Has anyone used a game pad for a midi controler?

[InsaneGenius]

Has anyone used a game pad for a midi controller? And is there a way to make this hit sensitive with the piezo sensors?

I need something fairly simple to put together. (My first attempt)

[Small update, I got an old xbox controller. I refitted the plug to a usb so that it works on my pc. I got the driver for it off the net. And I can use all buttons and see the pressure sensitivity of the controller. (the harder I press the button, the brighter the light on the driver configure panel becomes)] I am having a bit of a problem getting the sensitivity to translate to midi though. I am using the edrum monitor and no matter how lightly I press the button it always shows the top value ( all the wau up to 127 ) Anyone have any ideas of how to get this to work? Or another way? Once I get that working I will add the piezo padds to the buttons and see if that will work.]

Thanks.

Topic

[InsaneGenius]

Ok, here is a small update. I hooked the piezo sensor directly to the “Y” button. Hit the drum and…. it seems to work. The problem now is finding some program that will read the hit sensitivity and send it to midi yoke. I can program in VB but am not sure how to get the game pad button pressure data.

Just throwing this out there in case someone comes along who can help me in any area.
Thanks

[PFozz]

Hi,

I don’t own such a game controller with pressure sensors. A pressure sensor (FSR) usually acts as a variable resistor while a piezo transducer produces a voltage. A pressure sensor must then be “fed” with a power source to be usefull (the output voltage depends on the applied pressure).
In triggering applications, a piezo transducer is used for its capability to produce electricity under bending action.
Theorically, it’s then strange to get something working correctly from a piezo replacing a pressure sensor 🙂

Anyway, could you please give some details about the results you get from your modified game controller (what’s happening in the calibration tool or something like that).

Best.

www.eareckon.com

[InsaneGenius]

Yeah, I am running into all kinds of little hang ups. I started the software part of things today. If anyone is interested the link to the xbox2midi source code & exe are here. http://freegamedev.webng.com/
I have a friend going to help me get the pressure sensitive data from the controller. (right now it just goes by the right analog stick for velocity)
I have been talking to a DIY guy who made a controller work for drums (without velocity) here.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Electronic-Drum-Set-with-Controller/

You would think since the xbox controller has a pressure value for buttons from 00-FF that you should be able to find a way to send the piezo data to it.

It may never happen. But I am going to give it a go.
I suck at the electronic part though. 🙁

[InsaneGenius]

Ok, after researching everything. My idea will work. The buttons on the xbox controller are resistors. By using a transistor with the piezo voltage going to the base. This will act as a resistor. I am still not smart enough to figure out how to do it yet though. Here is my post on a electronics site http://www.dutchforce.com/~eforum/index.php?s=4e94d81f49e4a0e001c0d5edecacf370&showtopic=19153&st=0&#entry163959

Once I get the circuit complete, (would appreciate any help here) the last obstical I have it getting the driver data in my program.

All things are doable though. (you could have a pressure sensitive controller for the price of a xbox game pad and a couple minor components.) Not too shabby!

[InsaneGenius]

Quick update. I got the software side of things working. I can get the data directly from the usb port. I got a the hardware part semi worked out. (still got to smooth things out a bit though)
You should be able to get at least 12 drums out of one xbox pad. (maybe 2 more) plus for the other on/off buttons you can use them for highat triggers and such. I have the software working for sending data as a midi port to any software you have running. I will probaly add sounds directly in the software so you can just play right out of the box. Here is the schematic so far. (any help is apreciated) Btw. Is anyone even remotly interested in this project? Just currious…
 

[pixeldotz]

i am.

i make custom arcade sticks out of any type of controller (have made some pretty unique ones using xbox and xbox360 wireless controls) so anything related to pad hacking is awesome in my eyes. u have a link to your site or dev page?

[hac]

i know its late and there are no updates here but thanks for helping me out back there with some tips and congratulations on getting the whole thing working! post some pics bro! excited to see it, also completed mine but no pressure sensitivity thing, might give yours a go next month though when a bit more time permits!

whatreyousayingicantbuildthat?!?therestheintern3tzs!!

[jman 31]

InsaneGenious, I was wondering if you ever completed this project? Do you have any photos of what you did? I am very interested in attempting this as I am trying to design a complete diy set that functions as good as a professional set for as little dough as possible. I have already built a complete set that cost me about $600 including a alesis dm-5 module, but I think I could do the whole project for around $100. This controller mod would be the icing on the cake!

Please let me know if you still frequent this site.

Thanks
Jman

[Author]

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