Claude’s Marvelous MIDI Music Machine

Reader Claude Woodward shared this video, demonstrating his Marvelous MIDI Music Machine – a suite of custom light-up acrylic MIDI controllers – all designed to play different roles.

Woodward’s instruments aren’t just fantastical – but are designed to be expressive in ways that go beyond most mass-produced MIDI controllers.

Here’s what Woodward has to say about his new rig:

The main component is the ‘Claude Controller’ which involves 57 controller wheels arranged in a keyboard-like layout. This allows the player to quickly locate & remember controller mappings.

The simultaneous articulation of multiple parameters makes the synth come alive! In this video I’m using Logic’s ES 2 analog synthesiser plugin but, of coarse it can be adapted to any synth engine.

It is also possible to notate the wheel movements using standard music notation.
I would like to see it adopted as a standard for controller design.

I will be performing with this rig soon as ‘The Sonic Manipulator Mk 2’………..Be warned!!

7 thoughts on “Claude’s Marvelous MIDI Music Machine

  1. CLAUDE! You need to hold some play dates, because this looks like a lot of fun!

    Seriously, though, I think this hits all the right notes. I continue to be disappointed by controllers, and I think that the main reason is that since there is no knob-per-function, what the various knobs, switches, buttons and sliders do changes with every voice, and there is still not good visual feedback about what they all do. Claude’s got the right idea — whether you are making or buying, get lots of knobs, switches, and controllers, and set them up so you always know what’s where.

    Easier said than done, but this got me thinking. THANKS!

    1. Hi Jim……..glad you get the idea. The best thing about it for me is how easy it is to remember where everything is mapped due to the keyboard-like layout. I’ll eventually put an RGB LED under each wheel that will change colour with movement for better visual feedback.

      Cheers Claude Woodward
      The Sonic Manipulator

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