General Notes and Advice on MIDI Pedalboards

Very often we get questions on which MIDI pedalboard model/brand we advice, to be used with our Ultra-Harmonizer® brand effects processors.

The answer is always extremely broad. Let’s consider a few important facts:

MIDI IS A STANDARD PROTOCOL!

So ANY MIDI pedalboard, made by any brand, will work fine with our gear as with any other piece of MIDI gear.

So, HOW can I choose one?

In general, the answer is very subjective and leads to another question:

WHAT do you really need to do with your MIDI pedalboard?

We would like to set different levels of requirements you might have, for a MIDI pedalboard:

Basic :  Midi Program Changes

You only need to send MIDI Program Changes information to your unit/s, to actually change presets. This function is very basic and available in all MIDI pedalboards, from older production to current. Differences though exist: older production units might allow you to send Prog. Changes on a single MIDI channel or just a few, 2 or 3. Newer units give bigger choices, like 5, 6 or more channels at the same time.

Intermediate : MIDI Program Changes and Control Changes

In addition to changing presets on your Eventides, you might want to step into creative control of parameters values in real time, adding a completely whole new dimension to the way you “play” your FX!  MIDI Control Changes (CCs) are messages used to perform a CONTINUOUS OR MOMENTARY CONTROL of a parameter: continuous control covers an user selectable range and basically sweeps the parameter value continuously, within that range; the logical tool for such a function is a PEDAL (or potentiometer). A momentary control is simply a switch between 2 set values…much similar to an ON/OFF function… which requires a FOOTSWITCH.

Details on patching CCs to parameters and on the MIDI protocol are beyond the scope of this document; you should refer to your units manuals and to any available publication on MIDI and its world.

Nevertheless is always a smart idea to plan what you will want to do w/your MIDI pedalboard.

As far as Control Changes, MIDI pedalboards generally offer 1 or 2 inputs for external pedals and/or footswitches, to accommodate its use. Some models even offer 1 or 2 pedals already built into the pedalboard. In general, a specific amount of the pedalboard’s switches too, can be configured to send program changes AND/OR control changes messages (momentary type). Refer to each specific product manual to find out which one fits your needs.

Advanced:

MIDI Program Changes/Control Changes/System Real Time Messages/MIDI Note on/off/Sysex messages

If you are a MIDI expert, you’ll be able to program just about ANY control task in your MIDI pedalboard, provided it supports all these functions…a very rare case in the current production units. Desktop controllers are definitely richer and deeper in control/functions and details than pedalboards. A fine example is Peavey  PC1600X unit, with its 16 faders, 16 switches, 2 pedals inputs and the possibility to program any MIDI message, including hexadecimal sysex strings.

A feature often desired in MIDI pedalboards is their ability to support REMOTE  POWER: basically those supporting it, have a 7 pin MIDI OUTPUT (standard is 5) that allows an equally equipped fx processor or preamp to feed power to them, freeing the “foot space” from extra wall warts and power cables.

When choosing a pedalboard, please plan:

Here are some currently in production MIDI pedalboards we can suggest (or not):

Supporting 7 pin MIDI Remote Power:

Non supporting 7 pin MIDI Remote Power:

All of these units work fine with our products. Each one has different features and common ones. You will need to check their manuals and decide which one best fits your demands.

All of them support MIDI Program Change and Control Change messages. Some have one or two pedals already built in. All of them have extra inputs to accommodate one or two pedals/switches.  

Special note on the "G-system"

A customer had a problem with the G-System trying to recall presets on Eclipse, using MIDI maps.  The Eclipse totally ignored any MIDI Map setting and would always recall presets 100/101/102/etc., upon receiving Program Changes 0/1/2/etc.  Diagnosis showed that the G-System is *always* sending out MIDI CC#0 w/value of 1 and that can't be disabled, according to their customer support.  Because MIDI CC#0 in Eventide units is used to recall banks, when Eclipse sees that MIDI command, it bypasses any map setting to correctly obey it.

Accordingly, unless the G-Systems software is changed, we recommend against using G-Systems as MIDI controllers with our gear, and it is possible that other manufacturer's products will have similar problems.  One workaround would be to buy a MIDI filtering device to kill the unwanted data from the MIDI data string.

Conclusion:

Some units have better displays than others, to keep you informed about what you have sent out or are about to send.  The choice is really determined by specific requirements anybody has; they can be very different.  Please refer to their documentation.

Updated 16 January 2006