Dog Paw | MPE grid controller + weighted keyboard + synthesizer

[Photosynth]

I try to always post new MPE hardware out in the wild as soon as I see it. The latest is Dog Paw, and you can see more info, features, and their presentation on their Kickstarter, running until April 22nd

This bright and colorful controller has weighted pad-key-things to control with, and it seems designed with advanced use-case expandability in mind:

Install community-built apps to completely change how your instrument behaves. Or build your own using our python API. Our instrument runs a full Linux kernel internally on a Raspberry Pi 5 … giving you all the power you need for serious signal processing and music making!

Want more options? It’s as easy as downloading an app! Choose from apps built by the community, or build your own with our easy-to-use API! You get access to the full computational power of a Raspberry Pi 5 - a small laptop in every instrument.

It’s flashier than I personally like, but just posting it on here to get the conversation started around this new MPE hardware — or, I guess this time I should say potential MPE hardware while it’s still crowd-funding and pending actual delivery. Let’s not forget how Aodyo went. shudders

Anyway, back responsibly if you choose to! They’ve already exceeded their goal at the time of posting, so they’re not a charity case by any means. Also, I’m not affiliated in any way with the makers of this, I just saw their Kickstarter video in my YouTube recommended - “MPE Launchpad with weighted keys?!” I thought. Very exciting and hope to try one out someday!

[DogPaw]

Hi, Bill from Dog Paw here. I saw your comment on Youtube, and came to find this forum - I wasn’t aware of it, but it looks like a great community. Thanks for you post. Just want to make myself available here, in case anyone’s curious to learn more, I’d be happy to answer any questions!

I also see this forum does a great job of combining excitement with skepticism. Please don’t hold hold back your concerns with me on the thread . I’d love to hear your honest impressions of what we’re working on!

[greaterthanzero]

I can’t participate in the Kickstarter, as I’m presently spiraling through financial ruin, but Dog Paw is very much on my radar for post-launch evaluation.

(It’s my biggest regret from NAMM this year that I wasn’t able to find the booth and go hands-on with it.)

[FranklyFlawless]

Will the Dog Paw have open-source firmware and/or replaceable parts for long-term relevance?

[thetechnobear]

looks very interesting… the key design looks particularly intriguing, looks like it could have a nice feel (ofc, hard to get across in video etc)

seems its running linux, on a rPI 5 which is pretty capable, so that will make it open for other uses… has an (python?) api, which I assume will be for interfacing to keys/encoders.
(display standard linux, going by the boot up screen I saw ;))

all that said, I think really it comes down to how good the sound engines/synths they put on board are, and how well its integrated into the form factor.

this is what differentiates it from grabbing a mpe controller and plugging it into a rPI or similar. e.g. Zynthian

anyways, very cool, good to see its hit its funding target

---

a couple of thoughts looking at the video / campaign…

I think the kickstarter campaign needs alot more details in the specs.
(I get it may be still ‘in design’, but still, people need to know what they are backing.

midi - how is this done? usb host? usb device? TRS?

other outputs?
usb host port for other uses e.g. mass storage? usb audio support?

controls on units - most shots show 5 encoders (?). but one clip shows many more.
I think the issues with something with a synth engine is, you want hands on control… even the osmose using 4 for parameters feels a bit limiting at times.

if its hitting the ‘portable’ market, I think a headphone output would be a good idea… preferably separate from main output, so it can be used as a ‘cue’ output.
I know it still needs power, but you could use a usb power bank for that…
(also ‘on the couch’ play, has power)

one final point, I think its hard to get a sense of scale/size of the instrument.
I think its quite a bit bigger than it might seem at first, given the some of the video clips.
but the talk of portability, makes it feels like its quite compact - so its confusing.
its not good/bad… large = more hands on, small = more portable.
perhaps a picture alongside something of a ‘known size’ (e.g. ableton push), or dimensions.

note: I could have missed some of the above in kickstarter page - apologies if so.

[greaterthanzero]

Well, that’s an interesting thought.

I wasn’t thinking I’d ever care about internal sounds, but… we could potentially replace its core software with Orac 2, couldn’t we?

[DogPaw]

Long term thinking is definitely a priority for us. Trevor and I are both “makers” so we like things we can tweak and upgrade ourselves. A lot of our hardware design is modular with repairs and upgrades in mind, although I don’t want to make any specific claims about that until we settle on our final manufacturing design, which is in progress and depends somewhat on the scale we achieve through this Kickstarter. The internal compute side of things is pretty over-powered on purpose as a way of future-proofing the software. The API is our main way of exposing that compute to people who want to customize their instrument. We’ll likely open source at least components of the software, and are discussing an open-source pledge, where we release all of our code after a delay period. We’ve seen other products do that, which seems like a good way to get the best of both worlds between IP/competition concerns and future proofing. So short answer is yes we’re absolutely designing with long-term relevance in mind, and are discussing open source and swappable parts as ways to accomplish that. If I were a betting man, I’d say each of those is more likely than not, but we haven’t committed specifically to those just yet.

[DogPaw]

Thanks, that’s great feedback! Can confirm that the Pi is running linux, and the API in python lets people change how the instrument processes input from the keys, knobs, and screen, and build a specific UI on the screen.

That’s a great point on the connectors, and we do get questions about that. We’ve been careful only include details on the Kickstarter page that are 100% confirmed, which at this point includes MIDI input & output, and stereo audio output via 1/4" connector. We’ll also have a way for users to load samples. We are contracting with an electrical engineer to finalize our connector design at the moment, which is why that’s the extent of what we’ve advertised, but with the caveat that the following is NOT 100% guaranteed, I’ll give you the likely design:

• Traditional DIN midi connectors
• L/Mono and R 1/4" outputs
• Headphone output with volume knob (size of connector TBD between 1/8" and 1/4")
• Expression/sustain pedal input
• SD card for loading samples
• USB port for DAW connection
• Ethernet port for internet and more specialized high-speed communication

We’re also considering audio input, but that will likely not be present on these.

It’s a similar story with the physical controls, and with the same caveat as above, here’s what we’re expecting:

• Dedicated knobs for output volume and bend sensitivity
• A 5" touch screen as seen in the videos
• 4 encoders for arbitrary parameter control
• Dedicated hardware buttons for “home” and “menu” functions
• 4 programmable buttons

That’s also a great point about the size - something that’s easy for us to overlook since we interact with them every day! We’ll have to update the page with something that makes that clearer. FWIW My average-sized backpack fits a Dog Paw, power supply, laptop, and charger, so that’s my usual loadout when I’m out working at Oakland coffee shops.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any thoughts on this or other things - especially as the connector and UI hardware layout gets finalized!

[FranklyFlawless]

I would appreciate implementation of balanced audio outputs if possible.

[pachde]

Ethernet port is nice future-proofing, because the MIDI standard will shortly have a standardized network transport.

[FranklyFlawless]

How soon is shortly?

[thetechnobear]

Midi 2.0 UDP was ratified in Nov 24, and ‘launched’ at NAMM in Jan 25.

so probably now down to dev/manufactures implementing and you having within your setup.

Id guess apple should be pretty quick (if not already there) , given its midi 2.0 support and already had network midi.

Im wondering if there is any compatibility with the existing rtpMidi?
(giving iConnectivity devices already feature rtpMidi implementation)

anyway… all a bit off topic … given this is for DogPaw.
back on topic, as DogPaw is using rPI+Linux, so presumably, just a matter of waiting for linux support.

I did use some of the old rtpMidi implementations on linux/rPI but unfortunately, they were really unreliable… so its def good news to know there might be official kernel support at some point (via midi 2.0 udp)

[SteveElbows]

@thetechnobear

Id guess apple should be pretty quick (if not already there) , given its midi 2.0 support and already had network midi.

Im wondering if there is any compatibility with the existing rtpMidi?
(giving iConnectivity devices already feature rtpMidi implementation)

anyway… all a bit off topic … given this is for DogPaw.
back on topic, as DogPaw is using rPI+Linux, so presumably, just a matter of waiting for linux support.

Dont have to wait for OS-level support, although its obviously easier for devs if they do. But if someone provides a library to do it in the meantime, or the dev wants to write their own, they can do so without needing anything new in the OS itself.

I’ve assumed that Apple had not yet built it into the stuff they include in their OS (eg tools and APIs for easy network MIDI connections between iOS/iPadOS and Mac). Last time I tried ages ago, MIDI 2.0 stuff was downgraded to MIDI 1.0 when connecting a mac and ipad together. I’ve been guessing that they wouldnt change that until at least the next major OS releases after the MIDI 2.0 network spec ratification, ie in their major OS release cycle later this year at the earliest, but I really need to check my facts and there is always a chance it will take longer (or that parts came sooner than Ive assumed).

As for rtpMIDI compatibility, even if it turns out that they have some other stuff in common, I believe that when it comes to the actual MIDI data the 2.0 networking stuff uses the new Universal MIDI Packet data format (UMP).