CRIUS “BEAT PRESS” MIDI PAD CONTROLLER

Hi!I am Crius and I LOVE MIDI Controllers!

The last couple of years I started learning about electronics from nothing to be able to build my own MIDI controllers that would serve my needs , taste and be cheaper overall in comparison with the branded products.

Crius " BEAT PRESS " is a MIDI controller consisting of 15 Piezo sensors connected to an Arduino Mega with which I can play Drums or any other sound I want in the DAW Software or in the VST-Plugin that I use by tapping the Piezo sensors.

Piezo sensors are analog electronic components which means that they can give us many values in contrast to a standard On-Off switch that can give us only two On and Off values respectively and their operation is based on Piezoelectricity, the property of some materials. to generate electrical voltage when they receive mechanical pressure or oscillation. More information on Piezoelectrics can be found at the link to the Wikipedia article.

1.Arduino Mega x1

2.Piezo sensors x15

3.Resistors 1Mohm x15

4.Breadboard 830 Points x1

5.Jumper Wires

6.USB Type A cable x1

First we must connect the BLACK cables of the sensors to the BLUE line on the Breadboard and with a Jumper Wire we connect the BLUE line to the Arduino GND Pin.

Then we will connect the RED cable of each sensor with the Breadboard and we will add a 1Mohm resistor for each sensor.

Finally, connect each resistor with an analog input of the Arduino with a Jumper Wire.

I used Arduino IDE to write and upload the code to the Arduino Mega

I used the Midi.h library to send the Midi messages to the DAW Software.

To upload the code to Arduino we need to download the Arduino IDE from the Arduino site: https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

We have to choose from the menu Tools the model of Arduino that we use and the Port we have connected the Arduino.

Now we can click Upload and upload the code.

At the time I built this project I didn't own a 3D Printer that would give me a lot of ease to the building proccess so I choosed to go with Plywood.

Ovreall you can use your imagination and creativity to make your own design but keep in mind that each Piezo sensor should be isolated from the vibrations that will be produced from tapping the Piezo Sensors while making music.

Here you can see the stages of construction :

1. I made a wooden frame.
2. Then I separated each row and column with this grid of plywood strips that clip on each other.
3. I glued each Piezo Senstor on a square piece of plywood (leaving a small gap from the sodes so it can move easily up and down but not too much to be loose because it can lead the square pices to get stuck in the grid)
4. I reused some yellow foam I had from an old bed mattress and glued it to the bottom of the case.
5. After that I cable managed all the jumper wires so they won't get damaged by the movement while playing.
6. And finally I made this cover with square oppenings so I can hold the square plywood pices down in the grid.
7. On top I glued another bigger wooden piece with the same square holes at the right as a top cover.

As I mentioned above I used an Arduino Mega and the Midi.h library that both DO NOT support USB MIDI function.This means that we will need to translate the data that the Arduino sends via Serial port to MIDI messages.

In order to do that we will need to install to our PC 2 FREE softwares :

1. The LoopMIDI that crates a Virtual MIDI device
2. And the Hairless Midi Serial that translates the Serial data that the Arduino sends to MIDI data so that it is recognized by the software we play music with.

In the DAW Software where we play music we must select the Loop MIDI as MIDI IN and MIDI OUT.

1.Arduino IDE : https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

2.LoopMidi : https://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/loopmidi.html

3. Hairless Midi Serial : https://projectgus.github.io/hairless-midiserial/

I hope you enjoyed the proccess and made one for your self!

You can find everything you need for this project INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS IN ENGLISH to my website : www.criusdigitalstudio.com

You can find my projects and support me at the following social media and websites:

1. Crius Digital Studio Youtube Channel

2. Crius Digital Studio Thingiverse Profile

3.Crius Digital Studio Github Profile