Hello everyone,

I recently composed a piece for accordion and live electronics which will be performed by a friend of mine who lives in a different country than me, and so has to manage all the logistics of the performance on his own. This piece requires the use of a foot switch to activate events in the Pure Data patch I wrote. I recommended my friend to get a USB foot switch so that we can use the [hid] object to make it activate the events in the patch. The problem is that the online stores selling these USB foot switches he found do not mention anything about them being OS X compatible, but one store does clearly categorize the device as a HID. Here is the kind of pedal he is considering to get: http://www.hesta.com.pl/sklep/img/p/43-150-thickbox.jpg

I am myself a Linux user and don't know a thing about peripherals in OS X, so would anyone have any advice concerning this situation? Would any of these generic USB HID devices work fine or should we better try getting something else?

Thanks a lot! Cheers,
Gilberto

@gsagostinho Hello Gilberto.
I just did a little googling....... and yes, there is a dearth of usb pedals that claim mac compatibility.... some say they have free software to "talk" to iTunes and quicktime but???

I would suggest a midi pedal and a usb midi interface...... both being cheap and available in hundreds of flavours. That option should ensure compatibility....... I hope........
David.

another option is to just set it up in your patch as a midi in event instead of a [hid] event. then you can use the footswitch of the sort that goes into a keyboard as a trigger. OR of course you could just use the midi controller itself and step on one of the pads (or keys even) if worse comes to worse (just map those pads cc or note values into your patch as a signal to trigger the next event)
probably want to use a cheap keyboard in that case!

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.

@whale-av I was first considering a MIDI pedal and interface, but they are really not that cheap as the single pedal solution. Also, I will not necessarily be there to help my friend with this performance, so I'd rather have a plug'n play cheap solution (I also don't think he would be willing to invest money in a pedal AND in a interface). Concerning the compatibility I heard from some people in the list that actually these pedals are simply seen as "keyboards" by the computer, so they basically send a single key stroke. If that would be the case, then it would be trivial to use them with [key] in Pd.

@Coalman Yeah, I had thought about that, but I doubt my friend will be willing to carry a accordion and computer PLUS a MIDI keyboard just for the sake of connecting a pedal. I think the USB pedal is really the easiest option, the only question is about the compatibility, but if David and the other guys are right then there should be no issue. And then again, these things are so cheap (10 euros) that my time researching should cost more than buying one and trying it out!

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate. Cheers!
Gilberto

out of curiousity, where did you see those for 10 euros? because actually thats why I had been stepping on my keyboard. I havent found one in the UK for such a good price. maybe I will order one or two before brexit!

maybe its more appropriate to pm me about it, not sure if the forum allows posting links to stuff for sale (?)
anyway, cheers,
jorge

@Coalman

out of curiousity, where did you see those for 10 euros?

I found them on Amazon.de. Actually, I have just now found out that on Amazon.co.uk you have even cheaper ones, there is one for 6.37 pounds only. Try typing "usb hid pedal" and you will find them (if not, PM me and I will send you the links).

Cheers!
Gilberto

By the way, someone recommended me a pedal called Line6 FBV Express MKII, which costs around 90 EUR here in Germany. Looks quite good, I will see if my friend isn't interested in investing a bit more and getting one of those, it actually has 4 pedal switches and looks quite nice:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_image/uploads/Image/fbvexpressmkii_rear.jpg

Thanks Gilberto!

@gsagostinho

Hi gsagostinho

Hope you are very well!
,
I'm trying to envisage and create some similar pieces for jazz piano trio and electronics

I wondered if I asked very nicely you might be able to share the patch with me that you were using with accordion?

.

@peeshder Hi there,

Sure, here is a simplified version of my patch:

Download it here: pedal.pd

It should be fairly self-explanatory, but let me know if you need any help. The function to advance to the "next event" is tied to a bang button (which you can click) and to the key "b" in the keyboard, because the pedal we bought outputs a "b" keystroke. Just replace with whatever you need (for instance, use [sel 32] instead of [sel 98] to use the space bar, or you can also alter the patch to use some MIDI pedal, etc.).

Hope this helps, cheers!
Gilberto

Hey all, I know this is an old thread, but considering the difficulty I had in locating a good footswitch/trigger, I thought I'd add to the recommendations here in hopes that someone else may find it useful. What I've been using for the last few months is the Keith McMillen Instruments SoftStep 2. It consists of TEN buttons (actually d-pads that can send x/y-axis pressure and loads of other data, if you take the time to program it) plus one giant d-pad/internal patch browser that can also be customized. It communicates via MIDI note, CC messages, or OSC, and also accepts commands to activate LED lights and a four-character display to give the user some feedback from Pd. While it has a hefty price-tag, it is indispensable to my current efforts at designing a multi-loop phrase looper inspired by the Echoplex Digital Pro in Pd, and I have about 20 ideas of how to use it in the future with Pd and other hardware/software.

Cheers,
p

@Palaver
I just discovered the SoftStep2-there's a nice article on the Keith McMillen site about this very topic:
https://www.keithmcmillen.com/blog/manipulating-midi-with-pure-data/

Just ordered a QuNeo for use with PD.

@palaver said:

Hey all, I know this is an old thread, but considering the difficulty I had in locating a good footswitch/trigger, I thought I'd add to the recommendations here in hopes that someone else may find it useful. What I've been using for the last few months is the Keith McMillen Instruments SoftStep 2. It consists of TEN buttons (actually d-pads that can send x/y-axis pressure and loads of other data, if you take the time to program it) plus one giant d-pad/internal patch browser that can also be customized. It communicates via MIDI note, CC messages, or OSC, and also accepts commands to activate LED lights and a four-character display to give the user some feedback from Pd. While it has a hefty price-tag, it is indispensable to my current efforts at designing a multi-loop phrase looper inspired by the Echoplex Digital Pro in Pd, and I have about 20 ideas of how to use it in the future with Pd and other hardware/software.

Cheers,
p

How do you like the SoftStep2 so far??

@kempkeith, The SS2 is great! It really shines in the MIDI realm, but offers a decent amount of functionality with OSC as well, as long (as you're willing to keep it "hosted" within an app running on your desktop). The customization on offer is mind-blowing and pretty easy to understand after poking around the software for an hour or two. Funny thing is I started out using OSC and hosting quite a bit of my logic right on the SS2, but soon realized if I switched to MIDI, I could manage all the communication from a Pd abstraction that updates the LEDs and display as the state of my patch changes. Right now I use it in one of its most basic configurations sending CC messages in response to button down/up events and receiving LED/display updates, and I couldn't be happier. The physical construction seems pretty bullet-proof so far - slightly flexible, but resilient.