HermesTheNurse
Member
Standalone MIDI Sequencing Drumming Glove (WIP)
Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the Maker community in general, and I've spent the past few months learning the basics of Arduino IDE, Teensy's various libraries, the core concepts of integrated circuit design, and working through the Notes & Volts - Teensy Synth tutorial series (Parts 1-9). That said, I figured it couldn't hurt to share my conundrum here. We're all busy, so I don't expect to be spoon-fed answers, but if anyone has advice they're willing to offer, I'd listen intently and try it out.... Long story short, my goal is to craft a standalone/DAW-less drum sequencer on which I can record/capture MIDI data by live finger-tapping. To paint a picture of this desired device's usage, I'd like for the experience to go something like this:
---I'm going about my day job duties, and suddenly I get a "kick, snare, ka-kick kick, snare" pattern in my head, and begin tapping my 4 fingers on the steering wheel - keeping track of each new measure in counts of 4, 8, or 16. (The human hand just so happens to be perfect for this!) Once recorded to the Teensy's microSD card, I'd really like to be able to pull the MIDI pattern up within my DAW when I get home. This way I can substitute the MIDI data that's been written to the microSD card with higher fidelity sounds and/or audition sounds of various lengths (i.e. staccato vs. marcato), as this tends to effect the pattern's overall groove or "feel". I'd also like the PPQ resolution to be as high as feasibly possible.---
In terms of design thinking, here's my User Statement:
Parts in my inventory:
So here is my current Development Plan (Partitioned By Function):
1) SEQUENCING
5) BATTERY POWER (Using USB power in the meantime)
Sources of inspiration I am drawing from:
A) Touch Board by Team Bare Conductive
B) HomeMadeGarbage's "DIY Sampler Using Teensy Audio Board"
C) Drumming MIDI Glove Using Arduino and Light Sensors by MidiGlove8
D) "Aftertouch MIDI Glove" by Tomash Ghz
E) Portable Sampling Synth by Prajwal Mahesh
F) "Creating an ergonomic glove instrument for portable beat-making and MIDI interaction" by Francisco Rosado Correia (Full PDF is in link's margins)
...I've also read up on Imogen Heap's Mi.Mu gloves, Flora MIDI Drum Gloves, and various hacks of the Nintendo Power Gloves, but none seem to be obvious choices as a blueprint for the functions I'm going to include.
Thanks sincerely for taking the time to read this if you're still here. If you have any advice on the best route forward, my open ears are eternally grateful. I'll keep chipping away regardless. It's been intensely inspirational to see what has been done with this device. People are awesome
View attachment afterTouch_glove_buttons_MIDI_v3.ino
Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the Maker community in general, and I've spent the past few months learning the basics of Arduino IDE, Teensy's various libraries, the core concepts of integrated circuit design, and working through the Notes & Volts - Teensy Synth tutorial series (Parts 1-9). That said, I figured it couldn't hurt to share my conundrum here. We're all busy, so I don't expect to be spoon-fed answers, but if anyone has advice they're willing to offer, I'd listen intently and try it out.... Long story short, my goal is to craft a standalone/DAW-less drum sequencer on which I can record/capture MIDI data by live finger-tapping. To paint a picture of this desired device's usage, I'd like for the experience to go something like this:
---I'm going about my day job duties, and suddenly I get a "kick, snare, ka-kick kick, snare" pattern in my head, and begin tapping my 4 fingers on the steering wheel - keeping track of each new measure in counts of 4, 8, or 16. (The human hand just so happens to be perfect for this!) Once recorded to the Teensy's microSD card, I'd really like to be able to pull the MIDI pattern up within my DAW when I get home. This way I can substitute the MIDI data that's been written to the microSD card with higher fidelity sounds and/or audition sounds of various lengths (i.e. staccato vs. marcato), as this tends to effect the pattern's overall groove or "feel". I'd also like the PPQ resolution to be as high as feasibly possible.---
In terms of design thinking, here's my User Statement:
As a musical creative who has their hands full during the day,
I need to quickly and accurately record percussive sequences without disengaging from unrelated tasks
In order to build upon my ideas once I return to my full music studio in the evenings.
Parts in my inventory:
- Teensy 4.1 microcontroller
- Teensy Audio Shield
- (4) 2.2" Flex Sensors
- Breadboards
- Jumper Wire
- Tricolor LEDs, Common Anode
- Various resistors
- Opto couplers
- 5-pin DIN midi sockets
- Gloves
Parts still to be purchased:- audio amplifier/speaker unit of some sort
- compatible battery
- Display (either TFT or OLED)
So here is my current Development Plan (Partitioned By Function):
1) SEQUENCING
A) Time Keeping
B) Record/Play/Pause user interface
2) INPUTA) implement 4 velocity-sensitive sensors (i.e Piezo, Flex Sensors, or FSR).
3) OUTPUTA) MIDI
- Preferably via Micro SD card. The input should be stored from 4 sensors attached to the fingertips. I've read up on the "wav2sketch" functionality of Teensy, which is awesome, but not MIDI-related. Maybe SDFat.h is the way to go with this?
B) Audio
- User needs to be able to hear what they are recording. Maybe "Needs" is a strong word here, but it will make using such a device much more intuitive.
4) DISPLAY5) BATTERY POWER (Using USB power in the meantime)
Sources of inspiration I am drawing from:
A) Touch Board by Team Bare Conductive
- Although this project doesn't utilize the Teensy, it satisfies 3 functions I'm looking to incorporate, namely:
1) Standalone
2) Interprets MIDI input by touch
3) Battery powered
B) HomeMadeGarbage's "DIY Sampler Using Teensy Audio Board"
- Which has 1 function I'm looking to incorporate:
1) Stores input data to microSD card
- And 1 function that sort of meets my goals:
1) Record *sound* source to memory via wav2sketch. I'd like to record *MIDI* to memory, while outputting real-time *sound* that is loaded
on the Teensy.
on the Teensy.
- Paul & Alysia have an amazing tutorial video on this article that I'm still in the process of working through as well
C) Drumming MIDI Glove Using Arduino and Light Sensors by MidiGlove8
- This project was my initial blueprint, but I quickly realized that it lacks the bulk of the work necessary, namely standalone time keeping and recording.
D) "Aftertouch MIDI Glove" by Tomash Ghz
- Which lacks recording capability
- I followed the wiring diagram in their article and is the furthest I've gotten to my goal to date.
E) Portable Sampling Synth by Prajwal Mahesh
- Which goes in depth on hardware, 3D printing, and user interface, but, while lacking the glove form-factor and fingertip inputs, the sampler and radio are probably more than I need.
- PJRC has this listed in Teensy's example projects, and I'm still in awe after reading through Prajwal's blog posts (Parts 1-4) regarding the matter.
F) "Creating an ergonomic glove instrument for portable beat-making and MIDI interaction" by Francisco Rosado Correia (Full PDF is in link's margins)
- Which has everything I'm looking to accomplish, except for standalone and recording/writing MIDI data to the microSD card capabilities.
- Also a lengthier read, which is only appropriate for this this sort of project.
...I've also read up on Imogen Heap's Mi.Mu gloves, Flora MIDI Drum Gloves, and various hacks of the Nintendo Power Gloves, but none seem to be obvious choices as a blueprint for the functions I'm going to include.
Thanks sincerely for taking the time to read this if you're still here. If you have any advice on the best route forward, my open ears are eternally grateful. I'll keep chipping away regardless. It's been intensely inspirational to see what has been done with this device. People are awesome
View attachment afterTouch_glove_buttons_MIDI_v3.ino
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