[LAU] 'Modular' midi controller for keyboard

[Len Ovens]

On Sat, March 30, 2013 3:43 am, rosea.grammostola wrote:
> On 03/30/2013 09:01 AM, Simon Wise wrote:
>> On 30/03/13 05:35, rosea.grammostola wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> The bcr2000 has rotary encoders with LEDS.
>>>
>>> The bitstream 3X does have potentiometers and it's possible to set the
>>> 3X in
>>> such a way that the know has to pass the value of an control in a
>>> certain
>>> software, before it gets 'on'.
>>
>> I find the need to move the knob (or a fader) to pick-up the value as
>> above
>> very clumsy in many circumstances ... especially when fine tuning
>> something it is difficult to make the first small adjustment, and
>> requires finding the target
>> value first from the computer screen etc. Its OK if you have enough
>> knobs so that you can control most things you want to without switching.
>
> The Bitstream 3X has two modes, which should prevent undesirable jumps:
>
> Jump mode:
> allows the instantaneous sending of MIDI data no matter what position
> the control is in at the time of the change.
> This mode could provoke undesirable jumps in the values when the user
> uses the different groups of the Bitstream 3X, the physical value of the
> control may not correspond to the value of the same control in a new
> group.
>
> Hook mode:
> allows the user to avoid any undesirable jump in values: After any group
> change, if the physical position of the analog control doesn’t
> correspond to the value of the same control in the newly
> selected group, the MIDI data is not sent while the physical position
> and the value are different. Thus, no jump in value is obtained.
> The LCD screen of the Bitstream 3X indicates the direction to move the
> control to finally generate the MIDI.

This has been a great thread. I think if I was using a control box as
drawbars, I would want sliders and not worry about jump from changing
presets. I would work in one of two modes in that case, hands off with
persets and manual control... or throw money at it and use motors :)

For most other kinds of settings, rotary encoders make the most sense...
though for me cost wise, a touchscreen with midi over wireless is probably
what I would do as a notepad seems less expensive than a box with knobs.
The sensitivity can be set so that 1" of finger movement can be 10% full
range or 100% full range (maybe even on the fly). First touch anywhere on
the control would always be accepted as where ever the control already is
and so long as your finger is still touching the screen it doesn't matter
if the finger leaves the area of the control being tweaked.

In my case, I am thinking in terms of a studio remote control. Being able
to tweak input levels and start/stop transport and arm/disarm record. Ya
the computer is in the same room, but it is in a bad place to be sitting
in front of and performing at the same time, a bad place for mic setup and
a bad place acoustically for sound pickup. Right now I leave 5-10 seconds
of dead space at the beginning of a track to give me time to get from the
computer to my performing position and that detracts from my performance.
walk over, get guitar, don headset, put myself back in artistic mode, get
myself back into speed of the song, etc.


-- 
Len Ovens
www.OvenWerks.net