Hi all! I’ve been using a CME keyboard to start and stop media players, and trigger (notes) some sound fx patches, but I’m finding I’m giving up other parts I want to play to hit them. Is there a simple pedal I can use to do that? Most midi pedals seem to only send program changes, able to shift through banks of pgm changes. I’m spending a lot of work time on the road, so I can’t really spend time at the console, working on this. I’m really looking for something smaller than a FCB-1010. Thanks in advance!
See if this would work for you. I’ve been using mine for over 5 years. Works very well using midi commands in Cantabile.
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Corky’s suggestion is good, I’ve used it. There’s also Logidy https://www.logidy.com/umi3 which is small footprint and Behringer FCB 1010 with 10 switches and 2 expression pedals, which I’ve now used for several years. Also, you may already know this but the midi filters are a great tool for changing PGM messages to CC, note on, and many others. By using those filters and bindings at the song level (not Background rack) the same switch can do one command on one song part, and another on another part…or another on another song. The need to reprogram the pedal commands themselves in the pedal became unnecessary. For global commands do the same but in the bg rack. Hope this helps a bit.
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I like the Morningstar pedals. They really are very powerful devices.
Thanks to all of you! I’ll be exploring these options while I travel.
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I’ve got the FCB 1010 with the Eureka Prom. It’s been very easy to configure for AmpliTube. It’s BIG though.
I can second the Logidy
I have used it live for 6 years now and it’s rock solid.
I did have to replace one switch, but that was just due to beating the hell out of it.
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It’s only a bit smaller than FCB1010, but the Roland FC-300 can do a lot more. Without a PC app, the FCB is nearly impossible to program. FC-300 is a bit of a PITA to program from the little display, but it’s fairly straightforward. The only real benefit I see with the FCB is that it plugs into the wall (no wall wart). I have gone back and forth on these a few times over the years. Including the FCB UNO chip. I have recently settled on the FC-300. I have hopes of converting it to USB midi and power. That would be the last of my old-school MIDI cables.
The Eureka Prom in PP mode makes the FCB1010 fairly simple to setup. The Effects and Presets mode is just what I was looking for - switch between 5 presets on the top row - for each one the bottom row is set to turn the Amplitube virtual pedal board pedals on and off with an LED lighting up when they’re on.
Thank you! My son (bass player) and I are fans.
You might want to look into CME Widi… wireless midi over bluetooth, very low latency (IIRC around 2-4 ms depending on your setup). Been gigging with it for almost 2 years now and never an issue, it just works. There are some posts about it on this forum.
As to programming the FCB, I still use the standard E prom chip and once you get the hang of it it’s ok to program, just not easy at first. But with the Behringer FCB1010 MIDI Editor Utility by Ed Dixon it’s insanely easy, and allows you to not only save/backup your settings, but makes it easy to transfer from one unit to another (I own 3 of them). But the FCB is certainly a tank. The FC 300 is great too and smaller but I never got into programming it much.
Tom
Thanks! I looked at that wireless doohickey Not sure that saving one USB cable amongst 6 is worthwhile. I still need a wall wart.
As I think about it a bit more, FCB or FC-300 with Cantabile probably doesn’t really matter much. You can use the default settings and use Cantabile’s midi filters to change channels, cc number, convert to note, whatever you want. When I was still using hardware synths, the FC-300 provided a lot more capability. The main reason for going FC-300 now is that I can plug in up to 3 continuous controllers (or 6 footswitches with just the one cable going to the rest of the system.
One other thing to note is that the FCB actually has better expression pedals. They are optical and won’t ever get scratchy. The Roland uses mechanical pots that could get scratchy over time. Though I can’t say it has ever happened to me.
FCB also has proper mid in/thru. As far as I know, the Roland’s midi in is strictly for firmware updates.
No clear winner here,
The FC-300 pots are junk. Not smooth at all. I had to replace mine twice and ALPS will not sell you the 10k logarithmic ones that are a special order for Roland. Nor will Roland supply you with one.
The linear 10k work but you’ll get reduce range of 55-127. Which you can fix with Cantabile’s input filters.
I hear you, they are pretty similar. And yes, if you’re only running one MIDI cable then the WiFi may not be worth it… I have two units sending midi, and anything to reduce stage clutter is a good thing. But, I admit I am a little OCD about that! FWIW One of my FCB units is probably 10 years old, another one is about 8 years old, and another one is 5 years old. Even the two older ones are still like new, switches and expression pedals still good even though I beat the hell out of them.
Tom