Expression pedal with Mainstage 3

Question

Expression pedal with Mainstage 3

Hi

I'm having a few problems and was wondering if anyone could help me. I'm trying to use an expression pedal with my Roland VR-09 Combo to control cutoff for synths and general expression for other sounds like organ and synth on Mainstage. I was using a M-Audio EX-P which worked well with the korg synthesizer I was using but the keyboard wasn't mine. I have purchased a Roland VR-09 Combo and discovered the M-Audio pedal doesnt work with it so I have just bought a new Bespeco VM19L - a lot better quality than the M-Audio and it works with the Roland keyboard, feels a lot better. It is talking with Mainstage but only goes up to value 25 or 26, not 127, also is very glitchy. I'm not really sure how to assign it to do general expression for most sounds and cutoff for synth as it doesnt work at all well - sometimes going inverted so when i press it down the expression value is low and vice versa. Can anyone explain how I can get this to work with Mainstage or should I take it back to the shop and try another expression pedal?!!!

Kind regards

Ryan

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), iPad 2

Posted on Jun 7, 2016 7:55 AM

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Answer 1

DaCaptain

Level 4

1,048 points

Jun 8, 2016 8:44 AM in response to Ryanairless1984

Then you have no choice:

Yamaha FC-7

It's not cheap and it needs an adaption to work well with a Roland keyboard. Tip and Ring needs to be exchanged. This can be done by an adapter cable or mounting a new plug or opening the pedal and change the wiring directly at the potentiometer.

Best,

DaCaptain

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Answer 2

lifenoise

Level 4

1,019 points

Jun 8, 2016 4:16 AM in response to Ryanairless1984

Get a Roland EV 5 pedal.

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Answer 3

DaCaptain

Level 4

1,048 points

Jun 8, 2016 5:42 AM in response to Ryanairless1984

The Roland EV-5 will solve that problem.

However, it should work with the Bespeco pedal as well.

- Do you use a cable with 1/4" TRS (tip - ring -sleeve) connector?

- If so, the problem might be the polarity of the pedal. Some have the wiper of the potentiometer connected to the tip, other to the ring. Maybe you need to flip the polarity with the switch on the Bespeco pedal.

Once you have it up and running (the expression pedal in the workspace moves as you move the pedal), assigning it to a synth parameter is easy. Just switch to edit mode, click on the expression pedal and create / teach a mapping.

Best,

DaCaptain

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Answer 4

Jun 8, 2016 8:39 AM in response to DaCaptain

Thanks guys. Tried it with a TRS lead and it seemed to sync better with Mainstage - i can now get it to full 127 but the pedal itself seems to not be reacting in the same manner that i'm pushing down on it so i'm going to take it back to the shop and get a EV5. Before I do this however, i would prefer to try out the EV5 first. As this is not possible as most music shops don't stock them could anyone tell me how it compares to the Bespeco and M-Audio EX-P pedals? The M- Audio expression pedal is made from really cheap plastic that breaks very easily - i'm on my second one - with no resistance when you press on it. The Bespeco pedal seems much better with a lot of resistance meaning you get a lot better control (if it would just respond in line with my foot than think im putting my foot down when it's up and vice versa (have tried the polarity switch several times but can't get it to sync). The Roland pedal looks more like the M-Audio. I want something that's going to be reliable and respond to my foot with as much control as the Bespeco pedal (i.e. with much more resistance than the M-Audio pedal.

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Answer 5

Jun 8, 2016 9:09 AM in response to DaCaptain

ok thanks - soundsl like a lot of hassle. I might just go for the EV-5 in that case. Hopefully it's more resistant than the M-Audio and a bit stronger!

Regards

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Answer 6

Jun 9, 2016 2:34 PM in response to Ryanairless1984

Just ordered my EV5 but now found out there's an EV7. Has anyone had any experience of this. Seems rare as I can't find any on eBay or maybe they stopped making them - the build quality is meant to be brilliant.

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