Merlin 1.0 is a homemade MIDI controller.   Controllers:

-Pitch ribbon.

-3 axis accelerometer (only using 2).

-Squeeze ribbon (mod wheel).

-2 buttons on top in the shape of marbles (patch change).

-PIR sensor on top (theremin).

-1 (volume) pot.

-PIR sensor under the hand to track movements (volume).

-PIR sensor in the top crevasse for a (panic) button.

-Joystick and button in the middle (pitch shift).

-Power button (marble) on the lower left.

-Another shift button (marble) lower right.

-2 analog photo sensors in the top 2 soapstone enclosures.

-2 digital photo sensors in the bottom 2 soapstone enclosures.  (note on/off)

-switch to turn on/off accelerometer

MIDI in/out for programming. Powered by 9v or DC.

Constructed from maple wood.  A RF MIDI signal  can be sent out wirelessly, but I haven't  completed a decent checksum receiver yet.

Construction completed Dec 31. 2009

           Jasmin 1.0

My homemade Keytar (codename: Jasmin) Specs:

-made from an Edirol PCR-300 controller, Easy midi EM-100 (almost identical to a GS sound card), old Moog ribbon,

some photo resistors, switches and various electronics.

-The blue marbles at the bottom end of the PCR have photo resistors behind them controlling what would be the

expression pedal input.

-The Moog ribbon at the top also controls the expression input, and the green switch on my switchboard toggles between the two.

-The Moog ribbon at the top also controls the expression input, and the green switch on my switchboard toggles between the two.

-The 3 blue marbles at the top control pitchbend, (top) hold, (middle), and modulation (bottom).  the pitch and mod wheels were taken from a M-audio controller.

-fiber optics are lighting the design on top.

-the two marbles at the top next to the design are 2 individual optical Theremins. They work best when I turn off the lights behind them but one of them doesn't seem to work right now.  Their audio signal is controlled by the two pots on my switchboard and then summed with the output of the sound module.

-there is a built in stereo speaker on the backside, as well as 2 1/4 inch outputs on the bottom of the machine.

-one of the switches at the bottom flips one of the outputs from mono to stereo. and the other is a bypass for the photo resistors just above it.

-The whole chain of lights and modules can be powered from one 9v however, it won't last very long so there is a backup battery switch hidden in the battery compartment next to the speaker.

-The best way to power it comes from the standard midi cable. Similar to the way studio logic can power some modules with their keyboards.

-the midi cable still transmits midi out to any standard sound module.

-the rest of the switches on the front power on certain devices, lights, and turn on and off the internal speaker.

-the patch bay on the backside can reach all the PCR and Easy Midi ports and a line in cable for any ipod or mp3 player.

-I have the dials on the PCR set up to control NRPN's of synth commands like attack, portamento, and resonance in the sound module.

these commands are common on most GS keyboards that I have seen but usually impossible to trigger without external midi. 

Photos:

This project took me about 2 years to build.   Finished  Dec. 29th 2008