MIDI Stylophone Business Card
Last Sunday we were looking at bookmarks we had made while searching the Internet for blog topics. We had booked marked Mixtela.com a few months ago because of all the cool MIDI DIY projects. But then we found WaitingForFriday’s website and decided to do an article on the MIDI Stylophone first. Imagine our surprise we we dicovered this on the Mixtela website this week.
It’s not just a business card, it’s a fully functional Stylophone MIDI controller!
Printed Circuit Boards as a business card are a great gimmick. I’d seen ones with USB ports etched into them, which enumerate as a keyboard and then type a person’s name or load up their website. It’s just about possible to build them cheap enough to hand out as a business card, at least if you’re picky about who you give them to.
A couple of years ago I took a stab at making one for myself, but I didn’t want it to be pointless. I wanted it to do something useful! Or at least entertain someone for longer than a few seconds. I can’t remember quite how I got the idea of making a MIDI-stylophone, but the idea was perfect. A working midi controller, that’s unique enough in its playing characteristic to potentially give some value, while at the same time costing no more than the card would have done otherwise, since the keyboard is just a plated area on the PCB, as is true on the original stylophone.
by Tim Alex Jacobs
Tim even referenced the WaitingForFriday’s website is his complete description of the process of making his stylophone business card. Tim has some of the most amazing MIDI DIY projects we’ve ever seen and also does incredibly detailed posts on exactly how it does his intricate engineering projects and usually includes assets.
MIDI Music Box
In March, Tim created a MIDI Music Box. You can drive the music
A number of people have claimed to make the world’s smallest synthesizer. It’s a pretty silly ambition because at this level the size makes it extremely impractical, and fiddly to pull out of the socket. Nevertheless, I have created something which is just about as small as a midi synth could ever be. It’s physically smaller than an ordinary midi plug!
by Tim Alex Jacobs
Fro more details on these projects and others ( Midi Monotron, Touch Screen as a MIDI Ribbon Controller, Mini Pitchbend Joystick and more) check out the Mixtela.com website.