using pedals / midi controllers for live 5 - gear advice!

register · Post by **register** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 8:07 pm

Hey, I'm thinking of getting a pedal and / or midi controller to use with live 5.
1) I'm looking to get a pedal that connects via midi to the computer, that I can use to trigger record on / off. I saw the 'Kid Beyond' vid on the artists section of this site, something similar would be good... although I'm not sure how to go about setting something like this up?

2) also been looking into midi control for live mixing. The evolution UC-17 looks pretty good to me, does anyone have any experience with these?

... just a thought, with the pedal / record activation, I guess it could be assigned to one button, which means I could maybe use the evolution / midi controller for that... how would this be achieved?
thanks very much.

register · Post by **register** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:36 am

hmm... also been looking at a few others: the evolution UC-33E looks a suitable step up, it'd be nice to have something with faders really. The Kenton Control Freak also, though it's maybe a bit less portable than I'd like.
Any suggestions / help would be much appreciated.
T

register · Post by **register** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:48 pm

bump...
any suggestions / experience with such bits?

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:18 pm

behringer fcb1010 is by far the best entry-level floor controller in my eyes. Dirt cheap, built like a tank, tons of buttons, not noisy like the ground control pro that kid beyond is using.

register · Post by **register** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:58 pm

ok... cool, that looks ideal for foot control, do u know how it is powered? It'd be nice to be USB bus powered, especially for the sake of live usage.
I think it's more important for me at the moment to have something for use with hands. Any knowledge of such tools, I think at the moment it's a weigh up between Evolution UC-17 and Evolution UC-33E . Any thoughts on any of these?
thanks

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:05 pm

it has a built-in powersupply, and a nice big chunky power plug in the back.

I sold my uc33 and got a Behringer BCR2000.. A more modern controller, and I think it's more flexible in a live situation.

register · Post by **register** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:15 pm

Sorry... what do u mean by built in Powersupply? Is it another thing to plug in? Batteries?
I think the BCR2000 may be a little too dial intense for me, it'd be nice to use faders for something of that size. the UC-17 lacks the faders, but it's smaller, and fits nicely beneath my machine (12" powerbook). You say you sold a UC-33E... did you not rate it that highly?
Ta

darkenedsoul · Post by **darkenedsoul** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:16 am

I got the FCB1010 for use with my Korg Triton Ex61 synth (or use with my V-Amp 2 modeler/processor for guitar, one of my guitarists also has the FCB1010). It has 10 switches for changing patches (or whatever you program it for) an up and down switch to toggle between banks on synth in increments of 10 (click up, click 1-10 for patch 10-19) and 2 expression pedals. It has built in power supply which means you plug the cord into unit and into wall socket. Pretty solid unit but only have gigged with it a couple of times so far.

Mike

drummond · Post by **drummond** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:33 pm

darkenedsoul wrote:I got the FCB1010 for use with my Korg Triton Ex61 synth ... Pretty solid unit but only have gigged with it a couple of times so far.

I've had one for the last year or so, gigged with it many times and it's still functioning perfectly. It is built like a tank and even with the way my gear gets handled sometimes, it still works fine!

It's remarkably flexible too - send pretty much any kind of midi info assigned to any pedal, so much so that I feel like I'm wussing out by only using it to trigger scenes (whenguitarist on stage) and the exp pedals for vst synths...

Think you can get one for about £100 or less now, well worth it for a midi foot controller.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 5:46 pm

register wrote: You say you sold a UC-33E... did you not rate it that highly?
Ta

I sold a UC-33, and no, I didn't rate it that highly, for a couple of reasons, mainly that patch switching on it was painfully slow.

maybe it would be better if you told us more specifically what you're looking for? Should it be a small controller? Faders? How much control? etc. etc. etc...

register · Post by **register** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:03 am

Well... I've been doing some pretty intense research since last post. I'm very tempted to up the budget and go for a novation x-station. It's seems to be pretty verstatile. I'm thinking the many dials and faders could be assigned to ableton controls, and give me the option of playing keys. It's an audio interface too, so my guitar could go into the x-station. Anyone know anything about x-stations? Or see flaws in my devious and far too costly plan?
Thanks

DeadlyKungFu · Post by **DeadlyKungFu** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:21 am

I know someone who has an X-Station, he likes it.

As soon as it comes in I'm getting a Novation SL25, another fine option for about half the price (no sound engine). USB powered, lots of tactile things to play with...

I use a BCR2000 and love it. Earlier this week I was going through my bag of guitar FX/cables/power supplies and found a foot switch that went with an old delay unit. I plugged it into the back of the BCR and BAM... I now have a footswitch. I tried another one but it takes two clicks to turn on/off, I might pop it open and see if I can tweak it. BTW the BCR has 2 footswitch inputs.

With NAMM over, you should check out the latest offerings from everyone. In the last year or two the MIDI controller market has gone apeshit, lots of options and everyone has their own unique setup.

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:55 am

I'm a little nuts when it comes to controllers.....

Novation X-Station

BCF2000

MDP16

and a FBC1010

I like the X-station, but I went with a Fireface for a audio card, and I wanted drum pads, foot controls, and automated faders. It all works, and if all you plan on doing is mixing, the BCF is the thing, but for live shows the X-Station is great. The built in synth is nice, but if you play guitar through it and MIDI sequence the built in synth, it will only come out mono, if you play guitar and run vocals through it, no synth.

Anyway, whatever works the best for you, I needed a keyboard controller when I bought the X-Station, and figured the extra synth was a bonus.

register · Post by **register** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:03 am

Wow! What a setup! ... do you by any chance have tentacles? I can see you playing live like animal from the muppets!

What's the audio driver performance like on the x-station? I was wondering, will I be able to apply the x-station's DSP to my guitar going into it? Sample rate etc?
ta

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:24 am

register wrote:Wow! What a setup! ... do you by any chance have tentacles? I can see you playing live like animal from the muppets!
What's the audio driver performance like on the x-station? I was wondering, will I be able to apply the x-station's DSP to my guitar going into it? Sample rate etc?
ta

Man! I would LOVE tentacles, you might not get any women, but you would be rich!

X-Station does great for latency, I think it's more a mtter of my powerbook being a 1.5Ghz than anything to do with the X-Station, but I've gotten uised to a buffer setting of 512.
Mainly I use the X-Station and the FCB1010 for firing tracks and filters etc.. The FCB1000 is for mixing, and trimming vocals/guitar and soft synths, ( no volume JUMP when you turn a knob!), The drum pad will be used more, but right now I mainly use that for programming drums. I was a fan of the video game Defender as a kid obviously!