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Converting a Guitar Effects Pedal to Output MIDI

68 points by igpay 9y ago

meggar 9y ago
I bet you could also use Dictation Commands if you're recording on a Mac, to press the record button by talking.
- mhfs 9y ago
  Depending on what you’re activating via the pedal, the timing is very important (e.g. starting/stopping a loop). Voice wouldn’t be a good fit in that case.
tofflos 9y ago
Awesome! The market is really short on good MIDI pedals. Most pedals are in the €150 - €500 range and they have no versatility. You have to buy different pedals to be able to connect it to different gear. When you compare them to MIDI controllers from of the likes of Akai and Korg it's just depressing. They have velocity sensitive buttons, wireless-, USB-, standard MIDI and beautiful hardware for less than $80. Someone go make a Kickstarter!
- Joeboy 9y ago
  http://moddevices.com/mod-duo http://moddevices.com/mod-duo There's this kickstarted product that has a midi in (not out), but it's pretty pricey. It's open source and extremely versatile / hackable though. Honorable mention: The Howton Owl which is cheaper and you can program it in C / C++, but it's audio only (no MIDI). Edit: Actually it turns out the Owl can use its USB port as a MIDI port of some sort(s), and also there's a UART that can theoretically be used for MIDI but you'd have to work out how to do that yourself.
  - tofflos 9y ago
    Damnit! Those are some nice projects and I like that you can plug your instruments and microphone directly into the pedal. Now my requirements list for the ultimate controller pedal has grown. ;-) Start with something like the Behringer FCB1010. Add some programmability and get rid of a few unnecessary cables similar to the mods that are available on http://www.fcb1010.eu http://www.fcb1010.eu. Switch to USB-MIDI and add two TRS combo jacks with so I can plug in my microphone and my guitar. The pedal should double as a audio interface, a MIDI controller, be powered over USB but be capable of powering my tablet over USB when hooked up to 9V. As I write this I realize that what I'm looking for is pretty much a Guitarjack Stage https://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjackstage https://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjackstage but with more footswitches, less knobs and two built-in expression pedals.
    - kaffeemitsahne 9y ago
      You might be interested in axoloti: http://www.axoloti.com/ http://www.axoloti.com/ Stereo input/output, midi in/out, and it can function as a USB host to class-compliant usb/midi devices. Programmable using a puredata-esque visual programming editor, but you can also extend it with C.
- damnfine 9y ago
  Okay, I will be the guy. MIDI is dead. The latency, is simply not musical. I have worked with midi since the early 90s. Its a low baud serial connection. Play 5 notes at once? Nope, its now a really fast appregio. Got a nicer keyboard that sends velocity, aftertouch and control commands? Even more quickly flooded. The problem is, its such a widely implemented standard, and yet there are few, if any, out of the box midi-on-chip solutions that make sense. If someone produced a new standard, focusing on latency, and somehow made a midi failover/compatibility mode. Midi2 if you will... that could be easily implemented by device makers. The whole world would get better music.
  - michielderhaeg 9y ago
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but these days everyone usually sends MIDI over USB. It doesn't have any of the problems you described, every computer has USB ports in some form or another. Every operating system has default drivers for these devices, so they usually work out of the box. Yes, MIDI as a hardware standard is dying. But why should we care when we have something more universal that replaces it?
    - damnfine 9y ago
      Sure, but we need the physical layer. Somewhere between the 5 +1 pin DIN and the logic. We need a standard to replace it becaue music should not nessitate the use of a seprate computer to communicate. Beyond that I could dive in to the MIDI signaling standard itself, and why it is outdated for sending most types of relevant digital information using todays synthesis and controller technology.
    - SeanLuke 9y ago
      USB isn't optoisolated. This is its killer flaw as a replacement MIDI transport.
      - photojosh 9y ago
        It can be, see https://www.adafruit.com/product/2107 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2107 Surprised the high-end gear doesn't built it in!
- jdietrich 9y ago
  Keith McMillen Instruments make a fantastic foot controller based on "smart fabric" technology. Each of the footswitches can detect pressure in three axes, so it can be used for some very sophisticated expressive playing. https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/softstep/ https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/softstep/
hammock 9y ago
I remember being in a guitar store and hearing a pedal that converted a guitar, chords and all, into MIDI piano samples of each note being played. Or that's what it sounded like. It blew my mind! Does anyone know what pedal this was?
- radiowave 9y ago
  AFAIK the only systems that can reliably do this including chords are guitar synths, which require special pickups that capture the vibration of each string independantly. Some guitars are made with these special pickups already integrated, so at first glance it might look like an ordinary guitar + pedal arrangement. For example: https://www.roland.com/global/products/gc-1/ https://www.roland.com/global/products/gc-1/
- InitialLastName 9y ago
  Not piano, but could it be the EHX B9? It's an organ emulator for guitars. Not really doing the full pitch/chord detection you would need for generic MIDI output (I believe it's vocoder based, but I might be wrong).
- damnfine 9y ago
  I bet it was the Roland setup. I forget the model, but it uses individual pickups for each string and some huge 9 conductor cable to go to a decoding box. I still have one somewhere. The latency was terrible, and more than one note at a time was a gamble, but it was fun for string sounds with a slow attack. Some guitars in the 90s even had the setup built in. To go back even further, check ot the original, the VOX Guitar Organ. Lots of vids on youtube.
  - 6stringmerc 9y ago
    Yeah sounds like the Roland GK-3. Expensive, finicky. But it did convert to MIDI for sound purposes. Enough so that Fender even sold a model with the Roland pickup built in. Source: 20+ years with guitar and way too nerdy with MIDI and stuff over the years
  - photojosh 9y ago
dharma1 9y ago
Anybody come across a pedal/switch that would output sustain MIDI signal? Or would Arduino's MIDIUSB work for a DIY version? I have a couple of keyboards (Roli Seaboard block and Roland JD-Xi) without sustain pedal inputs and would like to use a sustain pedal with them edit: found one - https://webaudiotech.com/2017/02/20/a-piano-sustain-pedal-to-midi-usb-adapter/ https://webaudiotech.com/2017/02/20/a-piano-sustain-pedal-to...

68 points by igpay 9y ago

meggar 9y ago

I bet you could also use Dictation Commands if you're recording on a Mac, to press the record button by talking.

mhfs 9y ago
Depending on what you’re activating via the pedal, the timing is very important (e.g. starting/stopping a loop). Voice wouldn’t be a good fit in that case.

tofflos 9y ago

Awesome! The market is really short on good MIDI pedals. Most pedals are in the €150 - €500 range and they have no versatility. You have to buy different pedals to be able to connect it to different gear. When you compare them to MIDI controllers from of the likes of Akai and Korg it's just depressing. They have velocity sensitive buttons, wireless-, USB-, standard MIDI and beautiful hardware for less than $80. Someone go make a Kickstarter!

Joeboy 9y ago
http://moddevices.com/mod-duo http://moddevices.com/mod-duo There's this kickstarted product that has a midi in (not out), but it's pretty pricey. It's open source and extremely versatile / hackable though. Honorable mention: The Howton Owl which is cheaper and you can program it in C / C++, but it's audio only (no MIDI). Edit: Actually it turns out the Owl can use its USB port as a MIDI port of some sort(s), and also there's a UART that can theoretically be used for MIDI but you'd have to work out how to do that yourself.
- tofflos 9y ago
  Damnit! Those are some nice projects and I like that you can plug your instruments and microphone directly into the pedal. Now my requirements list for the ultimate controller pedal has grown. ;-) Start with something like the Behringer FCB1010. Add some programmability and get rid of a few unnecessary cables similar to the mods that are available on http://www.fcb1010.eu http://www.fcb1010.eu. Switch to USB-MIDI and add two TRS combo jacks with so I can plug in my microphone and my guitar. The pedal should double as a audio interface, a MIDI controller, be powered over USB but be capable of powering my tablet over USB when hooked up to 9V. As I write this I realize that what I'm looking for is pretty much a Guitarjack Stage https://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjackstage https://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjackstage but with more footswitches, less knobs and two built-in expression pedals.
  - kaffeemitsahne 9y ago
    You might be interested in axoloti: http://www.axoloti.com/ http://www.axoloti.com/ Stereo input/output, midi in/out, and it can function as a USB host to class-compliant usb/midi devices. Programmable using a puredata-esque visual programming editor, but you can also extend it with C.
damnfine 9y ago
Okay, I will be the guy. MIDI is dead. The latency, is simply not musical. I have worked with midi since the early 90s. Its a low baud serial connection. Play 5 notes at once? Nope, its now a really fast appregio. Got a nicer keyboard that sends velocity, aftertouch and control commands? Even more quickly flooded. The problem is, its such a widely implemented standard, and yet there are few, if any, out of the box midi-on-chip solutions that make sense. If someone produced a new standard, focusing on latency, and somehow made a midi failover/compatibility mode. Midi2 if you will... that could be easily implemented by device makers. The whole world would get better music.
- michielderhaeg 9y ago
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but these days everyone usually sends MIDI over USB. It doesn't have any of the problems you described, every computer has USB ports in some form or another. Every operating system has default drivers for these devices, so they usually work out of the box. Yes, MIDI as a hardware standard is dying. But why should we care when we have something more universal that replaces it?
  - damnfine 9y ago
    Sure, but we need the physical layer. Somewhere between the 5 +1 pin DIN and the logic. We need a standard to replace it becaue music should not nessitate the use of a seprate computer to communicate. Beyond that I could dive in to the MIDI signaling standard itself, and why it is outdated for sending most types of relevant digital information using todays synthesis and controller technology.
  - SeanLuke 9y ago
    USB isn't optoisolated. This is its killer flaw as a replacement MIDI transport.
    - photojosh 9y ago
      It can be, see https://www.adafruit.com/product/2107 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2107 Surprised the high-end gear doesn't built it in!
jdietrich 9y ago
Keith McMillen Instruments make a fantastic foot controller based on "smart fabric" technology. Each of the footswitches can detect pressure in three axes, so it can be used for some very sophisticated expressive playing. https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/softstep/ https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/softstep/

hammock 9y ago

I remember being in a guitar store and hearing a pedal that converted a guitar, chords and all, into MIDI piano samples of each note being played. Or that's what it sounded like. It blew my mind! Does anyone know what pedal this was?

radiowave 9y ago
AFAIK the only systems that can reliably do this including chords are guitar synths, which require special pickups that capture the vibration of each string independantly. Some guitars are made with these special pickups already integrated, so at first glance it might look like an ordinary guitar + pedal arrangement. For example: https://www.roland.com/global/products/gc-1/ https://www.roland.com/global/products/gc-1/
InitialLastName 9y ago
Not piano, but could it be the EHX B9? It's an organ emulator for guitars. Not really doing the full pitch/chord detection you would need for generic MIDI output (I believe it's vocoder based, but I might be wrong).
damnfine 9y ago
I bet it was the Roland setup. I forget the model, but it uses individual pickups for each string and some huge 9 conductor cable to go to a decoding box. I still have one somewhere. The latency was terrible, and more than one note at a time was a gamble, but it was fun for string sounds with a slow attack. Some guitars in the 90s even had the setup built in. To go back even further, check ot the original, the VOX Guitar Organ. Lots of vids on youtube.
- 6stringmerc 9y ago
  Yeah sounds like the Roland GK-3. Expensive, finicky. But it did convert to MIDI for sound purposes. Enough so that Fender even sold a model with the Roland pickup built in. Source: 20+ years with guitar and way too nerdy with MIDI and stuff over the years
- photojosh 9y ago

dharma1 9y ago

Anybody come across a pedal/switch that would output sustain MIDI signal? Or would Arduino's MIDIUSB work for a DIY version? I have a couple of keyboards (Roli Seaboard block and Roland JD-Xi) without sustain pedal inputs and would like to use a sustain pedal with them edit: found one - https://webaudiotech.com/2017/02/20/a-piano-sustain-pedal-to-midi-usb-adapter/ https://webaudiotech.com/2017/02/20/a-piano-sustain-pedal-to...