Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required)
By now you’ve all probably seen that excellent video of Kid Beyond illustrating his usage of Ableton Live. Pretty cool, right? If one had such a system, you could loop yourself playing guitar, beatboxing, etc., all perfectly in sync with programmed drum/MIDI tracks and other performers.
Here’s how to set up your own system in a similar hands-free operation style, for about US$10, without having to solder anything. It’ll take you about an hour once you gather the parts required, or less. No joke.
You will need:
- A QWERTY keyboard, preferably with a USB connector. Otherwise, you’ll have to buy an adapter to fit your laptop, which costs extra. You can get one for $7.50 at AllElectronics.com, but you can find them even cheaper at your local thrift store’s “technology pile.” I got mine for $2.
- A flathead screwdriver.
- Ableton Live. Ed.: Live is a perfect choice here, but you may find this useful with other music apps, as well — or even in a VJ set. -PK
- A free keyboard-mapping utility called Autohotkey (if you’re running Windows). If you’re running Mac, the program to use is calledIKey.
That’s it. Here’s how to make it go:
Above: Steps 1-2. Simple enough.1. You’re going to remove a significant number of the QWERTY keyboard’s keys, leaving only those spaced far enough apart to operate with your foot. Identify which keys you want to keep with a magic marker BEFORE you go hog-wild with the screwdriver, otherwise you’ll lose track of which is which. I ended up with 12 remaining keys, in two rows. Your feet may be smaller or bigger, so experiment with it.
2. Glue some squares of larger, stiff material to the keys to give your foot a bigger target. I used some plastic lenses (20 cents apiece at American Science & Surplus) and hot glue. Epoxy or a plastic welding cement might work better in the long run.
3. Plug the keyboard into your computer and boot up Ableton Live.
4. Download and install either Autohotkey (WIN users) or IKey (Mac).
5. Here’s the almost-tricky part: In Ableton Live, you need to create a new project with six audio tracks. Arm recording on all tracks. Turn off monitoring for all tracks except one.
6. Use the keymappping function (click the “KEY” button in the upper right hand corner of Live’s screen) to assign a keystroke to each track’s “record/play” button. It doesn’t matter which keystrokes you assign, because we’re going to be remapping them anyways. For this example, the keys I used were !,@,d,h,k, l.
7. Create a new script with Autohotkey and enter something similar to what’s pictured below. The 12 keys left on your QWERTY should be put at the start of each line. The idea is that as each key is depressed, Autohotkey remaps those into a sequence of keystrokes.
I chose to have my top row of buttons select the track, delete whatever’s there, and begin recording. The bottom row of buttons hits “play” on the corresponding track, which stops recording and begins looping on the corresponding track. You can re-trigger loops this way also.
Here’s an image of my keymaps in Live and the AutoHotkey script I made. Pretty simple, all things considered. I would be happy to share my blank Ableton set and accompanying AutoHotkey script to any windows users who need a little help getting started.
If you’re running Mac, here’s an idea of what you’ll have to do using IKey. It’s very similar but slightly different. For instance, we permanently glued the shift key down, to skirt some of IKey’s trigger-key rules.
8. Save the script, activate it (you’ll see the AutoHotKey icon appear in your taskbar), and you’re good to go. It’s that easy.
The end result? Not too shabby:
You can hear a track recorded by myself and bandmate Cameron Moore using two MIDI-linked Ableton Live setups here.
Note: Cameron runs Mac and I run Windows, and we had no issues.Check the forums for a more in-depth discussion, and feel free to ask questions. Also, if you decide to undertake this project, please post your results!
41 Comments
Leave a Commentvinayk
Ok - That is VERY cool!!!
Now 2 questions:
1. If you have two keyboards plugged in to your PC does windows know that they are different? Or will those macros affect both keyboards?
And most importantly…
2. Is there a program that transforms these keystrokes into midi commands? So that we can use these method to make a really cheap midi controller?
Because if 1 and 2 are both possible… or even just 2 - then basically I have myself a foot controller for my amp sim/whatever else! (I don’t own Live, and its a bit expensive for me atm)
Let me know if anyone knows the answers!
Have fun,
Vinay
August 2, 2007 @ 2:05 am
Oh Travioso
That’s a clever foot controller project. I saw the Kid Beyond thing and ended up getting a used MIDI foot controller at a music shop for about $25 and using Bome’s MIDI Translator. I gave my opening debut of the setup at the Line 6 company christmas party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngCBzycq1Ec
My setup now has both guitar and vocals running into a Toneport KB37 with Ableton, Reason, Gearbox, and the Bome’s translator running.
So far so good.
August 2, 2007 @ 3:11 am
4lefts
cool… now the questions. what specific functions have you mapped a keystroke to in live? i see each keyboard press is mapped to several things, but what are they? have you basically got 2 lots of 6 buttons? one group starts recording on each track, and you press it again to stop and loop (like just launching the clip again), and the other group deletes what’s in that track and then starts recording again?
August 2, 2007 @ 3:11 am
Peter
I did something like this a few years ago for energyxt, and kept break the keys. You have plenty to switch around too, but eventually run out of useful spaces to have the keys….
August 2, 2007 @ 8:42 am
Michael Una
I have started a forum topic to discuss this, wherein all questions will be answered:
http://createdigitalnoise.com/viewtopic.php?p=6330#6330
August 2, 2007 @ 8:58 am
bliss
Mike Una, go on wit yo bad self!!! :)
August 2, 2007 @ 8:59 am
Michael Una
@ 4lefts: I’d like to place all this in the forums so that future searchers can find it, but in short: Yes, I treated it as 2 rows of 6 buttons.
I refer to my top row of buttons as “re-sample”:
1. hit “play” on a cell to highlight it
2. hit “delete”
3. hit “play” again, which functions as “record” if the track is armed
The bottom row just hits “play” on that same cell.
So, it will end recording at the next global quantize event and begin looping from there, or retrigger the sample if it’s already playing.
I hope that helps.
August 2, 2007 @ 9:10 am
Michael Una
@ Peter:
It’s true, the maximum number of keys I could fit was 12.
You could work around this by running leads from the momentary switches of other keys to some kind of breakout box, but that would take some soldering and more than $10 ;)
August 2, 2007 @ 9:41 am
Carl
If you don’t mind a little soldering, the actual circuit board inside most keyboards is tiny. So you can take it and the cord out, put it in a lunchbox or small plastic case, drill some pushbuttons in, wire them to the pins, and you have a compact stompbox. I made one like that long ago to control some sampling/looping software I wrote - way easier than doing MIDI!
As I remember, the pins work like a matrix, so for example pin 1 to pin A is “delete”, but pin 1 to pin B is “enter”.
August 2, 2007 @ 10:11 am
Michael Una
@Vinayk:
1. The macros affect both keyboards.
2. I am not aware of any keystroke-to-midi utilities, but you can trigger a series of mouse actions. That might work.
August 2, 2007 @ 10:13 am
brett weldele
here’s an alternative method using no outside software…just Ableton.
http://brettweldele.blogspot.com/2007/08/ableton-live-super-looper.html
August 2, 2007 @ 10:35 am
Michael Una
@brett weldele:
That’s a pretty good implementation, and the FCB1010 does have the expression pedals, which can come in handy. Your “cascading loops” design is very nice, both functionally and visually.
In creating this project, I set my goal as spending the smallest amount of money possible, and attempting to use commonly available materials. I find that experimentation can occur in a much more spontaneous fashion if cost issues are removed/reduced.
August 2, 2007 @ 11:59 am
Alex
You can probably use something like Processing to easily map keystrokes to send whatever MIDI you wanted. Would be trivial to set up.
Also, could you get twice the functionality by just holding down a modifier key, so if you push one key with your foot you get a set of functions, but if you CONTROL+footkey you get a different set of functions?
August 2, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) » Developages - Development and Technology Blog
[...] Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) - [via] Link. [...]
August 2, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
Arjan
This is brilliant, paperclip like…
August 2, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required)
[...] Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) - [via Link. [...]
August 2, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
Techzi » Blog Archive » Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required)
[...] Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) - [via] Link. [...]
August 2, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
vinayk
Sweet - sounds good… i’ll make myself one of these in october when my exams are done! I have lots of fairly solid crash mat foam (the sort that we use for falling at martial arts training…) I figure I can stick on squares of that to make the controller a bit more sturdy…
Then i’ll label up my DasKeyboard (which is nice and blank)… so that I can control all my dDAW functions without having to touch the mouse hopefully!
August 2, 2007 @ 6:39 pm
Get loopy with the DIY Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) | KnowHow @ KPeBiz.com
[...] Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) - [via] Link. [...]
August 2, 2007 @ 9:11 pm
iDiy.mobi » Create Digital Music " Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required)
[...] Originally Syndicated via RSS from del.icio.us/tag/diy Download photos and chat!!! [...]
August 3, 2007 @ 12:00 am
iDiy.mobi » Create Digital Music " Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required)
[...] Originally Syndicated via RSS from del.icio.us/tag/diy For Soccer News go to Goal.com [...]
August 3, 2007 @ 12:00 am
Joaquins Musikblog
Ableton Live und preiswerter Footcontroler…
Für knapp 10,- Euro einen Footcontroler für Musikprogramme wie z.B. Ableton Live, na wäre das nichts?
OK, es ist nicht die robusteste Lösung, aber wer keinen MIDI-Footcontroler zur Hand hat und seine Aufnahmen unbedingt mit dem Fuß steuern will…
August 3, 2007 @ 8:50 am
octatone
Thanks for that tip Brett! I’ll have to save that setup. Simple and easy on the eyes. Fan-fucking tastic.
August 3, 2007 @ 1:23 pm
Niq
sweet.
i saw kid beyond in concert last december.
he was opening for imogen heap.
he pretty much blew my mind!
i love seeing something new in electronic music!
(if beatboxing is considered electronic, lol)
August 3, 2007 @ 7:06 pm
<CONTENT /> v.4 » links for 2007-08-04
[...] Create Digital Music » Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) (tags: music DIY) [...]
August 3, 2007 @ 9:21 pm
The Coolest Blog Ever :: Make your own footswitch for Ableton etc
[...] http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/08/02/get-loopy-with-the-diy-10-ableton-footcontroller-no-soldering-required/#more-2386 [...]
August 6, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
Laura
If you want something wireless, light and have some cash, I suggest the POK:
http://www.x-tempozone.com
August 12, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
Julian
Funny. I have this modified foot keyboard for 3 years already. Now somebody put it on the internet…
August 16, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
emmett
to do keystroke to midi, there’s a software program called the MU MIDI Controller. (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9604/mu-midi-controller) it’s not the easiest program to figure out but you can use it for free for ten days.
August 18, 2007 @ 7:37 pm
giessel
anyone that uses ableton live might be interested in this patch by tone deft- alternate live looping set up with a max patch and midi!
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=70559&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
August 23, 2007 @ 7:39 am
Musician’s Notebook » Blog Archive » Control your DAW with your feet!
[...] Control your DAW with your feet! by Joel Falconer Create Digital Music has an excellent tutorial on creating a foot pedal from a QWERTY keyboard for use with Ableton Live so you can record hands-free. Check it out at Create Digital Music. If I knew of something like this for Logic and Reason, I’d be building it right now! [...]
September 1, 2007 @ 12:41 am
Jordan Colburn
I made one of these last year and just stumbled upon this guide today. I couldn’t find any key mappers or midi translators that i liked, so I just wrote my own midi translator in max/msp. I arm all tracks for recording and set the midi learn function in live to trigger each clip. If it’s blank, then it records a new track, if not, it lets me switch loops and song sections after i build them up. I also spray painted the keyboard case dark blue and color coded my keys to help keep me straight. I managed to get 17 keys on it, but i have to go barefoot to be truly accurate.
September 4, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
music » Create Digital Music " Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required)
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
October 8, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
spudstyle
The best idea i’ve seen lol. I’ve find a better script with no assign keys in live (i use live 6). I use only 5 keys in my script, if u want this, ask me by mail at contact@turntablz.fr.st (in french if it’s possible ;D ) or for the creator or admin, u’ve got my personnal mail.
Really thx to you, i can’t by a loopstation or midi controller like fcb1010.
Peace!
November 27, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
matt
@ vinayk –
theres a keypress to midi app called midiox for windows. someone already posted a mac one on here. its at midiox.com, and its free.
December 10, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
Will Hargreaves
Programmable USB Foot pedals built to last are available from Kinesis. A Savant Elite pedal can perform any keyboard action or macro, or a mouse button action. Multiple pedals can be used(up to four pedals per USB port). Programmable under Windows 2000 or XP, playable on virtually any OS using generic HID drivers.
December 19, 2007 @ 11:22 pm
wendy phua
at the risk of sounding hopelessly green in looping, can anyone explain to me why is it that my various recorded on the fly loops are in sync only for the first few bars and then start getting out of sync??
December 26, 2007 @ 11:38 am
Create Digital Music » Your Top 10 Music Tech CDM Stories of 2007
[...] Get loopy with the DIY $10 Ableton Footcontroller (no soldering required) [...]
December 31, 2007 @ 1:30 pm
bill holland- gearwire
Nice, Michael. Way to make the top ten! I want to get an old Nintendo power pad and do something similar. Haven’t done any bending in a while because I’ve been so busy cranking stuff out for gearwire and producing and album. Check out our videos featuring the Michael’s keyboard madness at this link
January 2, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Create Digital Music » NAMM Show Floor Anomalies: The Win/Fail List, Pt. I
[...] when compared to a far more powerful new Moog multi-function pedal or our own Mike Una’s $10 DIY foot pedal. (Is it really worth more than 40 [...]
January 21, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
sean
Vinay:
If you are able to direct keystrokes to specific application or window, then you could use mTroll (win) for the MIDI out messages:
http://www.creepingfog.com/mTroll/
April 19, 2008 @ 1:02 am
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