Getting a device
You do not need any particular device. Anything that shows up as a MIDI device works with every sketch on this site, and the Explorer tells you what it sends. This page is for when you have nothing yet.
The ones on this site
| Device | Where | Price band |
|---|---|---|
| PipSqueak | useMidi, a one-person maker | low |
| Slide Trinkey, Rotary Trinkey | Adafruit, the Rotary too | low |
| Circuit Playground Express | Adafruit; needs the multi-tool firmware first | low |
| Launchpad Mini MK3 | Novation | mid |
| Midi Fighter | not made any more, second-hand only | varies |
The Trinkeys and the Circuit Playground arrive as boards, not controllers. Make your own has the flash steps; it takes a few minutes.
Cheap, still made, no driver
Two that have been on George's table since the 2017 talks and are still sold:
- Korg nanoKEY2: a two-octave keyboard the size of a paperback. Keys are notes.
- Akai LPD8: eight pads and eight knobs. Pads are notes, knobs are CCs. Akai's site moves it around; search for the name.
Anything sold as a "USB MIDI controller" from the last fifteen years is almost certainly class compliant, which means it needs no driver and the browser and Processing both see it.
Second-hand
MIDI gear lasts. Old controllers go for little because the software they came bundled with is long gone, and none of that matters here.
- eBay and Reverb, the music-gear marketplace, for anything with a name.
- Craigslist and the local equivalent. Music shops often have a bin.
- Tindie for small-run controllers from makers, the way the PipSqueak started.
What to check in a listing
- A USB socket on the device. Older gear has only the round five-pin MIDI sockets; that still works through a USB MIDI interface, a cable with a USB plug on one end and two five-pin plugs on the other. Any class-compliant one will do.
- Bluetooth MIDI works too. On macOS, Audio MIDI Setup pairs it (Window, Show MIDI Studio, the Bluetooth button); after that the browser and Processing see it like a USB device.
- "Class compliant" or "no driver needed" in the description is the phrase you want. A device that needs the maker's software to talk to the computer is a worse bet.
Plugged in and nothing shows? Troubleshooting.
Not a controller yet
A board with native USB and a sensor is a controller in an afternoon. Make your own starts from a Circuit Playground, a Trinkey, a Puck.js or any Arduino with native USB.