I’m new to GP and trying to figure out how best to set things up. I’m using a Nektar T6 keyboard controller, but am looking at how to switch between song parts with my foot. What are some recommendations for a simple foot controller purchase just for switching songs and song parts?
So many…what’s your budget?
I tried using the Keith McMillen SoftStep for a while but I found that unless you can position it so you can see it, it can be very difficult to push the right pad.
Roland and Berlinger have decent foot controllers (including expression pedal) but they’re heavy.
I’ve been using a Nektar PACER with my bands but it’s also very heavy, unfortunately.
You might want to look at the offerings from Sweetwater
https://www.sweetwater.com/c513--Foot__and__Pedalboard_MIDI_Controllers
I’m not too worried about budget, but at the same time, I don’t want to pay for a bunch of extra features I don’t need. Can I get away with 2 simple UP/DOWN controls or do I need something more elaborate?
That depends on your needs. If having the previous and the next song part accessible works for your use case, you can just use two simple pedals. If you want to have access to multiple different songs (or multiple parts of the current song) with just one pedal press, you’ll obviously need a foot controller with more pads/pedals.
I would recommend for you to think about what you specifically want to do (as in I need a pad that does…). I’m pretty sure that whatever use case you come up with, you can realize it with GP and any type of MIDI controller. So after you know how many pads you need and what your other requirements are (space, weight, setup time, connection type, …), go look for concrete products.
OK, I went with the Nektar Pacer. I welcome any suggestions from folks who use this setup. Thanks!
I use a single preset and I just configured each button to be a different CC number with down and up values being 127 and 0 respectively.
I chose CC numbers 71 through 76 for buttons 1 through 6 respectively and 77 through 80 for buttons A through D respectively.
Then I had Gig Performer learn CC 71 through CC 76 for switching song parts and I reserved CC 77 through CC 80 to be used for button widgets.
But understand - that’s just me. I’m actually selecting the song I want to via an iPad running forScore (it sends MIDI program changes to Gig Performer) so I don’t need to configure NEXT SONG/PREV SONG
But if you’re a guitar player, or you don’t want to use an iPad to select songs, you might want to use multiple presets and when you switch to a particular preset, that will switch Gig Performer to the desired song.
In other words, configuration is a very personal choice and my approach may be completely unsuitable for what you want to do.
I’m going to try and do what you’re doing, just to see if I can get it to work. Thanks!
I strongly recommend the morningstar MC6:
If you are lucky, you could find the mk1 for a decent price on ebay now
There’s nothing you cannot do with this little controller.
It supports all kinds of MIDI Control Messages.
It can send up to 8x midi messages by pressing a single switch
It can send usb and 5pin midi message at the same time
The computer editor is really easy to use:
You can expand it with 2x expression pedals or 2x inexpensive foot-switches (like digitech fs3x) giving you up to 12x foot-switches in a really tiny small format.
I’m very happy with mine
The developer is really helpful too!
Cheers
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The Mastermind is probably the best foot controller today, but it’s not cheap, and it’s not very portable/small either!
The problem for me with foot controllers is that I can’t read very well from the distance, and I get lost pretty quickly having too many foot-switches on the floor… I used to own a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro, and I ended up using only 6x foot-switches!
So I find top table controllers more suitable for changing patches and seeing the status of the current patch.
And that’s why I love GP.
It’s awesome for that! (and way more…) 
I’m with dhj and use an iPad to select songs, which also acts as a master midi controller. My iPad app of choice is OnSong which I control using a PageFlip Bluetooth pedal. The pedal has led lights which are easy to see on stage.
[quote=“pangea2003, post:8, topic:2241”]
There’s nothing you cannot do with this little controller.[/quote]
What a powerful midi foot controller in such a small footprint! I have a Gordius Big Little Giant. Too big and bulky. The Morningstar MKii, indeed, does everything that I need including programming and sending strings of SysEx.
I hope it’s ok to chime in on this topic.
Has anyone used the IK Multimedia iRig BlueBoard with GP? On Windows 10?
I hope so…