Hey people,
a few weeks ago I decided to do my next gigs with Cantabile. As I worked with MainStage before I needed to setup a windows computer for using C3. I had one laying around so I took it, added two SSDs and fired it up. It works nice!
Than I started to ask myself, what to put the mainboard, soundcard, etc. So I started to design a keyboard… and here it is!
As I was not sure which controllers I really need to work with Cantabile I installed a lot of things which I may kick out in the future.
Mostly it’s built-up with a lot of parts I had from former projects and ideas… so for the LED-rings and -bars. What’s in there:
- 9 fader (non-motorized)
- 9 LED-bars next to the faders
- 8 non detented encoders on each side (the right side is not connected yet)
- 8 LED-rings for the encoders
- 2x8 buttons on each side
- 1x8 buttons in front of the player
- Pitch & Modwheel
The heart of the system is a mini-itx mainboard running an i5-3570k powered through a Seasonic SS250U. The soundcard is a RME HDSPe AiO with extensions for four in- and outputs (so 6in / 6out in total).
For the first two outputs I build a DI-box featuring LEHLE-transformer incl. GND-Lift, pad-switch and link-out.
The keyboard has four connectors for pedals (2x switch, 2x EXP).
All panels are removable. So if I want to do some changes on the controllers, I can simply create another frontpanel, put it in and I’m done.
The keybed is a 76key FATAR TP/40H with ivory-surface. It’s not available on the market and was exclusively produced by FATAR for me 
The keyboard also has removable wooden side-panels without any screws on the outside which creates a great and clean surface.
In the middle of the keyboard you see a 10" capacitive touchscreen. This is absolutely awesome and creates a “workstation-like” feel.
On the right I integrated a 4-port USB-hub and the HDMI-connector for the screen. The screen is removable… so if I like to put a keyboard on top, I can remove the screen and put it on top of the other keyboard or on a music-stand.
That’s it so far. As you can imagine it’s pretty tight in there… I which I would have done it a bit higher so the CPU-Fan f.e. has a bit more air to breath. Anyway: I ran Prime95 for 10min and everything stays cool enough… and C3 will hopefully never act as hard as Prime95
But still I have some problems with heat… especially the soundcard get’s quite hot. I think about adding a small fan on top of it… but I don’t know if that may causes noise in the audio-path… I’ll check that.
If you have any ideas or recommendations please let me know!! I really like to hear your feedback.
Thanks!
Chris
