MIDI Pedal for Starting/Pausing Logic

For current or would-be users of Apple Mac computers, with answers to many FAQs.

Moderator: Moderators

Re: MIDI Pedal for Starting/Pausing Logic

Post by N i g e l »

shufflebeat wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:03 pm Page turners can also give you an option to assign pedals to specific keyboard buttons, space bar, enter, p-up, p-down, etc. which can often in turn be assigned to functions within a DAW.

Wireless number pads are great:

Image

Ive got a £5 wired number pad with a long cable for a PC KB PS2 socket.
Its good & universal but was replaced by a FADER PORT.
that has a foot switch input and is USB powered but works with long USB cables as its not data intensive.

It also has an external power input, which is required if you want the fader to be active/motorised.
Note that the modern version is different.

As thats PC compatible digi-gear, check compatibility with your system 1st
Image
User avatar
N i g e l
Frequent Poster (Level2)
Posts: 3663 Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:40 pm Location: British Isles

Re: MIDI Pedal for Starting/Pausing Logic

Post by sonics »

N i g e l wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 12:06 am Its good & universal but was replaced by a FADER PORT.

I use one of these (FaderPort "Classic"). As mentioned, it works without the PSU but the fader won't move. Excellent device. I'm not sure how configurable it is since I only use it with Studio One.
sonics
Frequent Poster
Posts: 1583 Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2003 12:00 am Location: Canada
 

Re: MIDI Pedal for Starting/Pausing Logic

Post by muzines »

In a similar manner, I use a Behringer X-Touch One as a small on-desk controller for Logic, and I have a cheap sustain pedal connected to it's pedal input, and I use that for various things (mostly triggering Keyboard Maestro macros etc). Works great...
User avatar
muzines
Jedi Poster
Posts: 12197 Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:00 am
..............................mu:zines | music magazine archive | difficultAudio  | Legacy Logic Project Conversion

Re: MIDI Pedal for Starting/Pausing Logic

Post by BigRedX »

Well, I bought the Elgato Stream Deck Pedal. This has three foot switches and connects via a supplied decent quality 2.5mm USB cable. Together with the Keyboard Maestro utility, it has allowed me to set up two different pedal configurations for the slightly different requirements of the two bands I will be using this with.

The first has Start/Pause (space bar) on the centre pedal and a trigger for a macro I have created which closes the currently open Logic project, selects the next song in the list and opens it, on the right pedal.

The other has Start/Pause on the centre and then using markers in Logic for each song, the left and right pedals move backwards and forwards to the beginning of the next marker in the time line, allowing me to step through to the start point of each song.

As mentioned, the pedals themselves are slightly different from the typical musical device footswitch in that they are hinged at the front (rather than the back) so you have to push down the whole pedal to get the action to register. This shows the pedal's intended design for working out of sight with streaming software as you can rest your feet on the front of the pedals without triggering anything. Other than that the unit appears to be sufficiently robust (USB connections not withstanding) for gig use.

I've tested it out on my desktop Mac and everything appears to be working fine, and all I have to watch is that I have the correct Finder Window selected before I start, otherwise my Macro will open something other than the next song. This won't be a problem on the Laptop I use for gigs as I only ever have one Finder Window open at any one time. The big test will come at the next band rehearsal in 2 weeks time.
User avatar
BigRedX
Frequent Poster (Level2)
Posts: 2249 Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:00 am
RockinRollin' VampireMan
Post Reply