Hey guys, I am pretty new to the Arduino world and i have this is project in mind and have been doing a lot of research but just found expensive routes that MIGHT work. If you guys can help me out it would be awesome.
I'll explain it from the top. I have a drum instrument made out of Makey Makey. I basically finish the connections with my hands to trigger the keys(a,s,d,f,g,h) on my laptop. Which triggers the sound clips on the drum rack of Ableton Live. So basically a custom Midi drum.
Now what I am trying to do is build another one. But this time when trigger a key, I also wanna trigger a LED DMX lighting setting. So that each Key has a different customized lighting effect.
So the main question is:
•Can I make a arduino take in LED strips.
•Send information to Ableton Live as MIDI
• Or do I have to get a LED RGB to DMX converter, DMX to MIDI Converter, and a program. Which looks like $500+
I'm confused about what you are asking for. Can you describe your setup a little better.
You want the Arduino to receive DMX and send the signal to LED Strips? Where is the DMX signal come from? Do you have a DMX dongle on your laptop?
Do you want to convert Midi to DMX to then drive LEDs?
The strips you specify are great, but they require a range of specific timings from your Arduino, which is possible, but it is unlikely that you will successfully also be able to receive DMX, which requires a speed of 250kbaud. Maybe there's a software guy on here somewhere that has the know how.
My own DMX project is on hold for now. But, I learned that it is definitely a challenge to deal with DMX using the Arduino. Even with most of the shields that provide the RS-485 interface, it takes precise timing to do it right. I think it is best to get some sort of device that handles all of the timing issues, and will give you the DMX data upon request from the Arduino.