I’ve once looked into expression pedals and was supremely disappointed (tried the Roland EV-5 and Moog EP-3). My use case is for controlling things like filter, expression or modwheel while using two hands on the keyboard. The main problem I found is the range is very small, and the control is very wonky. It’s not smooth, very difficult to make smooth movements partly because of the small range of the pedal, and partly because of the build and design (movement of the pedal is meant for more rough movements like guitar volume where it isn’t so sensitive as a filter or expression control of an orchestral instrument.
Does anyone know of any more smoother and good ranged expression pedals out there for midi control?
I’ve had a Yamaha FC7 for a few years and it is a solid piece of gear. Enough physical resistance to be controllable, and the output feels smooth. Very sturdy construction. These things are always subjective to individual users of course.
I buy a new toy from the kind folks at Beat Bars and I love it!
It’s a programmable MIDI foot pedal that can be assigned to any cc, pitch bend or a few other parameters and it’s awesome. I assigned it to an unused cc. I can now assign that cc to control any knob or fader on a kontakt instrument or any other plug-in, really, which allows me to play with both hands while controlling that parameter in real time. So cool!!!
I had no idea I wanted it, and now I want another one so I can use both feet to control 2 parameters at a time. It’s a little pricey, but I think well worth it.
You have to download their configuration tool to assign what channel & cc you want it to control. Very intuitive and simple, installation was easy and figuring it out was obvious. My only critique is that the config software only works when your DAW is shut down, something I discovered through a bit if experimentation. When I first ran it I had Cubase open and it didn’t recognize the pedal. But once I figured that issue out, which took a couple of minutes I was up and running in no time.
If you’re like me and find yourself going back after recording the notes to manipulate parameters, this is a game changer. It’s already speeding up my workflow and I’ve had it for less than 24 hours.
I have done some research and now find that the Yamaha FC7 while it looks like a great product for me, it may not have a smooth curve on non-Yamaha products!! UGH. (I’m using it on an ableton push or roland stage piano). So I might have to spend an extra 100$ just to get this beat bars one which bypasses all the weird curve problems of standard pedals (which use CV I believe). It bypasses those problems by using USB / midi instead of CV to transmit data. I will do more research. God I wish this was less complicated haha. Thanks so much for the help guys!