BlingDaddy MIDI Hotness!

While visiting Detroit back in December, I ran into my friend Mike Bizon at the opening of the Yes Farm.  We hadn’t see each other ages, so it was a pleasant surprise that our shared love of music and art had also extended into electronics.  Here’s one of his projects, and a description…

This is an analog midi controller I made to control software built in MAX/MSP.

It uses a MidiTron, a MIDI analog/digital I/O Interface connected to a computer with an M-audio Uno, a USB MIDI interface. This translates the analog messages to MIDI, readable by MAX/MSP.

This can be used to control any sort of MIDI device/program/message. I use it most to control a 8 step drum machine (see attached photo). It is set up as a glitch patch, the messages often getting crossed and the resulting audio having digital feedback and general unreliable glitchiness to it.

The controls on the instrument include 20 assignable potentiometers (knobs), 5 assignable photocells (at varying resistance), and a patch-bay allowing the user to decide which knobs or photocells are linked to which pin outs on the MidiTron (you can basically choose which knob (or light sensor) controls what function in your software, allowing you to change control over software parameters physically, without going into code.

Computers and programing can get a brother down, this is a physical answer to my digital pain.