usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:59 am
Hi folks,
I've been trying to find a simple 5 or 6 button usb midi footswitch that will control the basic functions of the ableton looper: record, overdub, play, stop and clear
After purchasing the Tech 21 mongoose footswitch I realized it was only midi out, with no usb capability, so I decided to return it. While on the phone with the sales rep about returning the pedal I got talked into getting a Nektar Pacer footswitch, which has usb capability and was supposedly fully integrated for use with ableton. It arrived in the mail today and I immediately realized that it is not integrated with ableton, although it can be programmed as midi note controller. That would be fine, except that after I record a loop with my bass guitar and I start playing the keyboard, if I play a note on the keyboard that corresponds with one of the midi notes I've associated with the looper it reads it as a midi message to the looper. Besides the fact that this footswitch is far more complicated than what I need, it also seems to be incapable of doing the basic task I require, namely allowing me to record and loop a bassline while I play the keyboard over it. The general factory mapping that they suggest for most DAWs is totally useless, and on top of it all when I stop play and restart it the global BPM is reset to 999
At this point I'm thinking I need to return this f**ing thing as well, unless there's something I'm missing here. Midi mapping is not my strong suit, simple stuff is no problem but with multiple controllers things get complicated pretty fast. I have a push 1 I use for triggering clips in session mode and an akai mpk249 I use as a keyboard but I'd really like to be able to integrate a live-looped bass guitar with a foot switch so I can loop a bassline and jam over it. It seems like such a simple request but I can't seem to find the right piece of gear for the task.
Any ideas are welcome,
Thanks
I've been trying to find a simple 5 or 6 button usb midi footswitch that will control the basic functions of the ableton looper: record, overdub, play, stop and clear
After purchasing the Tech 21 mongoose footswitch I realized it was only midi out, with no usb capability, so I decided to return it. While on the phone with the sales rep about returning the pedal I got talked into getting a Nektar Pacer footswitch, which has usb capability and was supposedly fully integrated for use with ableton. It arrived in the mail today and I immediately realized that it is not integrated with ableton, although it can be programmed as midi note controller. That would be fine, except that after I record a loop with my bass guitar and I start playing the keyboard, if I play a note on the keyboard that corresponds with one of the midi notes I've associated with the looper it reads it as a midi message to the looper. Besides the fact that this footswitch is far more complicated than what I need, it also seems to be incapable of doing the basic task I require, namely allowing me to record and loop a bassline while I play the keyboard over it. The general factory mapping that they suggest for most DAWs is totally useless, and on top of it all when I stop play and restart it the global BPM is reset to 999
At this point I'm thinking I need to return this f**ing thing as well, unless there's something I'm missing here. Midi mapping is not my strong suit, simple stuff is no problem but with multiple controllers things get complicated pretty fast. I have a push 1 I use for triggering clips in session mode and an akai mpk249 I use as a keyboard but I'd really like to be able to integrate a live-looped bass guitar with a foot switch so I can loop a bassline and jam over it. It seems like such a simple request but I can't seem to find the right piece of gear for the task.
Any ideas are welcome,
Thanks