I'm not a carpenter and I'm not a photographer, let's just get that out of the way first.
I can not afford a system 5 desk or a D-control but I really want to drive my system with out taking my attention off the picture. I've spent many nights lying awake thinking about and/or putting my wife to sleep with stories of this concept and idea.
I need a serious remote with out the serious price tag and I need it to be completely customizable, modular, light weight, semi portable and ergonomic.
I think it was Gary that said something about playing the console like a musical instrument?.. How a guitar player doesn't have to look at the fretboard.. all feel... That really hammered home what I've been feeling for at least a year or two. This is what I want.
So here it is. - pics at the bottom
MACKIE CONTROL
pro's - cheap, new alps faders feel ok.
cons - locked into it's firmware programming.
I already had 32 faders of mackie control. I really loved the idea of it more than the actual function once I got them though. They do all the things I want them to do and still do, like plug in control and some edit functions etc.. but 32 faders is a long way to stretch or roll too all day and it just didn't feel practical. I had to break up with one of my EXT's
FADERPORT
PROs - Cheap
Cons - Cheap
Another issue was not having a center section with sweet spot controls. With a mackie array, you have to grab the actual fader, you can't flip it to the center. There are cases where you can nudge the banks around so that it's right in front of you, but this isn't always doable. Just another reason to let go of 25-32. I had an old Faderport and I had never considered this, but when I hooked it up along side the mackies, it would lock on to whatever channel was selected.. The buttons are crap on this thing but wheels started turning
TRAKTOR KONTROL X1
PROs - Cheap
Cons - None
The fact is, I just don't have enough knobs and buttons on the mackie to drive all day with with out keyboard and mousing. I needed something slim and with as many knobs and buttons as possible. I found this and immediately bought 2 of them. Not only are they designed to be customized, they are USB powered and even light up. They come with software to dig in and completely program exactly what each button or knob does. Perfect. And they also have a shift button with toggle or momentarily access a 2nd page.. doubling your knobs and buttons.. Hell yeah!
WIRES
I actually had a new client come in here not to long ago.. first thing he said was wow you have a lot of wires. It's like saying, WOW you're dog is FAT. I need to have this thing wired internally somehow with out needing an electrician. Of course there will always be a few wires around here and there, but it must be minimized.
HOLLOW
I was whipping a spatula through the air because I'm lazy and didn't feel like drying it before I put it away. The handle broke off and it flew across the room impaling itself into a closet door.. I felt like Doc Brown and I'd just hit my head on the sink and invented the flux capacitor... it's so simple.. it's perfect.. A door! and hollow door that I can sink the gear into and run wires between the layers
YES!
I picked up an 80x30 hollow interior door for 30 bucks at my local hardware store. While I was there I impulse bought an 80x3 inch piece of smooth door frame trim to use as a wrist wrest. It actually works very well.
I've been testing out different layouts sitting on top and spending full workdays with each design idea and I found the right fit. It's simple, it's symmetrical and it's a little sexy. It also opens the door for things I hadn't thought of like client laptops, usb port and power access, a place for my lunch...
Here is the frame after making all my cuts. I used a dremel 300 with a few different attachments. At the top, you can see what remains of the partical board re-enforcing for the doorknob assembly. It was too late when I realized I should have checked this first and it was a real pain to dig out..
You can also see the door frame trim wrist wrest. My wife is going to upholster this with some padding and faux black leather.
Along with my foot, here's an example of where the wires go.
Here's the faderport. quick access to transport and selected channel's fader. My favorite part is that it will jump to the selcted channel even if it's not accessible on the current banks of the mackie. Also, when the mackie in in flip mode controlling a plug in or something, the faderport stays available as a volume fader.
Here is one of the EXT's. Originally in my head I pictured the mackies all laying flat and flush with the desk. This just isn't doable with a standard door, but it's still something I'm interested in when I go to desk v2. For now there are crude holes for running wires in the back. It's still in the test phase and all of this will be smoothed out and stained and polyurethaned at a later time.
Mackie ext 2
Here's a side view of the traktor controller. I bought a couple packs of shims to glue as risers underneath for support. The idea was to have these units flush with the mackies and have the work as one surface. Coincidentally, if you unscrew the screws on the sides of the mackies just a little bit, you can lay the traktor units on that using an indentation on the sides, it's actually a perfect fit that I may end up using.
Both traktor units are set up as generic midi devices and for the most part are set up to control functions on the selected track. There are some global functions here too such as automation modes, monitoring modes, window sets etc. I've set them up for gate shifting and can hold shift and access many other functions that I only need once in a while. These units are only 200 bucks and I highly recommend them.
Here's a shot of the first power on test. On the side where the vaccum is right now, I'll be adding a Novation remote zero. Automap is great, especially when I have buttons on the traktors that are set up to open and close plug in editors.. but the Zero is bulky and doesn't fit very well into this set up. I'm still on the fence with what I want to do with it. I love it, and I hate it.