Compact MIDI controllers for your fingers are plentiful, but tiny foot controllers are far fewer. map~map aka Marcus Fischer decided to build his own by performing a simple but clever mod of the KORG nanoKEY. Now, personally, I find the nanoKEY the one product in the nano series that’s lacking; it feels more like a QWERTY keyboard than anything resembling a MIDI keyboard. But Marcus transforms it into the world’s most compact and portable foot controller. You may have to be somewhat delicate with your toes, but he says the solution works perfectly!

i’ve been wanting a compact usb midi foot pedal for a long time. i built one out of a usb number pad last year but it was less than ideal. tonight i popped all of the keys but five off of my korg nanokey in order to see how it would work as a pedal. it turned out that it worked really well. i cut some small pieces of plywood out to raise the key height and some scrap plexiglass to cover up the missing keys. a little spray paint and double stick tape and it was all finished.
i think it turned out pretty well. not bad for a cheap keyboard and scrap materials.

279 / nanopedal

Those wooden blocks look quite lovely. KORG, you may have inadvertently created a new product.

Stompboxes are back! Yes, software is great, but the gigging musician still loves something you can plug in and step on. The Messe show saw some traditionally rack-mounted gear reborn in stomp form.

Sure to be a huge hit, Roland’s BOSS RE-20 takes the beloved RE-201 Roland Space Echo and recreates it as a stompbox. It emulates all the major features of the RE-201, down to placement presets and tape flutter and magnetic head sound saturation, and adds a longer delay time — plus the ability to tap in delays with your foot. No pricing or availability yet that I’ve seen.

BOSS RE-20 Space Echo Product Page
Music thing weighs in with some thoughts.

At the other end of the spectrum, vocal processor maker TC-Helicon is best known for making big, do-everything racks. They’ve now taken the most popular features there, and repackaged as stomp boxes called VOICE|TONE. The idea is to perform all of the sweetening you’d normally apply in the studio onstage.

VoiceTone Create is a multi-effects processor in stomp form, with reverb, delay, thickening/microtuning, distortion and telephone/megaphone effects.

VoiceTone Correct performs pitch correction with tone (EQ, mainly) and dynamic shaping, and de-essing. On top of that, it has some sort of “dynamic sensing” algorithm that adjusts this for you. I’m not entirely sure what that means or how it works, but it sounds interesting.

TC’s vocal effects sound really terrific. You could easily abuse them, of course, but for some subtle processing, they could also make you sound a lot better — if you can just use a little restraint. I’m not entirely sure that splitting multi-effects from dynamics/EQ/de-essing makes sense, but on the other hand, even if you get both of these, they’re quite compact. And TC is one of the only companies I’ve seen that does high-quality vocal processing with some thought into how you’d actually use it onstage, in terms of easy controls, A/B switching, and so on.

Also from TC at Messe: control via guitar, harmony for Pro Tools, a new flagship vocal processor, and new editors with enhanced features and Vista/Universal Mac readiness. The editors will be out in May, and since I have a VoiceLive, Intel Mac, and Vista PC, you’ll be sure to hear more about them.

Brad Sucks, the one-man band known for Internet stardom and Brad’s brilliant title “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing”, is taking on laptop performance. First job: find a way to use limbs on your body other than your arms and hands, since those need to play the guitar.

Like many Ableton Live users, Brad finds his way to the Behringer FCB1010 foot pedal. Before you scoff at the brand name, this foot pedal’s configuration is unusual (ten stomp pedals, two “scene” pedals, and two expression pedals), and the price is ridiculously cheap (often US$150 or less).

Of course, it is from Behringer, which means there are lots of things wrong with it: it doesn’t work out of the box with Ableton Live, and it’s a pain to program. Enter an aggressive community with tutorials, homebrewed Windows editor software, patches, hardware mods, and even a $10 firmware hack. Brad has rounded up all of them in a central location so you can skip Googling and get straight to modding:

Behringer FCB1010

Brad has a great idea: Behringer should open source the firmware. Unfortunately, I think the odds of Behringer doing that are about the same odds as CDM naming Behringer our “Product Manufacturer of the Year.” We’re just getting over our rage and frustration involving Behringer’s BCD2000. Short version of that story: Behringer finally fixes the screwed-up firmware on that model, but orphans its existing users, repaints the thing, and renames it the BCD3000. No, thanks.

So, I have mixed feelings. I love hardware mods and user communities and cheap gear. But if you’re curious which gear Behringer ripped off to create the FCB1010, it’s this:

Roland FC-200

More than a passing resemblance, huh? Now, the Roland costs twice as much — US$300 — and it lacks the second expression pedal. (Oh, yeah, and Behringer moved the display. And that is a slightly different typeface.) But a quick look through the product manual reveals Roland’s MIDI implementation makes a lot more sense, even if Roland also failed to produce a software editor. Programming is actually logical, and the manual is great. Well, okay, it’s a music gear manual, so “great” might be the wrong word — let’s just say accurate, detailed, and far better than Behringer’s.

Just one paid gig could make up the difference in price. I’m torn. As much as I love the community support, I’m about ready to toss my FCB1010 for the Roland on principle alone. I can mod the Roland’s gear, too — and I probably won’t need to touch the firmware.

In this corner, from Modena, Italy, the reigning champion: IK Multimedia AmpliTube. And in this corner, from Berlin, Germany, the challenger: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2.

Photos and comparison after the break.

Both have the same idea: rather than just focus on software, they offer a hardware control surface / direct box accessory for controlling effects with foot switches and making plugging in the guitar easier.

How do they stack up (on paper, anyway)?

Audio I/O: Both act as a direct box (guitar in jack) and audio interface (balanced audio outs). Both have MIDI I/O (good for working with hardware effects or synths). NI adds two pedal ins and an extra guitar in; IK has S/PDIF digital I/O. Advantage: Tie.

Control: IK has slightly more controls, with an extra LCD screen, 10 foot switches, and knobs (though you’ll have to bend over to use the knobs). NI’s design is ultra-simplified with just 6 foot switches, but they add an expression pedal, and since you’re already fiddling on-screen in software, their design makes more sense to me. Advantage: Close, but I’ll give this to NI.

Included effects and amp simulations: Both these products have a zillion effects, amp models, mic models, and a zillion more ways of combining them. NI earns extra kudos for including a nice selection of bass amps, but let’s face it — both of these are just plain freakin’ huge. I’ve heard both, they both sound great, and plenty of players are going this way onstage. Advantage: Tie.

Killer feature: Native Instruments wins this category for the inclusion of looped recording a la the Boss LoopStation. It’s the first software (guitar or otherwise) to really get this right, down to the ability to set loop length with a foot pedal. Advantage: NI.

Hardware aesthetics: IK gives us Barney purple and black colors and giant 80s-retro lettering. NI opts for understated silver. Advantage: NI.
Inclusion of a Swedish Model and Bad Pun: Super modeling? Get it? Like analog modeling? Groan. IK wins this dubious award, though no one at AES was demoing in a bikini. Advantage: IK.

It’s too soon to declare an overall winner; neither product is shipping yet. But my early money is on NI, because of their simpler but prettier hardware interface and inclusion of looping. That said, I doubt you’ll go wrong with either one, so make sure you demo each before choosing.

Speaking of availability, look for the NI kit in November. IK promises AmpliTube by the end of the year and StompIO “soon.” (Maybe there’s time to change the color?) Street pricing should be around $300-$500; looks like NI is including their controller whereas IK’s will cost extra. More on that once I can find details.

AmpliTube Product Page (plus see CDM’s earlier review of v1 with sound samples)

Guitar Rig Product Page

One more choice: There’s a third rival for your digital guitar stompbox: Line 6, known for their cheap-but-great guitar hardware, have gone software with the TonePort. Big scoop on the Line6: low latency, from what I’ve heard from a couple of users. (Latency is a measure of the delay between when you play a note and when it’s played back through computer effects; if it’s small enough, you won’t notice it at all.) NI and IK might beg to differ on that, though, so your mileage may vary.

Just days after IK Multimedia shows its new version of AmpliTube with new effects and a new hardware stompbox / audio interface / DI box, rival Native Instruments unveils its own upgraded computer guitar rack with new effects and a new hardware stompbox / audio interface / DI box. Not only that, but both IK and NI are at the AES show, which, as the “Audio Engineering Society” moniker implies, is not usually where you’d expect to find new guitar kit.

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2

So, anything different about NI’s announcement (aside from the notable absence of Swedish models — see IK’s babefest promos)? Well, the Rig Kontrol 2 from NI is much sexier looking (silver instead of IK’s Barney-esque purple and black), and has an expression pedal, which is absent from IK’s box. And Native has the Boss LoopStation-like Loop Machine for layering loops on-the-fly. Both have gorgeous interfaces and terrific-sounding amp emulations and effects that easily rival hardware. It’s a good time for computer-based guitarists.

Now I’m off to the IK and NI booths to see if I can make these work for vocals and keyboards. (Any other non-guitarists using this stuff?)

More soon . . .

Stumbling around for the right foot pedal? Prostage hears you with their giant new foot pedals. (via Synthtopia) Looks like fine kit: all-metal, no plastic, delay-tap, LCD on some models (various alternatives) and GIANT LETTERS AND NUMBERS for the vision impaired. Their continuous controller pedal looks especially nice for sending volume to organs or other continuous controllers. (I always just feel around with my feet, but if you really need to know which pedal you’re tapping, here you go. Now if they could just light up . . .)

As for foot controllers, though, I’m still loyal to my new Behringer FCB-1010, which I bought after suggestions from you readers. I’ll check back in to let you know how that’s going with different apps.

How about you: who hear is playing with your feet? Show of toes, please?

Sure, at MIT building interactive LED-powered disco dance floors is a good way to decorate your dorm and procrastinate. But, Chris O'Shea of pixelsumo
reminds me, for the designers at Lightspace, it's serious business.
Clearly, the MIT students' DIY project was directly inspired by the
Lightspace team that's . . . wait a minute . . . headquartered in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Guess there's just something about Cambridge
that makes people want to build elaborate digital disco dance floors.
(See Chris' post on Lightspace)

Lightspace's interactive floors respond in subtle and ingenious ways,
which is why small children are so fond of them. (And, as we've learned
in the past on CDM, small children love heating up dance clubs.)

As seen on Slashdot: a group of students at MIT have constructed a Disco Dance Floor, with over 1,500 LEDs and covering 128 square feet. Dance on it, and pressure sensors trigger some 4,000 colors. Jeez, I knew I shouldn't have gone to Sarah Lawrence;
these MIT folks don't mess around. Not only are the colored patterns
surprisingly sophisticated, but it interfaces with a Linux audio player
to work with the grooves.

So how do you build your own? Check the detailed construction details,
though consider what they learned: don't ever do this: "Don't try to
build a disco floor in your lounge; it will consume your life. Now
there's a lesson they don't teach in any class." Okay, fine, but when
they say "As far as we know, there is no mention on the internet of
anyone home brewing a dance floor of anywhere near this complexity,"
can't you hear the gauntlet falling? (Hey, stop looking at me! I'm just a keyboard player.)

Dance Wednesday continues, so get your dancing shoes on. You
can trigger audio and video with a Dance Dance Revolution pad (or any
USB game controller).

Resources: You'll want some kind of PS2-to-USB converter so
you can plug it into your computer, for starters (here's an example). Then check out software like STEIM's JunXion (Mac OS X), which maps USB input to MIDI, or, better yet PSmaX (Mac/Windows), which is designed specifically for this purpose and runs standalone or (if you've got it) in Max/MSP. (Savvy Max users might also map the dance pad to the OSC
protocol.)

Examples of the system in action:

• Mapping tap dancing gestures to audio and video (Max/MSP)
• Geoff Matters rocks the DDR (with Max/MSP) at Remote Lounge
• Interactive Dance Dance Revolution performance
  with 4 DJs and 2 composers ganging up on one dancer (though in this
  case they actually just hooked the DDR up to a PlayStation and filmed
  the thing with a camera)
• DDR has even had life as installation art

Why would you want to do this, aside from the basic cool factor? A
dance pad could let your audience get up and jam, triggering sounds or
video, or you could use this as a cheap foot controller — and hey, if
you have four limbs, why should your hands have all the fun?

See also: game controllers as instruments, Unreal Tournament 2004 for music (part 1 and part 2), and how to use the P5 virtual reality glove with your Mac or PC.

As always, CDM is anxious to hear your tips, experiences, and see your
work, so just drop me a line if you're doing this kind of thing. I'll
even promote your next gig!

Guitarists have had the right idea for a long time: when you
run out of hands, get your feet in on the action. Now with us
keyboardists busying ourselves with complex synth patches and
triggering grooves from Ableton Live in live performance, the time is
right for mainstreaming the stompbox-style foot controller.

Strangely, finding an affordable (sub-$400) foot controller is hard to do these days. The first model I found was Behringer's FCB-1010
– but I was immediately suspicious. Behringer usually means a) cheaper
than hell (good), b) will fall apart after a couple of weeks if not
already dead on arrival (bad), and c) ripped off from someone else
(unethical). Ethics aside, cheap means nothing if the gear is crap.

Sure enough, the design of the Behringer is ripped off verbatim from Roland's FC-200,
which has a street just above US$360. Even the typeface and pedal shape
and layout is the same, for crying out loud! (See Roland's lawsuit against Behringer
for ripping off their effects pedals.) I'll opt for the Roland because
I trust the company, though if you're the sort who likes buying fake
Rolexes in Chinatown, be my guest with the FCB-1010.

So, I'm set to give the FC-200 a try — but has anyone else found other
MIDI controllers that are better? (And do me a favor, please don't buy
up the entire stock of FC-200s before I get mine!)