MidiMidi: Turn a Makey Makey Into a REAL MIDI Controller
A while ago I talked about the awesome and easy-to-use Makey Makey. The Makey Makey allows you to turn anything into an instrument. I had no complaints about this lovely device except for one.
This device emulated key strokes. While in some DAWs you can map keystrokes to control effects and instruments, some other DAWs don’t support this.
MidiMidi is a software created by FeelYourSound, that converts the Makey Makey’s keystrokes into midi data. There are other programs that work similar to MidiMidi, but they are all complicated and aren’t designed for the Makey Makey.
This software supports every “key” that the Makey Makey supports. This software is available at a fairly low price point of $23 and supplies a whole bunch of features that any Makey Makey user will find useful.
Recommended course: The DIY MIDI Controller Course. If you want to become a master at making your own custom controller, this is the course for you! Packed with 11 action-packed modules that include downloadable images, schematics, sample code, and libraries. Even if you’re a hobby musician that doesn’t know anything about circuitry or programming, this course breaks it down to an understandable sense.
Demo Video
Of course this software allows you to convert keystrokes to midi data, but it doesn’t stop there! MidiMidi has scale and chord presets. With a scale preset you can select a scale(Major, Minor, Aeolian, etc), and your Makey Makey will be mapped according to that scale.
That means when you are jamming out, you will always be playing in key. The chord presets are also quite interesting. They allow you to play one note to trigger a whole chord. This makes it a lot easier to create chord progressions on the fly!
One of my favorite things about this software is the design. It looks so much better than other competing keyboard-to-midi software. All the controls are laid out right in front of you and each virtual-pad’s color can be changed.
This feature can be useful for color coding what each pad is linked to. MidiMidi takes all of the technicalities out of building/prototyping your own midi controller. This software works perfectly with the Makey Makey. It only takes minutes to get started with this software. MidiMidi is a must-have for any Makey Makey user.
How to use:
1. Download and install MidiMidi from here(free demo).
2. Connect your Makey Makey to the computer and launch the MidiMidi software.
3. Trigger one of the buttons on your Makey Makey, you will see one of the pads on the MidiMidi software light up.
4. Now you will need the software to output data to a virtual Midi Connection. Here are instructions for that: Mac or Windows
5. After that, everything should work! That is all it takes to get started with MidiMidi!
I hope you enjoyed reading this article! Make sure to leave your comments down below!
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