Recommendations for a Midi foot controller

steven70 · July 2019

Hello,

Can anyone recommend a decent midi foot controller for triggering synth?

I'll need to
1) Trigger drones / sounds in a specific key
2) Switch between patches on the synth
3) Clearly see some indicator of what patch/setting I am on (in big red letters or something that can be seen on stage)

Won't be needing to play melodies with my feet (so no Fred Astaire), just something...solid.

Any thoughts appreciated - and if you're looking to shift something, let me know.

Thanks!

Funkfingers · July 2019

The Roland PK5 answers most of your brief except, of course, for the big patch name/number display.

sweepy · July 2019

Morningstar MC6 perhaps

steven70 · July 2019

Thanks people, some good ideas. The Roland would probably do all I need (and then some)...a bit pricey likes.
Just seen a '12 step' which also looks good.
Anyways...tricky one to get my head around, it's a bit of money for what is essentially an experiment...
Cheers for the suggestions

sweepy · July 2019

FCB1010, you can pick them up for well under £100 and easy to sell on if the experiment doesn't work out

JCA2550 · July 2019

Keith McMillen 12 Step is great

https://www.keithmcmillen.com/press/keith-mcmillen-instruments-announces-12-step-v2-0/

steven70 · July 2019

sweepy said:

FCB1010, you can pick them up for well under £100 and easy to sell on if the experiment doesn't work out

Ah, that'll do the job, nice red number thingy on the front too. Superb.
I can upgrade to a 12 step or the Roland if things work out.

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

prowla · July 2019

I've got a PK-5A and a 12-step.

PK-5A

The PK-5A is a great MIDI controller, but changing patch (aka program) can be pernickerty and require some tap-dancing.

To select a sound, eg. the classic Taurus sound at patch 2 on the Minitaur you need to do:

MIDI channel 1 = [MIDI Channel], [C#/1], [B/Enter]
Patch 2 = [Prg Change], [D/2], [B/Enter],
16' octave = [OctSelect], [C#/1], [B/Enter].

The pedal feel is absolutely spot-on.

I've seen them used by top pro musicians.

On the downside, there's no feedback as to what you've set, so if you've got it wrong you could stuff things up. I've tried using a supplementary MIDI selector switch pedal.

Image: https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-edf37/images/stencil/608x608/products/6296/18341/MP128__33699.1481317452.jpg?c=2

12-Step

The 12-step is good, but you have to program it up front rather than being plug'n'play. You can assign multiple actions/notes to a single note press, so it can do chords, trigger multiple instruments simultaneously.

When you program it you can set the LED text to your choosing, eg. "Tau1" for Taurus 1.

The pedals themselves are OK and the lights are handy.

To connect it to a unit with MIDI DIN plugs you need the optional USB-MIDI converter box.

It's all a bit of a faff, but then MIDI is in general (haha - general MID, geddit I!!!)...

https://youtu.be/GH3MurrXq_0

But you can get great results out - here's someone doing Subdivisions. (You can program each pedal/button to send any note(s), so effectively you can play any 12 chords so long as you remember which button to press!)

https://youtu.be/DXMy2irFUl4

Incidentally, the unit is the exact width of a Pedaltrain Junior Classic, which is quite handy, especially as you can put the power supply and interface underneath; that makes it viable for gigging (otherwise the USB connectors don't seem up to the job for me).

octatonic · July 2019

I use a pair of these:

Image: https://images.equipboard.com/uploads/item/image/31259/loop-community-looptimus-usb-midi-foot-controller-xl.jpg?v=1549535170

steven70 · July 2019

Thanks @prowla for all the details and info- really good to know...I'll have a listen to that demo in a bit.

Also all the other folks for the suggestions....a bit to think about here, it's essentially an experiment to see if we can (partially) replace some of the stuff our departed keyboard player used to do....

Need to get my head around some basics first - e.g. can I trigger the thing to 'play drone x in the key of D'. Or make the patch know what key it's in (surely can do if I program the synth)....or whether I need to have all the pedals for the notes.

I reckon I'll take a punt on the Behringer first, see if I can actually do the stuff we need...and upgrade as needed. Exciting times

HCDavies · August 2020

prowla said:

I've got a PK-5A and a 12-step.

PK-5A
The PK-5A is a great MIDI controller, but changing patch (aka program) can be pernickerty and require some tap-dancing.

To select a sound, eg. the classic Taurus sound at patch 2 on the Minitaur you need to do:
MIDI channel 1 = [MIDI Channel], [C#/1], [B/Enter]
Patch 2 = [Prg Change], [D/2], [B/Enter],
16' octave = [OctSelect], [C#/1], [B/Enter].

The pedal feel is absolutely spot-on.

I've seen them used by top pro musicians.

On the downside, there's no feedback as to what you've set, so if you've got it wrong you could stuff things up. I've tried using a supplementary MIDI selector switch pedal.

I've just purchased a PK5, so is it OK if I ask you a few questions please?

Firstly, what sound module do you use?
Secondly, have you used the PK5 with a laptop computer Midi to USB?
Lastly, I have a Rolls MP80, that looks very much like your MidiBuddy, does that work well?

Any help would be most welcome.

steven70 · September 2020

HCDavies said:

[]
I've just purchased a PK5, so is it OK if I ask you a few questions please?

Firstly, what sound module do you use?
Secondly, have you used the PK5 with a laptop computer Midi to USB?
Lastly, I have a Rolls MP80, that looks very much like your MidiBuddy, does that work well?

Any help would be most welcome.

Hello @HCDavies - I just seen this.
I think if you want to ask @prowla a question, you can do the @ thingy...otherwise they may not see the question, esoecially if it's a bit of an old thread.

I've done that here for you, interfering busybody that I am.

Hope that's OK forum etiquette-wise....tell me if not!

In any case I am sure people will help if they can.

HCDavies · September 2020

steven70 said:

HCDavies said:

[]
I've just purchased a PK5, so is it OK if I ask you a few questions please?

Firstly, what sound module do you use?
Secondly, have you used the PK5 with a laptop computer Midi to USB?
Lastly, I have a Rolls MP80, that looks very much like your MidiBuddy, does that work well?

Any help would be most welcome.

Hello @HCDavies - I just seen this.
I think if you want to ask @prowla a question, you can do the @ thingy...otherwise they may not see the question, esoecially if it's a bit of an old thread.

I've done that here for you, interfering busybody that I am.

Hope that's OK forum etiquette-wise....tell me if not!

In any case I am sure people will help if they can.

Thanks @steven70 ;, I'm quite new to this forum and so still don't know all the tricks on here. Glad to say It's all slotted together well, I've got a Roland MSG64 sound module, and also a Roland PC300 keyboard. And it's working pretty well so far. The PK5 was delayed as the couriers lost it. But now it's here I've found some good sounds.

Plenty to keep me occupied. I'll post a update in a few days time as too how I progress.

HCDavies · December 2020

Well a few days have turned into 3 months due to important family things beyond my control.

I've now added a Roland Pro-e synth, which works pretty well. That gives me the drum machine that I can control with the PK5. However I've found the Pro-e sounds are not anyway near as good as the MSG64.

So the best sounds come when I've got the Rolls unit into the PK5 into the Pro-e, and the out and thru into the MSG64. Sound from the Pro-e is off, unless I want a sound effect.

Playing Bass along to the drum machine is great fun. I guess the next step is to create my own rhythms.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Recommendations for a Midi foot controller

Comments

PK-5A

12-Step

PK-5A