The World’s Strangest MIDI Controllers

Sometimes it seems that there’s no end to the types of MIDI controllers that people come up with.

Want proof? Here’s are some of the strangest MIDI controllers we’ve seen:

Using Pennies As A Drum Controller

That’s just of start of it. Read on for MIDI Hamsters, MIDI Drivers’ Licenses and more!

MIDI Laser Beam Drums

Gypsy MIDI Controller

DrumPants

DrumPants are a set of pants that enable the wearer to produce drum sounds by hitting various parts of the pants with his hands. The wearer thusly becomes a cyborg musician, his body assuming the roles of both player and instrument, allowing for spontaneous electric hambone solos or even collaborations with other musicians in a band setting.

MIDI Paper

A MIDI controller printed on a regular piece of typing paper.

Driver’s License as Ableton Live MIDI Controller

Using the magnetic strip on the back of a driver’s license to make a ribbon controller, which then controls Autofilter in Live 6 via MIDI.

MIDI with Hamster Control

An intelligent MIDI sequencer was designed with hamster control. The MIDI sequencer intelligently produced melodies by manipulating the musical elements of rhythm and note-choice. Guided by inputs based on hamster movements, Markov chains were used to perform such beat and note computations.

midiGun – An Alternative MIDI Controller

The midiGun is described as the future of controllerism.

Ray Edgar – Flexonica II

The Sweatstick is a one-meter aluminum rod, articulated in the middle, with a sliding keypad for each hand. Performance style variously resembles martial arts, dancing with a broom, hang gliding, praying, and playing guitar.

Heartbeat MIDI Controller

Know of anything weirder than these strange MIDI controllers? Let me know in the comments!

7 thoughts on “The World’s Strangest MIDI Controllers

  1. These all are pretty stupid, except for MIDI paper.

    It would be cool if you could print out a custom Live controller, and share PDF files of control surfaces.

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