MIDI Control Keyboard/Surface advice

tampadragon

I am looking for a Midi keyboard or control surface that has a mass of controls, all the newer ones seem to only come with 16 controls on the front and some have extra pages. I’m looking for something that has 64+ control options it doesn’t hAve to be new, and Midi Din is just fine as the interface.
i want to investigate the market before I got the route of building one using the Doepfer USB64

susbemol

I think you might struggle to find that. What are you looking to achieve with it? 

tampadragon

I have a couple of VA synths that involve a lot of menu diving, but all parameters are exposed via midi cC or nrpn and so I want to be able to control and create without the menu diving, and I don’t want to use a PC or editor for it. I’m thinking I’ll have to build one but wondered if there was some 80s or 90s Bit of midi kit that would do the job.

paulmapp8306

Im not sure theres ever been a control board with that many controls.

Even something like the Roland A800 - which was the go to midi control board for many top bands in its day - has 8 pads, 9 rotaries and 9 sliders for its controls (plus others for board functions) 

tampadragon

I guess I’m going to have to build one then. 

octatonic

tampadragon said:

I guess I’m going to have to build one then. 

and then maintain the software for it.
If you want to actually make music then it isn't the way I would go.

Have you looked at modular/Eurorack & Max/MSP?
You could probably build a Max/MSP environment that interacts with phial controls (maybe via Expert Sleepers modules or any audio interface with DC coupled IO) much easier and cheaper.
It will still be a complicated undertaking.

tampadragon

The software won’t be an issue. My plan is to use either STM32 or teensie as the basis for it. And then multiplex the heck out of it. If I’m building it I’ll be looking at the Midi 2.0 specs too to ensure it’s compatible with that.
I like the older digital synths, but they are all menu driven nightmares, so accessing all the commands via midi in would be best for me.
i don’t want to use a computer for it as I work in IT and the last thing I want to do at home is more IT. 

Software development is a hobby of mine that I do part time at work so I have access to mainstream dev environments and software anyway.
i need to plan out exactly what I want next. Maybe I’ll start a post to show my progress on the project 

danowens

Could you go virtual with something like Lemur or TouchOSC?

octatonic

This has 32 pots and a load of other controls:

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/mackie-c4

tampadragon

That looks really good, I’ll check that out.
id rather have physical knobs than use a touch screen. I just don’t get on with touch interfaces for parameter changed