MIDI Fighter-style controllers (MIDI controllers with grids of arcade buttons) have been a staple of the DIY MIDI controller community for years. This project continues that tradition with the Raspberry Pi Pico. A grid of 16 arcade buttons lets you play MIDI notes faster than you can yell “Hadouken!”, either live with hardware or with your digital audio workstation (DAW) of choice.
The Pico is the perfect board for a project like this. With all the GPIO pins, you can directly wire your inputs and outputs without issue. The copious GPIO also allows this MIDI controller to have some special features. There is a screen with a GUI representing the 4×4 button grid, along with the assigned MIDI note numbers. Below the screen is a five-way navigation switch that allows you to select the individual buttons and adjust their MIDI note number on the fly rather than having to adjust the code.
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