Midi Pedalboard

[Makebeleaf]

Hello, I built a midi pedalboard a few years back using the guts from a simple midi keyboard. My aim is to be able to play padding, shots. effects with my feet while I play my bass guitar at live venues.



The unit has an octave keyboard with lit buttons so it is easy to see in dim lighting. I can octave up and down with up/down arrows and also switch through sounds/channels with these. It is a simple midi out only unit. I have a midi to usb converter cable I can use if need be.

Where I am stuck is how to make it work the way I want it to. Questions:

1. Should I use a notebook, Macbook, ipad?
2. I used to play around with some great sounds from Native Instruments, Steinberg, etc. but I would like to be able to incorporate the different sounds out there into one program and be able to scroll through the sound files with the up or down arrow selecting the sound I want. Is this possible? Where/how do I start?
3. I need to come out of the notebook, Macbook, ipad into a PA or amplifier. Would I use the headphone jack out or something like irig? Is there a better way to get a clean signal out?

I didn't know where to start so I thought I'd start here.
Thank you

 

[happyrat1]

Assuming you have all the MIDI timing issues worked out and assuming you can manage bank and voice select signals from the pedalboard, you have plenty of other options aside from virtual instruments.

First of all, you won't find identical sounds from different software vendors all available in a single software package.

Which sounds you are married to will largely determine the hardware you choose to run them on.

All the options you listed, notebook, netbook, macbook, ipad even iphone are all viable options.

Output will consist of either whatever kludge is available from either the line out jacks or the headphone jacks either directly or thru a DI box to the mixer console of your venue.

You also have the option of adding an external USB Audio interface if your particular device has noisy native outputs.

Now let's look at some options which you haven't even considered.

You could just as easily hook it up to any standalone rack mount MIDI Module or Keyboard of your choosing.

This means you could pick up an old used Yamaha Motif Rack or Korg Triton Rack for about $500 and have some amazing classic sounds at your disposal plus the reliability of dedicated music hardware instead of non stop blue screens of death and latency problems up the wazoo. )

Some other currently available modules out there include the Ketron SD1 and SD2 as well as the Waldorf Blofeld Rack, the Peavey Musebox, the Muse Receptor Line, or the Roland Integra 7.

These are just the rack mount options.

Or consider this. Buy a real 61 key keyboard like the Korg Kross 61 or the Roland VR-09 and just plug into the MIDI port and use your pedal as the controller.

You'll have a dynamite collection of sounds as well as an honest to god keyboard you can practice on should you ever consider expanding your skillset to keys.

You haven't specified a budget but all of these are viable options entirely dependent on your space requirements and how much you are willing to spend.

The Keyboard options I listed are under a thousand dollars.

The modules run anywhere between $400 and $2000 each

Software options run between $500 and $800 for the hardware alone plus the additional costs of any vsti software which you may have to buy.

One other thing. Hardware modules and keyboards retain their value as used instruments. Used software is worth zilch whenever you plan to upgrade.

These are your realistic options. Feel free to ask more questions if you feel the need.

Gary