I’ve read a ton of posts here and I’m not making any traction. I feel like I’m missing something very simple in this setup but I’m not seeing it…
I’ve got a Boss FV-500L pedal I’m attempting to connect as a global volume pedal.
I’ve plugged it into my EXP jack on my Arturia Keylab mk3 keyboard. It’s currently set up on CH11 and I’ve created an alias for it “Volume Pedal” in my rig setup. Though I also tried the same with CH7. I’m not entirely sure which channel I want, but I get the same results both ways. See screenshot of Arturia setup in the Midi Control Center:
I’ve created a global rackspace with a gain and balance plugin and mapped this to a slider. I’ve verified this slider does in fact control my volume. (see below)
I’ve attempted to map this slider to the pedal using the “Learn” function. I can see it is connected, because when I use the pedal, I see the slider jitter momentarily down about 0.2 dB, but it immediately bounces back regardless of what position I stop in. Screenshot below of all the settings:
Thanks for that recommendation! I have not used the monitor before and will do so much more frequently. I opened up the monitor and saw I was getting signals ranging from 0 to 3, and then started playing with wiring settings.
As it turns out, there is a “minimum volume” knob on my pedal, which, when used as an in-line volume control works exactly as expected, but when used as an expression pedal, has the opposite effect. I initially had it turned all the way down to allow me to get zero volume at the heel setting, but as I just learned using the midi monitor, this was telling it that the minimum volume was allowed to be no lower than 100%. I cranked the dial the other way and then used the invert settings to flip the pedal the right direction to fade on the heel side.
My next puzzle to figure out is why this pedal seems to have a pretty wide dead zone at the top end - as in the volume doesn’t start to come down until I’ve adjusted a fairly substantial amount. I’m currently using a mono cable to connect, and Google suggested a stereo cable for full functionality. Just ordered one, not sure if it will make a difference.
When I used this as a thru pedal, I don’t recall it acting this way.
That’s because this is actually a volume pedal (directly controls audio signal level) AND an expression pedal (sends a control voltage) . You have to use a TRS cable to use it as an exp pedal.
It may help to open it up and tighten the screw in the hinge… to solve the dead-spot.
You can do the inversion in the rig setup. This way you have the right behaviour in every case you use the “Volume Pedal” alias.
And yes, you have to use a “stereo” cable when using the pedal as a midi control. The potentiometer inside is then a “voltage divider”, which needs 3 conductors.
I did end up getting the TRS cable, and it did correct the odd behavior on the minimum volume knob. I’ve got this working now, thank you!
The dead travel is still present at both ends of the pedal, but it seems that’s a common complaint for the Boss pedal. I’ve ordered a Yamaha FC7 to try out, and may still use the Boss as a secondary expression pedal for stuff like Leslie speaker effects. Also picked up a 2-pedal usb converter to allow me additional inputs to my rig.
If your budget allows, check out the expression pedals from Mission Engineering — they are wonderful and incredibly reliable - been using one since 2012 on tours and never had a single problem.
