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Old 04-25-2018, 01:52 PM   #1
azslow3
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Default USB/Wireless(not WiFi) REAPER controller... you have it but never used that way

Imagine you can have a small (from 10x6cm or even less), light (~100g), possibly wireless (without WiFi) controller with 2 (or a bit more) physical buttons and one endless encoder with push function. And these controls can be assign to Reaper actions. And that controller cost under $10.

Or may be you want 100 buttons, possibly wireless, controller. Still for around $10.

You probably already have both!

These devices are mouse and keyboard. The REAPER extension is called "AZ Not" (... a mouse/keyboard).

To avoid confusion:
* the mouse/keyboard device used with "AZ Not" will no longer work as normal, it will work as a RAPER dedicated MIDI Control Surface.
* other mouse/keyboard will continue to work as usual.

Windows only, free to use, closed source extension.

The first alpha, not well tested yet
http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,423.0.html

Last edited by azslow3; 08-01-2018 at 08:35 AM.
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Old 04-25-2018, 02:59 PM   #2
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YES!

Funny, someone developed just that for RME's interfaces. He's selling it for 30€...

Of course, in that case it's a bit of competition for RME's ARC (Advanced Remote Control), which has far more buttons, but is USB connected.

I was thinking ESP8266 DIY myself, but I have far too many projects on my plate already
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Old 04-25-2018, 04:50 PM   #3
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I want the guts of this in a way that I can stick it in a pedalboard so I can have an easier wireless midi pedalboard
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Old 04-25-2018, 07:43 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by cyrano View Post
YES!

Funny, someone developed just that for RME's interfaces. He's selling it for 30€...

Of course, in that case it's a bit of competition for RME's ARC (Advanced Remote Control), which has far more buttons, but is USB connected.

I was thinking ESP8266 DIY myself, but I have far too many projects on my plate already
show the people?

to OP - yeh sure ..
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Old 04-25-2018, 10:25 PM   #5
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My colleagues have also proposed to ask electronic department to build some micro-controller based unit.

But my plan is simpler...

Everyone is using several buttons + encoder "controllers" every day. The "device" is available in any store, color, size and shape. The trick is just to use it "unusual" way, as dedicated DAW controller. Microsoft has made that a bit more tricky that it could be, but I have checked yesterday that it is possible
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Old 04-26-2018, 08:36 AM   #6
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show the people?
I've got nothing to show. I said I was thinking about it.

The ESP8266 seems like a good candidate, because it has on-board Wifi, it's a fairly powerful 32 bit RISC processor with 512 MB ram and a resourceful community. And it's only like 9$ or so.

There's an example of an OSC to MIDI controller here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMd6sPLynBo
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Old 04-26-2018, 08:44 AM   #7
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I've got nothing to show. I said I was thinking about it.

The ESP8266 seems like a good candidate, because it has on-board Wifi, it's a fairly powerful 32 bit RISC processor with 512 MB ram and a resourceful community. And it's only like 9$ or so.

There's an example of an OSC to MIDI controller here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMd6sPLynBo
Or ESP32 which has BTLE built in (and 10 touch sensor pins) but it's API/Toolchain isn't quite as mature as the ESP8266 yet (32 is dual core though!). I'm fairly buried in ESP8266/32 tech if anyone has questions - I've been working with them for a few years now.

I just had a discussion here recently about how it wouldn't be "that" difficult to use ESP32 or 8266 to achieve this. Even WiFi is doable.... because the 8266 can be the client/server and/or an access point taking the user's network completely out of the picture (by the controllers just talking to each other on their own network), or even using websockets which is about as near real time as you can get over the air and so on.

I haven't gotten interested enough (or have the time) to do this, but I'm certain someone could create the mother of all wireless controllers this way, if they spend the R&D time. There has never been a better time in history to do this, parts are dirt cheap and the tech is there.
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Old 04-26-2018, 01:29 PM   #8
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I figured OSC over Wifi would be easier than serial MIDI over BT. But then, I'm a BT virgin...

Metering, 16 bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nz4eakfhJQ

Accelerometer:

http://apps.incalcando.com/2017/05/23/1075/

OSC in Reaper:

https://hexler.net/docs/touchosc-setup-reaper

X-OSC, ready to run, with a built-in webserver, £160.00 (ex. VAT):

http://x-io.co.uk/x-osc/

With Junxion:

http://steim.org/product/junxion/

...
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Old 04-27-2018, 07:01 AM   #9
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Funny, someone developed just that for RME's interfaces. He's selling it for 30€...
Have a link by chance?
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Old 04-27-2018, 03:45 PM   #10
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Have a link by chance?
Just a link to the post:

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27029

There's a link to youtube vid in it
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Old 04-25-2018, 11:20 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by azslow3 View Post

Imagine you can have a small (from 10x6cm or even less), light (~100g), possibly wireless (without WiFi) controller with 2 (or a bit more) physical buttons and one endless encoder with push function. And these controls (may be also gestures like long press and/or double press) can be assign to Reaper actions. And that controller cost under $10.

Do you think you have a use case for that?
it sounds like a mouse?
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Old 04-25-2018, 11:47 PM   #12
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it sounds like a mouse?

I digged the Internet several times in attempt to find existing solutions for usual devices as controllers. For some reason that is not widely used. At most Joysticks/Gamepads are supported (btw also wireless and works fine, I have created full Sonar accessible control preset with one of such units, but "form factor" is not want I need now, too big and too "toy like").
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Old 07-09-2018, 09:44 AM   #13
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Windows only
Well, that would be a show stopper there.
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Old 07-09-2018, 09:47 AM   #14
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Well, that would be a show stopper there.
Well for like 3 of you.
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Old 07-09-2018, 10:46 AM   #15
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Well, that would be a show stopper there.
Apple lovers are not looking for cheap solutions in general, they like expensive staff, with 1 year warranty and declared obsolete/incompatible after 2-3 years. Free 40kb program for $1 device which will work next 10-20 years is "no go" by design
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Old 07-09-2018, 11:08 AM   #16
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Apple lovers are not looking for cheap solutions in general, they like expensive staff, with 1 year warranty and declared obsolete/incompatible after 2-3 years. Free 40kb program for $1 device which will work next 10-20 years is "no go" by design
This Apple lover grew up with their professional products that would last 20 years, stay compatible, and give a lot of bang for the buck. So... we may be in the last chapter of Apple and OSX right here today but Windows sure isn't a reasonable option when you've been used to OSX for so long and it still delivers at a high level.

I suppose I don't fit into either camp at present but I'm always looking for cheap solutions. Downgrading to Windows OS would not be such a solution either.
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Old 07-09-2018, 11:14 AM   #17
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This Apple lover grew up with their professional products that would last 20 years ----- Downgrading to Windows OS would not be such a solution either.
I think you took the bait, the clear answer is there is no good or evil in that better/worse regard and the least informed are those who think there is (which is so 1995 btw).
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Old 07-09-2018, 11:52 AM   #18
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This Apple lover grew up with their professional products that would last 20 years, stay compatible, and give a lot of bang for the buck. So... we may be in the last chapter of Apple and OSX right here today but Windows sure isn't a reasonable option when you've been used to OSX for so long and it still delivers at a high level.
Just to note, I am in not in the lager of general Apple haters. Apple had many excellent ideas how to make things simple and working. From usable PCs up to usable smartphones and tablets, with OS and program written in codes. And they have recognized when it is time to re-invent Unix.

But complete closeness of the eco-system is error prone.
I was working on an experiment which was solely based on Apple. I have joined it at the time of OS9/PowerPC to OSX/Intel transition. That is about "last 20 years and stay compatible".

At the end of the day, I still can run almost any DOS/Windows software which I have ever used. And I still can run any Linux software I have ever used. Looking at incompatibility even between different OS-X versions, the same can not be written about Apple.

Finally, I have Dell XPS now. Stupidly constructed device. I will not buy Dell again (at least not in the near future). And there is no problem, there is a big choice. But what to do in case you have an Apple and you do not like it? Change "the planet"? Wait till they make it better?

BTW I use Linux, except for music and games.
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Old 11-15-2018, 03:04 AM   #19
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Another view of Apple:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKJjLwMUPJI
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Old 07-10-2018, 04:25 PM   #20
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Apple lovers are not looking for cheap solutions in general, they like expensive staff, with 1 year warranty and declared obsolete/incompatible after 2-3 years. Free 40kb program for $1 device which will work next 10-20 years is "no go" by design
You clearly don't know many Apple users.

I still support a couple of writers that use LocalTalk wiring with a LaserWriter. They have only one fairly modern Mac, used exclusively for internet. Not for creative writing. And I installed a system 9 Mac for a friend to use one plugin for mastering not too long ago. There are many Mac owners out there that kept their old machines and these last seemingly forever.

DOS, otoh has one big problem: no hardware left that is able to connect to the machines that need it. Sure, emulation is easy. But nothing is available if you need a parallel port that supports bit-banging, or an ISA extension card. Not even with manufacturers of industrial PC's that still have ISA slots. And they'll readily admit it, that compatibility only exists on paper.

Maybe your image got blurred by the iOS crowd...
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Old 07-11-2018, 03:16 AM   #21
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You clearly don't know many Apple users.
From the perspective you describe, yes. Apple users I know are from "new generation" only. The experiment I have mentioned switched to Linux/Windows for its last several years, but that was more then 10 years ago...

Quote:
I still support a couple of writers that use LocalTalk wiring with a LaserWriter. They have only one fairly modern Mac, used exclusively for internet. Not for creative writing. And I installed a system 9 Mac for a friend to use one plugin for mastering not too long ago. There are many Mac owners out there that kept their old machines and these last seemingly forever.
Yes, these was durable. I also still have MacBook from 2000, and it still boots fine (Debian)
The same I can say about PCs. Pentium II also boots fine. Can not say the same about other PCs, till I have decided to use motherboards explicitly marked as durable.
But my recent experience is different, I observe x10 more normal notebooks but the number of failed Apples is almost the same. Several after 1.1 year (bad luck?).

Quote:
DOS, otoh has one big problem: no hardware left that is able to connect to the machines that need it. Sure, emulation is easy. But nothing is available if you need a parallel port that supports bit-banging, or an ISA extension card. Not even with manufacturers of industrial PC's that still have ISA slots. And they'll readily admit it, that compatibility only exists on paper.
I must admit I was not working with PC dedicated hardware. The science use modular platforms like VME. So upgrade is as easy as replacing the controller board. Some equipment is serial or CAN. Sure, with ISA that can be problematic.
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Old 07-11-2018, 04:01 AM   #22
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From the perspective you describe, yes. Apple users I know are from "new generation" only...
That's what I figured. But that's not limited to Apple users. Some phone users I know, buy four or five phones per year. And they tend to loose more when they resell their previous one than iphone users...

Me too, I'd like to see a Mac version. But I know how much work is involved, so I won't beg for it

Besides, I have 17 motorised faders and several other controls lined up for connection to a MidiBox...
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Old 02-13-2021, 10:50 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by azslow3 View Post
Imagine you can have a small (from 10x6cm or even less), light (~100g), possibly wireless (without WiFi) controller with 2 (or a bit more) physical buttons and one endless encoder with push function. And these controls can be assign to Reaper actions. And that controller cost under $10.

Or may be you want 100 buttons, possibly wireless, controller. Still for around $10.

You probably already have both!

These devices are mouse and keyboard. The REAPER extension is called "AZ Not" (... a mouse/keyboard).

To avoid confusion:
* the mouse/keyboard device used with "AZ Not" will no longer work as normal, it will work as a RAPER dedicated MIDI Control Surface.
* other mouse/keyboard will continue to work as usual.

Windows only, free to use, closed source extension.

The first alpha, not well tested yet
http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,423.0.html
I've got it working brilliantly on my Windows set up but I have a Hackintosh and wondered if there was an equivalent or alternative way of setting a second qwerty keyboard dedicated to Reaper.

Thanks
Tony
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