Ableton Forum

Hi everyone -
I'm trying to figure out the best way to accomplish what I need, so any advice would be wonderful.

I currently play on a Casio Privia keyboard, which has two pedal inputs in the back. With my setup, I need to have 3 pedals: 1 as a regular sustain pedal, 1 as a latching switch for scene changing, 1 as a non-latching pedal for misc. things (i.e. controlling looper, toggling clip start/stop, etc...)

Obviously, I'm shy a footswitch input.

First of all, are there USB pedals out there? I found Eowave's USB footswitch hub - always an option, but a bit pricey to just add one additional switch to my setup. Also, avoiding extra gear additions would be nice.

I also found Delcom's site: http://www.delcomproducts.com/products_usbfsw.asp
Has anybody used these with Live? It seems like they are mostly made for executing various keyboard commands, and use HID, which I think means that plug-n-play as a MIDI controller is impossible without a 3rd-party translator.

There also seems to be the option of something like a dual keyboard pedal, such as the Kurzweil: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Kurzweil-KF ... 1134567.gc
My big question on this is whether or not the keyboard input will send different MIDI signals based on which pedal is pressed. It has been my experience (although I am definitely not a MIDI expert by any means) that the Casio sends MIDI according to which input the footswitch is plugged into, rather than anything inherently programmed in the pedal itself. Does anybody have any experience with this?

The other option is to make a DIY USB footswitch for the 3 pedal. Again, not an expert, but it seems like it *could* be simple enough. Although, I think the issue of translating into a MIDI signal may again be an issue.

Thoughts?

Thanks everybody!

1. the dual footpedal business requires an input specifically made for the double-ringed cable jack.

2. i've seen several instances of people using old usb qwerty keyboards as footpedals. yes, it requires extra software. but it is by far the cheapest option, and could be quite reliable and flexible.

the eowave looks nifty, but it sounds like you aren't looking to spend a whole lot of extra. if you were looking into spending extra, there are options out there that could have whole pedal-boards worth of midi inputs that would be worthy of looking into incase you consider future expansion. It also seems like you prefer the type of pedal that has a surface, rather than just small round metal portrusion. am i right?

Something like this might rock your world http://www.amazon.com/Line-FBV-Express- ... B002GYWBKU this is an image of the included software: http://www.uniquesquared.com/eBayImgs/l ... ii_gui.jpg