FOOTPEDAL OPTIONS

If you have arrived at this page it is most likely because the work that you are interested in performing requires a footpedal to advance through the electronic cues in the music. The software has been designed so that advancing from cue to cue can be accomplished by hitting the spacebar on the computer or by input from a MIDI device. (Actually both options are always simultaneously available.) Playing any MIDI note or switched controller (i.e. a sustain pedal connected to a MIDI synthesizer/controller) will trigger the cue advance mechanism.

Footpedal setup via MIDI:

 1. Setups involving a MIDI keyboard/controller:

This can be accomplished by using a standard keyboard synthesizer or controller (including small, one-octave controllers, drum modules capable of receiving an external trigger, etc.) where the footpedal is attached to an input of the device and the device then routed to the computer, usually via a MIDI interface (although some of the above may have their own internal MIDI interface allowing them to be directly connected to the computer).

2. Setups with a dedicated MIDI footpedal.

Unfortunately there are not many dedicated MIDI footpedals, that are simplistic in design, currently available on the market. However, there is a footpedal made by Logidy which is relatively inexpensive and connects directly to a USB port on the computer. It receives its power from the USB port and is easily congigured. This is an excellent MIDI option as it requires no additional synthesizer and no MIDI interface. A link to the Logidy website can be found here.

Footpedal setup via a MOTU 828 interface:

 The 828 audio interface manufactured by Mark of the Unicorn provides a simple alternative to the MIDI footpedal. This interface has a "punch-in" jack on the rear which takes a standard switched footpedal via a 1/4-inch TS plug (a standard synthesizer sustain pedal, among others). The software driver for this interface allows the user to configure the pedal to emulate any computer keyboard key-stroke. In this case the pedal is simply configured to emulate the spacebar. The advantage to the MOTU 828 is that it combines both the footpedal capability with a high-quality audio interface.

Please note: It is always preferable to have a high quality audio interface for sound reproduction (as opposed to the computer headphone output).