It's Mea culpa Time
About 3 weeks ago or so I bought my first SoftStep. I was incredibly excited about this new piece of hardware but immediately ran into some major problems. Nothing seemed to work, and I blamed the software. I proceeded to really blast the SoftStep, but as it turns out it wasn't the software at all. It was a bum unit. Normally when I have any software or hardware issues I remain *fairly calm* and work the problem, but not so here.
So now, as promised, I'd like to offer an apology to the entire staff at Keith McMillen Instruments. Almost immediately, Danny and Sarah (along with Jon Short) dived right in and started to help me out. I got a new unit and started putting it through it's paces, and it's been a great experience so far. The KMI staff have been total pros. Thanks. Now, the SoftStep....It's the MIDI Foot Controller We've All Been Waiting For
It's the FCB1010 killer. There's just no other phrase that fits. It's the foot controller we've all been waiting for… Just like the FCB1010, you can use it to fire clips, turn on FX devices, etc, but that's only scratching the surface. With the FCB and any number of other foot controllers, you've got one or two expression pedals. On the SoftStep, EVERY foot pad is a potential expression pedal. Or a stomp box/switch. Or both at the same time. You can set the expression to be XY, X, Y, or rotary. It seems awkward, but it's not - though it takes a bit of getting used to, and your leg does need to do a cute little pivoting motion when moving XY or rotary style.
Expression
Considering the fact that you are using your foot, you get a remarkable level of control. Part of this is due to the fact that you can set the pressure sensitivity for each pad. It can respond to the lightest of touches, or it can need quite a bit of pressure - depending on how you want to set it up. I was able to get an excellent amount of control on various parameters in Live.
MIDI Routing and Parameters
The MIDI routing is so extensive, so flexible, and so downright powerful that it's a minor challenge to even get your head around it. That's a GOOD thing, btw.
You will literally find yourself thinking of new ways to handle mapping in Ableton that up until this point have either been very difficult without a lot of work or extra MIDI routing software like Bomes. For instance, I've got one scene set up for my Chapman Stick looping: Of the 10 total presets in this scene, I've got 7 foot pads assigned to launch clips, 1 pad for tap tempo, and the other 2 for FX plugs. The two FX foot pads are set up with extensive routing. So when I put my foot down on pad 8, I've programmed the SoftStep to:1. Turn on an auto filter effect located in my Stick input track, and stay on until I remove my foot.
2. Modulate the cutoff and resonance of that filter using an XY setting.
3. Increase/decrease the A send on my Stick input track according to how much pressure I'm putting on the foot pad.
4. Increase/decrease the low-cut filter amount for the Tal-Dub plugin - located in my A return track - according to the Y movement of the pad.
Cool. Way cool. You can send up to 6 messages per foot pad in the following formats: Note, CC, Bank, Program, OSC (Open Sound Control), Pitch Bend, MMC, Aftertouch, or Poly Aftertouch. Each of the 6 can be different, or all the same kind of message, or any combination you desire. I cannot think of ANY controller, foot or otherwise, with as much customization and flexibility.
Scenes and Setlist
The software allows you to setup different 'scenes' or banks. Within each scene you've got 10 presets. The setlist feature lets you organize the scenes in whatever order you wish.
Build Quality
The build quality is excellent. Only time will tell how the pads will hold up to constant foot movement and pressure, but I'm feeling confident.
RAM Usage and Bugs
The software is a memory hog, and there are niggling little bugs around.
But the folks at SoftStep say that they are working on those issues. I've only got 2GB on my MacBook, and the usage was right around 400MB. Pretty high; even higher for the beta version of the software. (I should mention that you need the software running in order to use the SoftStep hardware in Hosted mode. However….Stand Alone vs Hosted Mode
There is a firmware and software beta that allows you to save presets in 'Standalone' mode - meaning of course that you don't need to have the software running. Unfortunately you're only allowed a max of 4 scenes in Standalone mode, but this might change with updates. I found the beta in need of work, so I've stayed with Hosted mode in the standard release for now. Standalone mode, when it's ready, will be AWESOME.
Size
It's half the size of the FCB, and weighs less than an iPad. It's USB powered. That's one more power cord I don't have to worry about. While I don't think it's too small, I can see where people who are playing high energy live shows might have an issue with hitting the wrong foot pad. You DEFINITELY do not want to be wearing the trusty Doc Martens when using the SoftStep.
More like Chuck Taylors. They don't call it 'SoftStep' for nothing, lol. Programming
Programming the SoftStep can be a tad daunting at first, but this is because there's so much friggin' flexibility built into the thing. After a bit of trial and error you'll get the hang of it. I found some of the workflow to be a bit goofy, but nothing major.
Vids and Manual
I'd highly recommend watching the tutorial vids and especially checking out the manual. You will immediately get the sense of how much power the SoftStep has under the hood.
The True Test
I took the SoftStep out for it's first live appearance at a gig this past weekend. It performed flawlessly. Here's a couple of tracks from that gig. As with all my stuff, these were live looping sessions with no overdubs. Both tracks are just the Chapman Stick - no softsynths or drum bits, and all control was via the SoftStep only.
Loose Rubble
http://soundcloud.com/loopstationzebra/ ... pman-stick
At the :16 mark you can hear me playing a clean riff but using the SoftStep to control a bunch of parameters in an auto filter effect. @1:23 I'm using a foot pad to lower the volume on several tracks at once while also triggering a new effect on my main input track.
Melting Verbs
http://soundcloud.com/loopstationzebra/ ... pman-stick
@:10 mark a foot pad is used to trigger some FX and modulate the settings using XY. @1:42 a distortion solo starts and I immediately start affecting delay parameters using a foot pad in rotary mode. @2:23 some FX parameters kick in with XY and on/off parameters - all while I keep playing. Towards the end various tracks are reduced in volume as the solo ends.
Wrap Up
The SoftStep is a massive leap forward in the foot controller market, and long overdue. For the first time ever we have something that's far more than just hardware used to trigger clips or stomp FX on and off. I'll write more as I get deeper into the thing. Thanks again to the folks at KMI for helping me out and answering questions. You guys are champs.
Glad to hear you're liking it more, you owe me beeyoch!