Roller Ball Mouse As MIDI Controller

US Arduino project to resurrect legacy device      04/07/21

Sending MIDI data from alternative devices is often a refreshing way to make music - and when its combined with resurrecting obsolete devices, all the better! Arduino programmer Kzra has come up with a novel way to send MIDI notes using an old-style roller ball PS/2 mouse, with the help of the micro computer, an adapter and some electrical components.  

He explains: I wanted to give the controller an intuitive and fully established user interface so users wouldn't have to rely on a computer display to be able to use the device. This means the controller can be used with any device capable of reading MIDI through USB. In order to do this I used an LED bi-colour 8 * 8 matrix and a 128 * 64 monochrome I2C display. The LED matrix provides a representation of the X and Y axis position of the mouse. The pattern of lights across the X axis is based on 1 octave of a C major scale.

Read the full project write-up here: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/kzra/arduino-midi-mouse-controller-b360eb

 

About the author [midierror]: midierror makes nifty Max For Live devices, innovative music hardware, award winning sample packs and hosts a podcast speaking to people in the music world.

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