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Wireless sustain pedal?


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I had asked about this possibility in the latest Casio thread and got no feedback. Seems to me it would be a welcome next step in convenience marketing. My search came up with nothing - can you post a link?

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Rod

Here for the gear.

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Seeing as a sustain pedal is usually pretty close to the keyboard it's mated to, I'll admit to being puzzled as to the need for it to be wireless. How inconvenient is it to connect the cable, really? And is the added complexity of a wireless system worth the risk of losing the ability to sustain notes? I always thought wireless systems were for guitars, basses and maybe keytars those make a lot more sense; you're on a stage moving around, where a cord would be a bad visual, annoying or even a tripping hazard. A sustain pedal?
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My first reaction was "WTF, really?". But the more I think about it, if all my pedals were like this, sustain, expression, Leslie off/on pedals, and all I was doing was laying them down on the floor, uh yeah.... I've spent more time resoldering all of those wires and connectors in the past six months then anything else.

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

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I'd love [a] wireless pedal that connected by bluetooth to my AX-Edge. Hmm -- an FCB1010, Uno ROM, and a magic MIDI-to-Bluetooth connection, and I could do the whole pathetic guitarist pedal board thing. :poke:

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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I think the new versions of the AirTurn pedals can be configured to send MIDI messages, so you could conceivably have it send a control change for sustain. That could only work with a hardware keyboard if it received MIDI over Bluetooth and could be configured to accept that MIDI message, but if you were using a software instrument, it seems feasible. I'm only speaking theoretically, though.

 

For years, I've wished for/joked about wanting my whole rig to connect wirelessly, but using MIDI over Bluetooth with my Seaboard makes me think this technology might be accessible in my lifetime. A boy can dream...

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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I must be getting old (Well, I know I am), but I can't for the life of me figure out how this would be an advantage. Wouldn't all of the wireless controllers need batteries?

 

At work, I have a very nice Lenovo laptop with Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Very dependable machine, but my biggest problem is that, a few times a year, it doesn't see the mouse. I then go on a troubleshooting expedition to figure out the problem. I would not want to spend time doing this on a gig.

Yamaha Motif XF6, Yamaha AN200, Logic Pro X,  Arturia Microbrute, Behringer Model D, Yamaha UX-3 Acoustic Piano, assorted homemade synth modules

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I hesitated chiming in more that I already have in this thread, but  yea, exactly, what piano39 said. Think it through a bit; a transmitter needs a receiver. Where would those be? What about their setup? Go ahead, mess with all that stuff while I take two seconds plugging a 1/4" cable into a jack.
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Well, since we've had pretty good wireless audio for decades, the ability to use my Keytar is already within reach. A wireless damper pedal (and a CC or two) would allow me to use the AX-Edge on a stand as a regular 4-octave synth, and then sling it on my back for a solo or two without having to disconnect any cords.

 

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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Well, since we've had pretty good wireless audio for decades, the ability to use my Keytar is already within reach. A wireless damper pedal (and a CC or two) would allow me to use the AX-Edge on a stand as a regular 4-octave synth, and then sling it on my back for a solo or two without having to disconnect any cords.

 

In a past project, I was using a keytar strictly as a controller - so wireless MIDI, no audio - controlling sounds in the Kronos. The wireless MIDI receiver went into a MIDI Solutions Footswitch Controller that merged the incoming data with the sustain pedal. That way I could set the AX7 in the lower tier and use with the sustain pedal like a normal lower tier, or strap it on and run around wirelessly, in that case, using the sustain button on the left hand control.

 

In your case, if you want to sustain sounds in the keytar, you could always run wireless MIDI TO the keytar and use something like the footswitch controller to send sustain that way.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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  • 1 month later...
I think the new versions of the AirTurn pedals can be configured to send MIDI messages, so you could conceivably have it send a control change for sustain. That could only work with a hardware keyboard if it received MIDI over Bluetooth and could be configured to accept that MIDI message, but if you were using a software instrument, it seems feasible. I'm only speaking theoretically, though.

 

For years, I've wished for/joked about wanting my whole rig to connect wirelessly, but using MIDI over Bluetooth with my Seaboard makes me think this technology might be accessible in my lifetime. A boy can dream...

 

I just stumbled upon this Airturn Stomp 6 Bluetooth Pedal .

The AirTurn STOMP 6 is a Bluetooth-enabled switcher that allows you to control your computer, smartphone, or tablet, all while performing on stage.

 

It would be cool to assign it over multiple apps, with one switch to control Leslie, one to control an app like AudioShare, etc. Im sure there are all kinds of good uses for it. I wonder if I could use it instead of a Switch 6 for my tc helicon VoiceLive Touch 2 vocal processor? They make that proprietary pedal but its also MIDI-controllable so it may work.

 

STOMP6_773x462.PNG

The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers

 

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I never liked cables not being long enough to hide cables inside my stand then place the pedal where I want.

I just bought cable and made custom length myself.

I use 6 x MIDI Out and 3 x EXP, a sus pedal and footswitch.

 

Wireless would be cool if it actually worked.

Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic
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And I use extension cables from Amazon for the same purpose. 1/4 stereo for the expression pedal and mono for the sustain. Two strips of gaff tape and I can run them flat under my controller to the Apex stand I usually get. From there they hide on the side facing me, held by the pita clips the Apex uses.

 

I think there are some good applications of wireless pedals - sustain not being one of them. However, if anyone here actually makes it happen and is happy, I have no problem being proven wrong - its happened before! :)

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I'm kinda in the "Why Bother" camp myself.

 

My computer at home, I'll use a wireless mouse, but NOT bluetooth, because I've had too many pairing issues.

 

I would hate to be in the middle of a song and have the bluetooth quit, and it not register a sustain OFF signal.

 

 

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

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Stick one of these into a Raspberry Pi and you can then use rtpMIDI to send the MIDI data to the computer over Wifi.

 

https://www.matrixsynth.com/2019/03/tecontrol-usb-midi-pedal-controller.html

 

[video:youtube]

 

https://www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-pedal-controller

 

 

"If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom or dad, teacher, priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it." Frank Zappa
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Pick your battles. There's already an ongoing never-ending shit storm of stuff to learn, and get it to be reliably operational. Whenever possible keep it simple!

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wireless sustain pedal isnt on my list of to-dos. Im almost always in awe of some technologically trivial pursuit that someone here is doing for their creative or engineering amusement. Its cool, but ive got no time for such stuff. I dont even have time to learn to be a decent keyboardist.
The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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Don't know much about the topic, but first thing that comes to mind is that there will be a huge delay with a bluetooth pedal, wouldn't there? Milliseconds make a huge difference on midi keyboards, I think it'd work the same way with pedals.
if you can't tell the difference, does it matter?
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  • 3 years later...

For anyone who might be interested or following this, here's an interesting article...

 

https://mitxela.com/projects/wireless_sustain_pedal

 

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I tried building one a few years ago from inexpensive Amazon parts (<$50), and with the same negative result:  off-the-shelf devices have too much response delay (lag) to be useful.   Impressive how he addressed that problem.  Bummer that it was never perfected.  I'd have happily paid $100 for a wireless damper pedal for my keytar.

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-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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On 10/30/2022 at 11:02 AM, Tom Williams said:

 I'd have happily paid $100 for a wireless damper pedal for my keytar.

It will top $100, but I think this will work... the MIDI Solutions Footswitch Controller with their optional power supply and AC adapter, plus a couple of the CME WIDI pieces to create a wireless MIDI connection between the Footswitch Controller and the keytar. I'm assuming your keytar has internal sounds, and that it has a MIDI input that will work to trigger sustain on your currently-played sounds when CC64 comes in.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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  • 1 month later...

I’ve tried the AirTurn and CME WiDi combo sending CC64, but the freaking AX Synth does not accept that as a MIDI message. I even contact Roland about it and they were at a loss themselves as to why the hardware wasn’t set up for receiving this particular MIDI message!

 

So, no go on this option!

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

On 10/31/2022 at 7:34 PM, AnotherScott said:
On 10/30/2022 at 11:02 AM, Tom Williams said:

I'd have happily paid $100 for a wireless damper pedal for my keytar.

It will top $100, but I think this will work... the MIDI Solutions Footswitch Controller with their optional power supply and AC adapter, plus a couple of the CME WIDI pieces to create a wireless MIDI connection between the Footswitch Controller and the keytar. I'm assuming your keytar has internal sounds, and that it has a MIDI input that will work to trigger sustain on your currently-played sounds when CC64 comes in.

 

Another possibility, though again topping $100: a sustain pedal  plugged into an Audiofront MIDI Expression ($59) plus CME WIDI UHost ($70) powered by a USB-C power adapter. Then on the receiving (keytar) side, it would depend what's already there, but if it has 5-pin MIDI, a CME WIDI jack or WIDI Master ($60). It's possible that you might not have to add anything to the keytar if it already has built-in bluetooth (i.e. Roland AX-Edge), I'm not sure.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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