In the interest of having less junk to lug back and forth to rehearsal and gigs I recently spent time investigating alternatives to full-size expression pedals. TC Electronics makes pressure-sensitive footswitches in the form of their "MASH technology" but they're exclusive to their pedals and don't seem to be available in a separate MIDI controller or analog footswitch format. A small British pedal company that I don't recall the name of also made a pressure-sensitive pad with a TRS output but they weren't available for separate purchase when I checked.
As a stopgap measure I decided to use the digital footswitches in my Fractal FM3 as quasi-analog expression controllers by hooking them up to wah and pitch effects then messing with the damping and curve parameters. This way I can approximate the most typical wah and digital whammy effects by simply timing when I take my foot on and off the switch. It works surprisingly well in a cover band context.
Generally though, it makes total sense that there should be a pressure sensitive or at least continuous press foot switch with the footprint of only a normal foot switch.
Could be worth checking out the SoftStep - a small board of pressure controllers that can work as MIDI controllers. I think they supply a USB to MIDI cable or an expander box if you're not hooking up to a computer. I think each pad is configurable on the X and Y axis as well as vertical foot pressure...
> A small British pedal company that I don't recall the name of also made a pressure-sensitive pad with a TRS output but they weren't available for separate purchase when I checked.
I was thinking of this as being a feature for GPT-4.
See "The Great Automatic Grammatizator" (1954) [1] Prompt engineering, the early years.
"Finally, there was the question of “passion”. From a careful study of the books at the
top of the best-seller lists for the past year, Adolph Knipe had decided that this was the
most important ingredient of all—a magical catalyst that somehow or other could
transform the dullest novel into a howling success—at any rate financially. But Knipe
also knew that passion was powerful, heady stuff, and must be prudently dispensed—the
right proportions at the right moments; and to ensure this, he had devised an
independent control consisting of two sensitive sliding adjusters operated by foot-
pedals, similar to the throttle and brake in a car. One pedal governed the percentage of
passion to be injected, the other regulated its intensity."
Ooh. I have a turny-knob on my keyboard that I use for debugging. One "click" right hits F10 which does a step over in the code, clicking "in" on the button hits f11 which does steps into the code. Having an analog pedal so I can go through my code like a gas pedal on a car would be sweet.
I feel that the very subtle control I get on these softpots would work well for expression control. It wouldn't be difficult to hook one up to a TRS and make a very good expression controller. The only thing missing may be the ability to stay a particular position, as depending on how you wire it, it would go to full on or off when you release your finger. I get around this in my OSC controllers because I do software based latching in my microcontroller code. Anyhoo, just passing that suggestion along to anyone fiddling around with DIY expression controllers.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 53.9 ms ] threadAs a stopgap measure I decided to use the digital footswitches in my Fractal FM3 as quasi-analog expression controllers by hooking them up to wah and pitch effects then messing with the damping and curve parameters. This way I can approximate the most typical wah and digital whammy effects by simply timing when I take my foot on and off the switch. It works surprisingly well in a cover band context.
Generally though, it makes total sense that there should be a pressure sensitive or at least continuous press foot switch with the footprint of only a normal foot switch.
https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/softstep/
I think you're talking about the Rainger FX Igor: https://www.raingerfx.com/shop/p/igor-expression-pad
It looks like they're available for individual purchase now.
See "The Great Automatic Grammatizator" (1954) [1] Prompt engineering, the early years.
"Finally, there was the question of “passion”. From a careful study of the books at the top of the best-seller lists for the past year, Adolph Knipe had decided that this was the most important ingredient of all—a magical catalyst that somehow or other could transform the dullest novel into a howling success—at any rate financially. But Knipe also knew that passion was powerful, heady stuff, and must be prudently dispensed—the right proportions at the right moments; and to ensure this, he had devised an independent control consisting of two sensitive sliding adjusters operated by foot- pedals, similar to the throttle and brake in a car. One pedal governed the percentage of passion to be injected, the other regulated its intensity."
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Automatic_Grammatiza...
Can't say that it feels super useful, but amusing nonetheless.
I feel that the very subtle control I get on these softpots would work well for expression control. It wouldn't be difficult to hook one up to a TRS and make a very good expression controller. The only thing missing may be the ability to stay a particular position, as depending on how you wire it, it would go to full on or off when you release your finger. I get around this in my OSC controllers because I do software based latching in my microcontroller code. Anyhoo, just passing that suggestion along to anyone fiddling around with DIY expression controllers.