28 Apr by Lasse Eilers | |

5,0 / 5,0 | Reading time: 2 min

Design your own custom MIDI controller with Tubbutec! · Source: Tubbutec

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Check this out: Tubbutec’s new Controller Designer now lets you design your own custom MIDI controller – from the knobs and faders right down to the front plate graphics. Design your custom MIDI controller online, and Tubbutec will build it for you. Genius!

Design a Custom MIDI Controller with Tubbutec

Off-the-shelf MIDI controllers are great, but sometimes they just don’t cut it. If you need a custom set of knobs and sliders tailored to your setup, MIDI controller apps for your tablet or phone are often the easiest solution. But wouldn’t a one-of-a-kind hardware controller be infinitely cooler? That’s exactly what Tubbutec’s new Controller Designer lets you do.

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Best known for his mods for various classic synths, Tubbutec showed off a series of handy custom controllers for those mods last year at Superbooth. This year, he’s taking the project to another level. The Tubbutec Controller Designer is a web app that lets you design your own custom MIDI controller on the same hardware platform. When you’re done, simply click the Order button and Tubbutec will build it and send it your way.

The browser app lets you choose your own combination of faders, knobs, buttons, and LEDs, and configure their MIDI messages. All in all, the design allows for up to 25 faders with LEDs, up to 12 rotary knobs (with various caps to choose from), up to 8 buttons, and up to 20 LEDs (not all at once, of course). As the underlying hardware platform doesn’t change, you’re not completely free with your design, but the system allows for a wide variety of combinations. Thanks to a layer architecture, each control can be assigned to four different MIDI messages.

Tubbutec will even print your own design on the front panel: simply upload an image file. You can download a template to help with formatting and placing the labels at the correct positions. For example, you could design a custom MIDI controller that mimics the looks of your favorite synth.

All controllers are the same size, measuring 14 × 11.5 × 1.8 cm (5.5 × 4.5 × 0.7 inches). In addition to TRS MIDI In/Out (type A), there’s a USB MIDI port, so your custom controller also functions as a USB-to-TRS interface.