[Product Idea] 1-Button form factor, no screen

Morningstar Gear MIDI Controllers
#1

I know that sounds a little ridiculous to have a 1-button version of the MC, but hear me out.

Sometimes, you just need that 1 button in your rig that always does the same thing. It’s always ready to inject something into the MIDI stream that you program. Sometimes you end up putting such a button in every bank you define in a controller. Using the MC programming model, have the smallest form factor possible for a switch that represents that one thing (up to 16 messages). It needs no banking, no screen. Some ideas based on my own experiences:

  1. Use it for MIDI Start/Stop (toggle feature)
  2. Have a “go to” preset across all your gear, always at the ready. Or, have it to recall 1 specific Bank in a device like a larger MC controller.
  3. Spare yourself having to always program that one switch you need in every Bank of a controller.
  4. Use message scrolling to step through a few modes or presets of a device, for instance, the 5 Sync Multiplier modes of my Pigtronix Infinity.
  5. Black out your stage lighting or have a lighting special effect in a MIDI controlled DMX system.
  6. Bypass or Engage a remote MIDI device, similar to having it on an analog Bypass Looper.

It could support all of the various Actions and which ever of the existing Types makes sense for a 1-button unit. The user could make multiple uses of the switch just based on how they set up Press, Double Tap, Long Press.

Basically program it do that 1 thing you always need, put on your board and that’s it. No screen, the user can just put their own label on it. Bonus would be that it can operate on some long lasting battery.

#2

Thanks for the feedback!

We initially had a 3 switch screen-less one in the works, but have put it in the icebox for now as we’re focusing on other developments for now.

The thing about a one switch MIDI controller is that it cannot cost 1/3 the price of a 3 switch MIDI controller (for example), so better “economies of scale” is achieved with more switches. We’ll love to explore it again if there is demand for it.

#3

Understood. I personally wouldn’t expect to pay only 1/3 of the price of a 3-button looper, and if it’s the thing that I need to get the job done right, fits the space I need to put it in and it’s something I will be relying on constantly, I have no problem with ~$130 to get it solved. (especially having seen the amount of programmability even just 1 switch in your units can offer). That still might be lower than you would be looking at for a unit like that and, you are right, I might be alone in this.

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#4

BTW, for the first time, this weeked I’ve used the MC-6 in a video doing some pretty complicated set of controls handing 2 audio loopers simultaneously. I’d even do more with it, but they are still working on the MIDI implementation in the Aeros and it hasn’t reached its full potential yet.

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#5

Thanks for sharing!

Saw a number of your posts on TGP in the past (based on the display pic). Good to put a face to the name (user) haha

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