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MIDI Foot Controllers for Effects Pedals (Guitar actually...


llatham

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I have a Line 6 M13.

 

It will respond to both PC and CC messages.

 

In one patch, there are 12 effects that can be turned on or off.

 

What I need is some kind of - hopefully inexpensive of course - pedal system that will allow me to send at least CC messages - and I need to send like CC21 0, then CC21 127 to turn the effect assigned to CC21 off or on respectively.

 

It'd be nice if the buttons were latch - step once to turn it on, step again to turn it off.

 

The problem with the M13 is the buttons Line 6 put in it suck, and one failed on me the other night. Previously, another one was working intermittently. I'm afraid I'm close to them failing.

 

A new M13 is $500.00. There's one guy who will replace the buttons with good footswitches, but I have to ship it off, wait a month for him to fix it, and get it back - which will probably run me $150 for the repairs alone, plus any shipping costs - which based on the weight might be totally ridiculous.

 

IOW, if I'm getting up to a $400 level, I might as well just buy another one (and wait for it to fail too...)

 

So I'm thinking if I can get a cheapish MIDI controller, I can at least use 4-12 buttons to turn the effects on and off.

 

I've looked at the Roctron and Tech 21 MIDI Moose, as well as the Softstep things. The form factor of those things is actually pretty good - a single row of 5 buttons like the MIDI Moose would sit right in front of it - though I don't believe it will send CC messages.

 

The Behringer floorboard is a bit big - I'm looking for something I could maybe sit along the front edge of the M13 - which is about the size of a Voodoo Labs ground control, which itself is too big and too expensive at $300.

 

I'm looking for something more in the $150 maybe to $200 range - which is probably what the repair would cost me.

 

How are the Softsteps? The chromatic one looks like the buttons are really small.

 

It is possible for me to set up 12 Presets, each with 12 different effects, so I could send PC 1, then turn on and off any of the 12 effects with CC#s, then PC12 and select any other combination of 12 effects, and turn those on and off with CC#s.

 

So I could actually expand how I already use it (though obviously I'm needing to replace the buttons on the M13 with external ones and it has 12 that perform double duty as patch select and effect on/off with one more mode button you push to switch between the two modes (latch or momentary).

 

The Rocktron MIDI Mate has one mode that allows something like 4 PC numbers and 4 or 5 CC numbers, and while it would be cool to be able to switch the presets, it would be less practical for switching individual effects - though I suppose I'm OK until 4 buttons fail on the M13 - then I'll need more buttons from a MIDI floorboard!

 

Any products out there besides what I can find at Sweetwater?

 

TIA

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What keyboard are you using? For a while, I programmed my Kronos to control my Line 6 Pod by routing the swell pedal and assigning the buttons to controllers, etc. Or do you for sure want it to be foot switches?

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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I

 

What I need is some kind of - hopefully inexpensive of course - pedal system that will allow me to send at least CC messages - and I need to send like CC21 0, then CC21 127 to turn the effect assigned to CC21 off or on respectively.

 

It'd be nice if the buttons were latch - step once to turn it on, step again to turn it off.

 

How are the Softsteps? The chromatic one looks like the buttons are really small.

 

It is possible for me to set up 12 Presets, each with 12 different effects, so I could send PC 1, then turn on and off any of the 12 effects with CC#s, then PC12 and select any other combination of 12 effects, and turn those on and off with CC#s.

 

Softstep 2 comes with 7 or so factory presets. One of them is "Toggles", in which each key sends its assigned MIDI CC and is latched. Another is "Line 6 POD" but that's obviously for a different Line 6 product.

 

There are two software editors available - Basic and Advanced - which are both free. Basic gets you 10 presets, Advanced gets you 16.

 

You could in theory use the 12 Step instead of Softstep 2 as your controller, but it's really meant to be used as a musical "keyboard" for your feet - you don't get the same flexibility for setting up MIDI commands and such.

 

You will need the MIDI Expander to use the Softstep 2 with 5-pin MIDI ports. I guess one possible workaround is to plug the Softstep 2 into a USB hub that is connected to an IOS device and use that IOS device's MIDI interface.

 

Softstep 2 ships with an absurdly long (15 ft!) USB cable, which may or may not work with your computer - something about the length can cause problems. It doesn't work with my iMac. It's not a good enough reason to reject the Softstep 2 but if you get one, be prepared to get another USB cable in case the 15 ft. one is unable to connect to the editor software.

 

I was using my Softstep 2 just fine with my Octatrack until the Octatrack suddenly stopped working

 

You can read the manual for more information:

https://files.keithmcmillen.com/downloads/softstep/SoftStep_Manual_v2.01.pdf

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