OT: Anyone know of a small footpedal that will Tx Sysex?

[miden]

I've got a Roland Fc-300 and the device being used with it only recognises Sysex for this particular data.

 

The 300 is heavy and large!! So I was wondering if anyone has come across a compact pedal that will allow me to store and transmit a two line Sysex message?

 

Thanks

[AnotherScott]

The ios/Android app Set List Maker allows you to send MIDI messages when you call up a song, I think it supports sysex messages. And I think it supports using a pedal to advance to the next song. Combine those two functions, it seems like it should allow you to use a pedal to send a sysex message.

[miden]

25 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

The ios/Android app Set List Maker allows you to send MIDI messages when you call up a song, I think it supports sysex messages. And I think it supports using a pedal to advance to the next song. Combine those two functions, it seems like it should allow you to use a pedal to send a sysex message.

Thanks Scott.

 

No that is not what I am after. I need to be able to control the hardware direct - no iOS.

 

I have a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller, but it does not seem to be able to handle two Sysex Strings with two different variable bytes. And even when programmed with only one of the strings having the variable byte, the attached foot-switch doesn't work.

 

Bloody Roland programming

[Reezekeys]

Sounds like an Arduino project!

[Adam Burgess]

35 minutes ago, Reezekeys said:

Sounds like an Arduino project!

I agree.

I squeezed an Arduino into a Marshall amp double footswitch for a singer friend of mine to MIDI control FX mutes on her XR18.
5 pin MIDI out and powered from a USB phone charger, or if you have a handy USB out on a keyboard…

Was a bit rough and ready, and I was gonna redo it properly, but it still works…

Sending a SysEx string won't really be a problem, either. (And, for Roland stuff, you don't actually have to worry about the checksum byte, which can be a pain if you're not a mathematician! I'm not - I'm a piano player!)

What exactly are you trying to send? I have a spare Arduino somewhere I could maybe try something with?

[miden]

35 minutes ago, Adam Burgess said:

I agree.

I squeezed an Arduino into a Marshall amp double footswitch for a singer friend of mine to MIDI control FX mutes on her XR18.
5 pin MIDI out and powered from a USB phone charger, or if you have a handy USB out on a keyboard…

Was a bit rough and ready, and I was gonna redo it properly, but it still works…

Sending a SysEx string won't really be a problem, either. (And, for Roland stuff, you don't actually have to worry about the checksum byte, which can be a pain if you're not a mathematician! I'm not - I'm a piano player!)

What exactly are you trying to send? I have a spare Arduino somewhere I could maybe try something with?

 

The receiving device needs to use two Sysex strings to turn sustain on and off. It does not recognise CC messages for this function and others normally sent from a footpedal.  Not had much of a look at arduino - is it a steep learning curve?

[Reezekeys]

I took "pedal" to mean something like an expression pedal sending continuous data. Sounds like you need a latching footswitch that simply alternates between two fixed sysex strings.

 

I know nothing about Arduino programming other than it's been used for midi projects – but I'm pretty sure the boards let you connect switches and can be easily programmed to send the sysex you want. Since these are single messages - not continuous - the checksum is fixed so that shouldn't be hard to figure out either.

[MPN21]

13 hours ago, miden said:

I've got a Roland Fc-300 and the device being used with it only recognises Sysex for this particular data.

 

The 300 is heavy and large!! So I was wondering if anyone has come across a compact pedal that will allow me to store and transmit a two line Sysex message?

 

Thanks

Morningstar mc6 mkii or Mc8 can do sysex.   Very capable units.   Great editor apps and support.     Pirate MIDI Bridge6 and 4 will support sysex in the future but I would stay away from Pirate MIDI; after 2 years or so they still do not have a pc editor.   I had to return my unit twice and waiting for the 3rd one.  

[miden]

22 minutes ago, MPN21 said:

Morningstar mc6 mkii or Mc8 can do sysex.   Very capable units.   Great editor apps and support.     Pirate MIDI Bridge6 and 4 will support sysex in the future but I would stay away from Pirate MIDI; after 2 years or so they still do not have a pc editor.   I had to return my unit twice and waiting for the 3rd one.  

 

Morningstar looks nice - around $300 our money. Not sure how a "button" instead of a pedal would feel controlling sustain, and indeed how long such a button would last considering the number of mechanical cycles required in a sustain pedal operation...

[Reezekeys]

Ahh I understand now... not a latching switch to turn sustain reception on & off... just a sustain pedal that works using sysex instead of CC #64. Took me a minute (like many things do with me these days!).

 

That Morningstar MC6 has what looks like two 1/4" jacks - perhaps a sustain pedal can be plugged into one of them?

[MPN21]

9 minutes ago, Reezekeys said:

Ahh I understand now... not a latching switch to turn sustain reception on & off... just a sustain pedal that works using sysex instead of CC #64. Took me a minute (like many things do with me these days!).

 

That Morningstar MC6 has what looks like two 1/4" jacks - perhaps a sustain pedal can be plugged into one of them?

Yes, you can connect all types of pedals and assign functions to them.  

[MPN21]

19 minutes ago, miden said:

 

Morningstar looks nice - around $300 our money. Not sure how a "button" instead of a pedal would feel controlling sustain, and indeed how long such a button would last considering the number of mechanical cycles required in a sustain pedal operation...

You can connect pedals and more switches to it.  Also, each switch can hold multiple function and call up each function by tap, shot tap, long tap, double tap, and etc.   The dedicated app and also web based editor make it very easy to program. 

[stoken6]

Looking at Morningstar's website, it looks like the smaller MC3 could also do the job. Although it lacks a MIDI IN - I don't know if the MC6 can merge its pedal-triggered-sysex with incoming MIDI, nor if that's a requirement of the OP (if the board is being triggered from MIDI elsewhere as well as sysex from the pedal).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[miden]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

Looking at Morningstar's website, it looks like the smaller MC3 could also do the job. Although it lacks a MIDI IN - I don't know if the MC6 can merge its pedal-triggered-sysex with incoming MIDI, nor if that's a requirement of the OP (if the board is being triggered from MIDI elsewhere as well as sysex from the pedal).

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Just need MIDI Sysex out. No MIDI will be going in to the device as such.

 

I did look at the 3, however I am not a fan of the din to mini-jack device, it's just never struck me as overly robust.

[stoken6]

38 minutes ago, miden said:

 

Just need MIDI Sysex out. No MIDI will be going in to the device as such.

 

I did look at the 3, however I am not a fan of the din to mini-jack device, it's just never struck me as overly robust.

Would you need the mini-jacks? As I understand it, the sustain pedal goes in the 1/4in jack, and the MIDI comes out of the (solitary) 5-pin DIN socket. Add power as required, ignore the mini-jacks, life's good.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[miden]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

Would you need the mini-jacks? As I understand it, the sustain pedal goes in the 1/4in jack, and the MIDI comes out of the (solitary) 5-pin DIN socket. Add power as required, ignore the mini-jacks, life's good.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Yes indeed

 

Sold out

[stoken6]

8 hours ago, miden said:

 

Yes indeed

 

Sold out

[Adam Burgess]

Those MorningStar things were same idea as my Marshall footswitch. Obviously executed much much much better! Mine was a gaffa tape and glue thing with a MIDI port stuffed in there - was just a proof of concept.

A switch can easily toggle or latch with an Arduino, so a toggle will be easy for an on and off; and much less data than a CC. Teensies are very small - may even get one into a regular sustain pedal.

 

[Baggypants]

On 9/26/2022 at 3:49 PM, miden said:

The receiving device needs to use two Sysex strings

Don't keep us in suspense, what are these mystery receiving devices?

[miden]

7 hours ago, Adam Burgess said:

Those MorningStar things were same idea as my Marshall footswitch. Obviously executed much much much better! Mine was a gaffa tape and glue thing with a MIDI port stuffed in there - was just a proof of concept.

A switch can easily toggle or latch with an Arduino, so a toggle will be easy for an on and off; and much less data than a CC. Teensies are very small - may even get one into a regular sustain pedal.

 

 

Been looking at the Arduino thing, will require a learning curve haha! It needs to be able to program two different Sysex strings - one for on one for off. Still haven't found anything explicit or definitive on achieving this on the Arduino info I have found so far.

[miden]

1 hour ago, Baggypants said:

Don't keep us in suspense, what are these mystery receiving devices?

 

 

haha, sorry, it's a Roland V-Accordion (FR4X) - for some reason they have made a few of the footswitch controllable functions sysex only, which suits EXACTLY the Roland FC-300 running in sysex mode (funny that )  - of course the other things like volume, panning program change etc etc which one probs does not REALLY need, are all fine with regular MIDI CC messages.

 

As if they are not expensive enough (v-accordions), without having to fork out near $800 (Oz peso) for the FC-300....luckily i found a good used one for a fraction of new.