Build a MIDI controller lesson plan
Faders, drum pads, a knob and an encoder on a Pro Micro, sending real MIDI bytes you can read.
Objectives and materials
By the end, students can
- Turn faders into Control Change and pads into notes, one byte at a time.
- Add a knob, program changes and a panic button.
Materials for the whole unit
- Full-size breadboard
- LED
- Potentiometer
- Pushbutton x 4
- Resistor x 2
- Rotary encoder, KY-040
- Slide potentiometer x 2
- SparkFun Pro Micro
Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too.
Messages
Turn faders into Control Change and pads into notes, one byte at a time.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Faders that speak MIDITwo slide pots become Control Change messages: three bytes at 31250 baud. Read a voltage, squeeze it into 0 to 127 and send it the way synths expect. | 40 min |
|
| Pads that play drumsFour buttons become drum pads: Note On when you hit one, Note Off when you let go, on the channel General MIDI keeps for drums. | 40 min |
|
Materials
- Full-size breadboard
- LED
- Pushbutton x 4
- Resistor x 2
- Slide potentiometer x 2
- SparkFun Pro Micro
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Pads that play drums" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Hi-hat".
The finished controller
Add a knob, program changes and a panic button.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| A knob, an encoder and a panic buttonFinish the controller: a knob for one more control, an encoder that flips through a synth's sounds, and a button that silences everything at once. | 40 min |
|
Materials
- Full-size breadboard
- LED
- Potentiometer
- Pushbutton x 4
- Resistor x 2
- Rotary encoder, KY-040
- Slide potentiometer x 2
- SparkFun Pro Micro
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "A knob, an encoder and a panic button" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "The panic button".
Teach this unit as a class
Start a class from this course and its 3 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you.
The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way.