It’s a ribbon synthesizer made with an Arduino! This MIDI controller was made with legato synthesizers in mind, which means the notes can overlap and slide together for more complex melodies.

Instead of normal guitar strings, this build has used three softpot potentiometers, and each of the “strings” is triggered by a drum pad. So, you slide your finger along the softpot while hitting the drum pad to play. Other controls include the potentiometers on the side that can be mapped to other MIDI controls, and there’s a joystick at the end that can be played with your palm while playing other notes.

The maker includes documented code that mentions tips and tricks for playing this MIDI instrument polyphonically. For another way to create an epic ribbon synth instrument, check out the XT Synth!

• Who designed it: gr4yhound
• Difficulty: Hard
• Core components: Arduino Micro, piezo triggers, potentiometers, momentary buttons, drum pads, joystick
• Where to find it: GitHub, Imgur

It looks like a Guitar Hero controller, but it’s not! This MIDI guitar has mechanical key switches instead, and even a whammy bar so you can pitch bend to your heart’s content! Strum chords or power through notes, and with the accelerometer, you can adjust modulation by simply moving the guitar.

The maker has utilized the USB MIDI library in CircuitPython. However, feel free to customize your build! While it uses a Grand Central M4 based on the SAMD51, an Arduino Mega can be used instead. The guitar head encloses some LED strips to really amp up the look.

• Who designed it: Ruiz Brothers
• Difficulty: Hard
• Core components: Adafruit Grand Central M4 (or Arduino Mega), LIS3DH accelerometer, whammy bar, potentiometer, 3D printed parts
• Where to find it: Adafruit, Thingiverse

This versatile MIDI controller was built with a bathroom organizer enclosure! The holes were drilled in to fit sixteen 75-mm arcade buttons. At the heart of it is an Arduino Mega.

This controller includes faders, knobs, pitch bend, and modulation wheels as well as LEDs. The project goes into heaps of detail about the physical construction, but you might need to look to similar projects for the programming side of things.

• Who designed it: Glacial Geyser
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Core components: Arduino Mega, arcade buttons, acrylic enclosure (e.g. bathroom organizer), LEDs
• Where to find it: Imgur

This maker has created their own budget-friendly MIDI keyboard with an Arduino Uno. In a subsequent post, they also make it velocity-sensitive and add an aftertouch effect.

This project takes a small electronic piano and fully replaces the internal workings to create an Arduino-based MIDI controller. The project description is detailed and includes circuit diagrams for you to follow as well as the full transcript of the code. You’ll need to supply your own toy piano, though!

• Who designed it: Code Tinker Hack
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Core components: Arduino Uno, MIDI jack, resistors, 74HC595 shift register, force-sensitive resistor sensors
• Where to find it: Code Tinker Hack

It sparkles in blue, red, and purple! This RGB MIDI controller is based on the Arduino Pro Micro and translucent 24-mm arcade buttons. Titled the Flipper RGB, the maker created this controller after becoming inspired by the MIDI fighter from DJ Tech Tools.

Each button lights up in a brilliant blue but changes to red when pressed. To achieve the color change, the maker used LED strips instead of single LEDs. Also, he used a multiplexer for the connection of all 16 buttons.

• Who designed it: Nerd Musician
• Difficulty: Hard
• Core components: Arduino-compatible Pro Micro, rotary potentiometer, multiplexer, 24-mm translucent arcade buttons, addressable LED strip
• Where to find it: YouTube

Ever wanted to create your own Guitar Hero controller with a toy guitar? With a simple schematic including the use of an Arduino Uno, this maker did just that!

It will take some programming in Arduino IDE and Java to get this working, but the maker has kindly supplied their original code. Depending on the toy guitar you’re trying to adapt, you might have more or fewer features to play with, so the code could need some tweaks.

• Who designed it: rglszl
• Difficulty: Easy
• Core components: Arduino Uno, toy guitar
• Where to find it: Instructables

If you’re after a DIY controller suitable for DJ sets, then check out the Lune. It’s a MIDI controller equipped with potentiometers for EQ, volume, and other effects. It also has a simple arcade pushbutton.

For effects, it includes ultrasonic distance sensors! Finally, there’s an RGB LED pad and an encoder.

While the pictured enclosure was made of wood, you could always adapt the files to 3D print a case instead.

• Who designed it: Funkit
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Core components: Arduino Mega, potentiometers, ultrasonic sensors, 2×4 RGB button matrix
• Where to find it: Instructables

This one-of-a-kind MIDI controller doesn’t look like a typical musical instrument. However, it’s essentially a drum pad MIDI controller, just in an unexpected shape, with the six touchpads around the edges of the hexagonal case.

This project also includes a 16-LED ring and a step sequencer. Plus, it’s Bluetooth enabled!

While it utilizes a Feather 32u4 BLE, you could swap it out for an Arduino-compatible Pro Micro board. The 3D printed case files are freely available on Thingiverse, and they can be enlarged or shrunk as desired to fit your chosen components.

• Who designed it: Ruiz Brothers
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Core components: Adafruit Feather 32u4 BLE (or Arduino-compatible Pro Micro), NeoPixel ring, capacitive touch sensors, battery, slide switch
• Where to find it: Adafruit, Thingiverse

Need to change your presets but don’t like the hassle involved? Adjust the volume, tempo, and more with this DIY guitar foot pedal.

This MIDI foot controller for guitar playing is powered by an Arduino Uno. According to the maker, there are two expression pedal inputs as well as eight momentary push buttons.

As a convenient bonus, there are eight LEDs incorporated, so you can see from afar what’s been activated.

• Who designed it:  Amplivibe
• Difficulty: Easy
• Core components: Arduino Uno, momentary soft-touch pushbuttons, LEDs, jack plugs, MIDI jack, resistor
• Where to find it: Thingiverse, GitHub