simple midi footswitch?

[hrishikesh]

i've got a footswtich that i use with a drum machine for start/stop and to punch in with on a Roland VS-880 8-track, and it has a 1/4" connector. i think it cost $20 new. i'd like to get something just like it, or very similar, with a midi connector instead, so i can hook it up to this new M-Audio 410 interface i just got. the guy at guitar center didn't know of anything. does anyone here know where i might be able to find what i'm looking for? seems like a simple enough thing. i don't want some $200 crazy foot controller. just one button, that toggles start/stop. maybe two buttons. any advice would be appreciated.

thanks!
hh

[rolandk]

I have a Tech 21 Midi Mouse: http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i- ... d-270.html
Never used it for recording though.

[drliebs]

The 1/4 inch jack style footswitch usually doesn't have anything to do with MIDI per se (I say usually as a discalimer, I haven't seen any that are MIDI) They are simply a switch, on or off. They can be used with a variety of devices and if your hardware has a jack for a footswtich that works this way then you could buy a MIDI jack and wire it to the footswitch. Chances are that if your hardware has a MIDI switch it will require a device that can talk MIDI which is a little more involved than an on off swithc. Check the maual, if it requires a MIDI program change or MIDI controller change then you will need a MIDI compatible device to send this type of message.

[apropos of nothing]

You don't say what you want the footswitch to accomplish. If its to start and stop a sequencer, chances are you don't really need anything more than a MIDI cable.

If the drum-machine you're using is Alesis SR-16 or anything else that'll transmit MIDI clock and sequencer start/stop data, all you need to do is tell it to tranmit that data (MTC ON, Seq Start/Stop ON), tell your sequencer to synch to it (Ext Sync ON, MIDI clock EXTERNAL) and plug the drum-machine's MIDI-out port into an input on your sequencer.

Hit go on your drum-machine and off you go.

[hrishikesh]

i don't want to interface with the drum machine -- i just want a footswitch that's similar to the one i use with the drum machine.

i have a midi in jack and midi out jack on the m-audio 410, and i want to be able to start/stop playback in Logic Express 7 with a (one-button, ideally) footswitch.

[apropos of nothing]

Is there a reason why you don't want to interface with the drum machine? I guarantee you that its definitely the cheapest, most effective method of doing what you're aiming for.

Alternately, I believe that the MOTU MIDI express MIDI interface has a 1/4" input that can be programmed to start and stop a sequencer. The parallel port versions have gotten considerably cheaper since the advent of USB. They're running around $125-150 on ebay.

There're a few other options as well, but they get more expensive.

I know it seems like it should be a cheap, easy thing to do. And it is -- the way I've described it to you.

Remember that MIDI is a computer communications protocol. If you want hardware to interface into that network, you have to provide something that translates an analog impulse to something that MIDI understands. That means chips, and that means expense.

[apropos of nothing]

It may also be that you could use MIDI Ox or a similar program to translate the M-Audio's footswitch MIDI CC messages into a sequencer start/stop message, come to think of it.

[drliebs]

I know you said you don't want to interface with the drum machine but you could use it sort of as a translator.

Hook up the drum machine's MIDI to the other box, setup the drum machine to broadcast the start and stop message, set the sequencer or DAW program to follow this message. Then use the footswitch plugged into the drum machine. Footswitch tells the drum machine "Go" the drum machine relays this to the software.

Seems silly but it is definitely the most cost effective route, even a new foot switch and midi cable will cost you less than 30 bucks.