Universal Beats: A MIDI Grid Controller for Everyone

Braille text reading “MIDI Board”

A blender rendering I did of a MIDI board with raised Braille on the keys

Some preliminary sketches of the design of the keys

All 63 Braille cells from - http://www.dotlessbraille.org/FindACellPix.htm

I wanted to design a Musical Instrument Digital Interface grid controller, or a MIDI board that would be more universally accessible. Because it would be difficult for a DJ to make use of voice-to-text controls in a loud environment like a club, I wanted to modify the keys, or even just a silicone keyboard cover to include Braille on the keys. Since some standard commercial MIDI boards have 64 keys, and because there are 63 different combinations of dots in Braille letters and punctuation (plus one blank key) this works out well. While muscle-memory might mean that a visually-impaired musician doesn’t need any tactile labeling to play a traditional instrument, the repeating grid layout as well as the consistent re-assigning of keys to different beats when playing a MIDI board suggests that a more comprehensive and fast way for a DJ to orient themselves while playing would be advantageous. Other MIDI controllers exist for visually-impaired musicians however these usually take the format of a QWERTY keyboard, which is unlike other instruments and lacks versatility. I wanted to provide a more versatile playing experience and avoid musical typing, by using a grid. With screen-reader compatible Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software, this MIDI board can be used to compose electronic music.

While current MIDI controllers make use of LEDs to let musicians know which beats are active, this again is not useful for low-vision musicians. Instead Universal Beats would provide different tactile sensations with haptic feedback to let the user know which keys are currently activated. This could even be used to provide a vibrational preview of the beats pre-assigned to that key, without having to actually activate it and play the note. This feature would also be useful for Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing musicians, so that they don’t have to memorize locations and colors of certain keys to recall what beat is associated.

By incorporating more tactile and temporal responses in MIDI grid controllers as shown above, electronic music and DJing can be more universally accessible for a wider body of musicians.