Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
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is there mini wireless controllers?
Hi guys im looking for something like the livid minum but can't find that anywhere, does anyone know of a small wireless controller small enough to stick onto my guitar to control quantiloop with round 8-12 pads or buttons?
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What's your budget?
How configurable in terms of messages sent does it need to be?
The reason I'm curious is not because of I know of anything any to recommend, but because I'm toying around with making something like that for fun. The costs for making your own controllers add up though, and it usually doesn't seem to be worth it vs. bought controllers. And making it configurable adds a lot to the complexity.
i posted a link to this very illuminating tutorial by MerwinMusic in another thread recently about bluetooth foot switches. This is for a custom guitar with built in buttons sending notes, but it's the basis of the code I used myself to make a standalone 9 button Quantiloop foot controller sending CCs over bluetooth. You could make a DIY 8 button controller for about £50, main costs being the Adafruit 32u4 board (about £30) and the buttons.
These offgrid handheld controllers look really interesting, but probably overkill for just triggering, it has MPE and more. They start shipping soon I believe (soon in the Kickstarter sense).
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/birdkids/offgrid-make-music-your-way-anytime-anywhere-hands-on
This ACPAD looks the closest to what you describe (with extras), but not apparently in mass production and big for an electric guitar.
http://acpad.com
@lukesleepwalker has recommended it here previously.
If you're interested in a custom built mountable bluetooth button pad let me know, I'd been thinking of making something similar. I can do the electronics and coding and my footswitch prototypes started both small and low profile (on an 8" by 2" breadboard)... I'd just need to work on making it ergonomic and robust (or cheap and cheerful but easy to repair). They only need a small Li-Po battery to keep them powered for many hours. Arcade buttons would be my choice in this case.
@wim I'm up for collaborating - we could go to China to source some parts, buy some masks while we're there and then sell them to our governments on multi-million pound / euro / dollar commission. All we need is a friendly politician...
I love the ACPAD but I think they went under and don't sell them anymore. And indeed, don't think it'll work on an electric guitar. I have a livid Minim that would work well if you could figure out how to mount it on the guitar (not trivial). I'd sell it cheap to anyone interested. Just gathering dust here.
My only contacts in China are the Dark Army. I kinda hesitate to reach out to them.
https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/johan-von-konows-new-open-source-midi-synth-can-be-3d-printed-for-6-178516/
Stole this link for 3D printed midi controllers from @Liquidmantis in the Jambo thread... a whole new can of components....
Here’s my less impressive, but Bluetooth, prototype effort (better but bigger made since) - EDIT carpentry has also improved, but when I butchered that bit of wood I had no idea it would work at all, so didn't spend much time on it...oh dear, feeling slightly ashamed now I'm seeing it on a screen...
as long as it works haha, maybe you could drill holes for the buttons and pots and paint it black? I couldn't be arsed going down that rabbit hole of DIYness, I've got too many projects as it is. The acpad looks awesome and I have wanted one as soon as it came out until I saw the price tag!
I guess around $150 aud, I don't think I could be arsed making my own. I need momentary midi cc's. The ability to configure between momentary and latching would be good if I wanted to set a button for toggling effects.
Does the minum send momentary messages? Id buy it off you but I'm in Australia
My idea was born out of extreme laziness when I was thinking pressing a foot switch was occasionally too much of an effort from a sofa sunk guitar position - I was contemplating a very simple 2 button controller on my guitar (record toggle and next track) for Quantiloop. It's fairly easy to add extra buttons (up to 16 before you hit complications). I might have a go at a 4 button version over Christmas. Will report back with any results. For about $3000 AUD I could deliver in person (with maybe 3 month in country tech support)?
I can't recall if the Minim sends momentary messages and, unfortunately, LIVID has disappeared from the internet and took the little software application that allows you to configure/customize the Minim off the WWW as well. Bummer.
I have been recently using one of these to simulate "virtual buttons" (I have a script that configures zones on my guitar face that correspond to different "virtual buttons" when I tap that spot on the guitar; also has three physical buttons): https://genkiinstruments.com/products/wave
I'm using these with iOS Accessibility Switch Control and they work well, no matter if the app supports MIDI control or not:
It's easy to extract the PCB and it's small enough to fit into most electric guitars.
@lukesleepwalker getting expensive coming here, definitely need one of those
@rs2000 interesting, what are they exactly? Look like you need to be over 18 to buy... which luckily I am.
Good to know. I'm kinda on this DIY building kick right now and your idea of a guitar mounted unit intrigues me a bit. My first thought was "why not just use a BlueBoard?", but the more I thought about it the more sense it makes. It's just not always convenient to be in a position to do foot tap dancing, and I'm not all that good at it either. I envision a really small box that could be surface mounted where one likes rather than built-in to the guitar.
If I come up with anything that works well and would be inexpensive enough, I'll share it here and might be able to make some for others.
Sorry no vibrations on board 😄
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluetooth-Remote-Control-for-iPhone-Android-VR-Glasses-Computer-Game-Controller/182426669343
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Bluetooth-Gamepad-Remote-Control-Controller-for-Android-iOS-VR-Mobile-Games/254646575676
https://reverb.com/au/item/17404408-livid-minum-pocket-sized-wireless-control-for-mobile-devices?locale=en-AU
yeah I reckon its a great idea, originally for me I only had a blueboard but it doesn't send momentary midi cc's and 4 buttons just doesn't offer enough control for how I play and loop. I had a brain fart and experimented with a korg nanokey studio, I used velcro and stuck it to the front of my guitar. It actually works quite well but its way to large and a little tricky to hit the keys precisely. I liked hitting the 4x2 pads but they are right up the top right which was a little too far away from my picking hand on the strings.
What a bargain, for 3k maybe through a few more buttons in there haha
Oh wow this could be a mad solution, for the price of these its a no brainer, I'm going to give it a go! I guess because its for gaming the latency must be quite good?
thanks man, I saw this but the listing is sold
very interesting concept! id love to see a video of you talking about this and using it
oh dam what a shame about the support, they must have not sold enough and went under? would you still sell it?
That's it. I'm definitely turning this little thing into a BT midi controller. It has 16 buttons with a full color capable LED in each.
Looks like it's going to come in around $50 - $60, depending on what I decide to do for battery power and how much the 3D printing for the case will be. It will be configurable from a Mozaic script, but won't require Mozaic to operate.
I've been giving this some more thought, I reckon you could have a fairly slim strip of arcade buttons somewhere above the bottom string, then a single umbilical to the brain and battery that could attach over the back or somewhere else out the way. I shall now be looking out for a rubbery mat thing for a prototype...Need more lockdowns for this sort of thing, although the UK ran out of footswitch supplies for most of the summer, strangely that didn't make the news.
Is that the right picture? EDIT... now I'm confused, or less confused actually.
I envision a really small box that could be surface mounted where one likes rather than built-in to the guitar.
The ultimate device if you could make it would be -
nice and thin profile
12 pads like on the nanokey studio (size of those pads are perfect too)
velocity sensitive is a plus but not essential
software to edit the midi cc values from latching to momentary, channel etc (like the korg editor)
Basically the livid minum would be perfect if they still sold them and had the www support
im looking at the ROLI Lightpad, this could be an interesting option, quite expensive but it does pack a lot in it
that would be awesome man!
Yeh, I'm excited about this one. It's a very simple solution that hardly requires any wiring and soldering. The buttons aren't velocity sensitive, but they have a nice feel, and the LEDs are a nice bonus. I just need to find the best BLE Midi capable processor board for it, but I think I've figured that out as well.
I found my minim on eBay for $60. Lucky day I guess.
Also, I you are willing to take a wire, the QuNeo feels a lot like a Minim, but it is bigger. I totally get the Minim bug. I like mine.
Also, with the minim, you have to adapt your finger drumming layout, of course.
Finally, if you get one, the "control" buttons don't work well as triggers (as opposed to the playable pads.) So don't think you could hack a 16 pad controller in the minim.