
- rotary encoders
- automapping for ReaPlugs
Just putting this idea out there, very interested to see how it progresses with input from the forum!
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i was thinking about it too, i thought this would be a good start point ( http://www.element14.com/community/g...S|e|7875181988 )
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11-14-2011, 09:49 AM
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#12
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 242
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I think that taking inspiration from something like SmartAV Tango would be the way to go. Provide a set of hardware buttons, faders and encoders and delegate the software part to a tablet that would live in/on the controller. An Android tablet usually has a USB port that will talk to keyboards and mice. So make the controller appear as a keyboard/mouse combo to a USB master. Make it open source so that people can add features and support for various plugins and software.
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11-14-2011, 01:58 PM
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#13
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Berlin / Germany
Posts: 832
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thuneau
I think that taking inspiration from something like SmartAV Tango would be the way to go. Provide a set of hardware buttons, faders and encoders and delegate the software part to a tablet that would live in/on the controller. An Android tablet usually has a USB port that will talk to keyboards and mice. So make the controller appear as a keyboard/mouse combo to a USB master. Make it open source so that people can add features and support for various plugins and software.
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That is really a neat idea, but i don't think that they should appear as keyboard and mice for the tablet, even if this would work (i don't see how you transfer simultanious movements of x faders via keyboard and mose) that would be really a ugly hack. I think a better option would be to connect the hardware to a controller that converts them to MIDI messages and that the controller register itself to the tablet as a generic midi interface (i hope Android come with a driver for generic midi interfaces, i'm not sure about this).
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