Its safe to say that the very DIY arcade button mod I did about a year ago kicked off this whole crazy site. As we have improved the site, so it seemed it might be time to also upgrade the old VCI. Its now equipped with a band new case, professional grade cutouts and a hi grade paint job that should last a lot longer than the first one. The point of this article is not to make you jealous, but instead to let everyone know I made 2 and the other one is on ebay right now.
Our new dj tech tools mantra for this week is:
“we go through the annoying stuff so you dont have to”
That certainly applies to my current attempt to offer a simple, inexpensive midi controller that most people could find useful. In the end I succeeded, but it required some serious investigation and re-thinking the fundamental concepts. This design is not meant to be sold or duplicated but rather to show the basic steps required in building your own midi accessory or moding an existing controller.
Those touch sensors from the first DIY $100 controller didn’t work out so well- so the design has been updated with some good old knobs borrowed from a spare vci-100. I have filmed the DIY tutorial but editing is taking much longer than anticipated so the final step by step guide will be up on Monday. In the mean time that gives you a chance to go buy all the parts you want and plan your $100 controller over the weekend. Sliders, more buttons- its all game but try and keep it simple.
Those LEDS wont work with the HID interface device I eventually used for the project but I still found a cool way to wire them directly to the knobs so as the knob gets turned up-they get brighter. Its simple stuff but useful and fun to do, so you might want to pick up a few LEDS at the same time.
Do you need just a few more controls? Perhaps your wondering how hard it is to make your own controller? Then follow the steps in this 2 part series and build your first midi controller in about an hour for very little cash. Using only 8 electronics parts, a pre-made case and a DIY midi interface that is USB powered- you can build a controller and it wont require a degree in electrical engineering.
Continue reading ‘DIY Controller- 59 minutes, $99.’
In the search for a perfect tactile button you need not look further than your local arcade. More than over 20 years of R&D by millions of teenage boys has proven arcade buttons to be reliable, fun and rapid fire fast. So its not surprising that the concept has started to take off after I posted my arcade button tutorial many months back. One of our readers duplicated the mod flawlessly and even added a few faders. MidiFidler is making a small run of arcade button midi controllers for the Dj TT community. Now I noticed this brilliant mixer based on the DIY MIDIBox64 kit that takes all of them to the next level.
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Check out this really excellent application of my VCI-100 arcade button mod. He has stolen 2 knobs and turned them into extra faders and installed 8 arcade buttons from Happ controls. I cant wait to see other creative applications of my button mod. Check out more pictures and ask the creator questions here. |
Here is a video that shows you the steps needed to do the modification. Download the cut guide for your machine shop and click bellow for a list of items you will need. Thats it!
Well- its done. Finally, here is my black VCI-100 modified with 8 arcade buttons. Check out this bonus video showing off a little controllerism 101.
Here is video 1/2 on how to add some bad ass arcade buttons to your Vestax VCI-100. The other one should be up in a few days! Word of warning to Manufactures that send me gear to review. Yes, i may take your stuff apart and turn it into a Frankenstein dj controller. Long live controllerism!
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