Playing pads/chords/samples with your feet

robinbowes

Hi,

I was wondering about the possibility of playing some simple chords or samples with my feet while playing some lead stuff on guitar.

Is there any simple + cheap way of going about this?

R.

PolarityMan

Adam Jones from tool uses one of these:

http://0f9837bb1d8aa610a84a-102a6ca990457d67fd96fbe768cb23f2.r50.cf3.rackcdn.com/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/o/roland_pk-6_pedal_keyboard.jpg

Pricy though

thisisguitar

This is the cheaper alternative…

http://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/12-step/

The Roland pedals are epic though, I had some. Taurus pedals are what all the old school prog guys used. Listen to the opening of Dance On A Volcano… it's the deep sound that hits you :-)

You could likely program midi based pedals to do whatever you need though.

robinbowes

Yeah, I've seen the Roland stuff. Like you say - pricey.

I've got an FCB1010 and an iPad - I think I'll try and do something with that..

I'd love a set of pedals though.

R.

Teetonetal

Keith Mcmillen 12 step

robinbowes

Update: I have learned more about MIDI and have got a set up that works as follows:

FCB1010 w/ Uno firmware -> generic MIDI/USB cable -> Focusrite iTrack Dock -> iPad Air 2

My target was to be able to play the synth bass line from Stereophonics Dakota.

I first tried a few synth apps on the iPad to generate the sound. I ended up choosing Sunrizer. I set up a sound that approximates the sound on the track and set up the arpeggiator to make it pulse.

I then used the FCB1010 Control Center software to program a bank of presets.

I need to play 4 notes - [E4, C#4, B3, A3] which correspond to the midi note values [052, 049, 047, 045]. I programmed these into buttons 1-4 as follows:

1. A3
2. B3
3. C#4
4. E4

I also want the notes to keep playing without my having to hold down a button, so I also programmed each button to turn off any existing note and hold the new note (send control change sustain off, then sustain on). I also programmed button 5 to just turn off sustain (to kill any note that is playing).

I'm really pleased with it - it actually works!

Next task - Crazy In Love

R.

benvall

I've been looking into this a bit. However I'm not that technically minded when it comes to iPads and midi.

Are you able to use it live for one song then bank up to a new set of note values for a different song or would you need to re-program before the next song etc.

I hope that's clear, sorry. Like I said not up on midi I'm afraid.

robinbowes

benvall said:

Are you able to use it live for one song then bank up to a new set of note values for a different song or would you need to re-program before the next song etc.

Yes, that is exactly what you can do.

R.

impmann

Here's an idea that a mate uses...

He has a Line6 HD500 connected via midi to a Laptop. Each of the footswitches sends a midi signal/channel change when pressed. He's mapped that on the laptop to play samples, loops and sounds. There's no reason why you couldn't use it to play pads or bass notes (a la Taurus).

Other midi equipped pedal boards may do similar.

robinbowes

That's pretty much exactly what I am doing with the FCB1010.

I've since picked up an electronic drum kit s/h - only a cheap one, an Ion iDM02:

I plan to use the pads to trigger samples, so our drummer can do it, thus leaving me to concentrate on playing guitar!

R.