Building a MIDI controller

Can we build our own midi controllers with an Arduino? Yes!

I recommend using the Arduino Leonardo (or similar), as it already registers as USB device when you plug it in. Also useful for making custom game controllers.

The library to use to actually announce the Leonardo as a MIDI device is called MIDIUSB (straightforward naming) and the library control surface by Pieter P kind of does the DAW mappings.

This video gives a short intro to the Leonardo and the library and testing a custom midi controller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRz6JKeXZgk (it’s not the highest quality video, sorry about that).

NOTE: In past workshops only Logic and Ableton recognized the custom MIDI controller. ProTools kind of saw it but didn’t accept input, sadly.

You can use a fader or a poti for this!