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Quatschmacher

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I have a Zoom ME-60B which does one thing I really like. If I dial in the octave effect to play at pitch rather than an octave down then it synthesizes a tone which just beefs up my bass without overpowering it. It is quite subtle but comes into it's own in the lower registers.  I have various (too many) basses and the reality is that a 33" scale bass just will not keep up with a 36" scale bass on the B string. I do love the feel of the 33" though so that is what gets played and the Zoom just helps it speak with authority all the way down. I am presuming this is something the FI would do with aplomb. Is anybody doing already? I do not want squelchy/sweeping/rumbling/whatever (for this purpose), just extra weight. Obviously I want all that other stuff for other times.

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10 hours ago, owen said:

I have a Zoom ME-60B which does one thing I really like. If I dial in the octave effect to play at pitch rather than an octave down then it synthesizes a tone which just beefs up my bass without overpowering it. It is quite subtle but comes into it's own in the lower registers.  I have various (too many) basses and the reality is that a 33" scale bass just will not keep up with a 36" scale bass on the B string. I do love the feel of the 33" though so that is what gets played and the Zoom just helps it speak with authority all the way down. I am presuming this is something the FI would do with aplomb. Is anybody doing already? I do not want squelchy/sweeping/rumbling/whatever (for this purpose), just extra weight. Obviously I want all that other stuff for other times.

That could be done really easily. It’s not something I’ve done though. 

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6 hours ago, prowla said:

I got a MIDI switcher to go with mine; I need a couple of wires to connect it (power and a right-angled MIDI), but my board's almost there.

Zt1ZKib.jpg

Something to send expression to the FI wouldn’t go amiss. Does the Mongoose have an expression input?

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4 hours ago, prowla said:

It's just a switcher - I hadn't really considered expression.

What are the two 1/4” outputs on its rear for?

Expression unleashes so much potential in the FI, especially when paired with a controller that can send multiple CCs. Most of my patches I’ve shared do cool stuff via expression pedal; without it you’re only hearing a small fraction of the goodness I programmed. 

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17 minutes ago, owen said:

Talk me through expression pedal options..........

Do you have any midi gear already?

Most standard expression pedals are fine (Moog, Dunlop, Source Audio, Roland). You need an intermediate device which has an expression input and a 5-pin output in order to feed the FI. I used the Source Audio Hub until I got my Morningstar MC6. Disaster Area has suitable devices too as does Boss.

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Just now, Quatschmacher said:

Do you have any midi gear already?

Most standard expression pedals are fine (Moog, Dunlop, Source Audio, Roland). You need an intermediate device which has an expression input and a 5-pin output in order to feed the FI. I used the Source Audio Hub until I got my Morningstar MC6. Disaster Area has suitable devices too as does Boss.

Alternatively you can hook up the Roland UM-one Mk2 to the FI at one end and an iOS or Android device at the other and use any of a number of MIDI apps to send CCs to the FI so could you your device as a finger-operated expression controller. I use TouchOSC on iOS. You can use it to change presets etc.

Source Audio Hot Hand is another option.

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57 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

What are the two 1/4” outputs on its rear for?

Expression unleashes so much potential in the FI, especially when paired with a controller that can send multiple CCs. Most of my patches I’ve shared do cool stuff via expression pedal; without it you’re only hearing a small fraction of the goodness I programmed. 

They're CC1 & CC2, so indeed are TRS connectors for pedals.

I guess I meant I only bought it as a switcher.

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39 minutes ago, prowla said:

The MIDI Mongoose also accepts phantom power over the MIDI cable - does the FI supply that?

(It also has a DC in and 9V battery option.)

No. As far as I am aware. I’m sure it would have been in the specs if it did. 

Edited by Quatschmacher
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I have my midi controller coming soon. After much delibration I ended up choosing (broadly speaking you understand) based on; price, function, ease of use.

Anything over 150 quid was a no no.

First favourite was the Behringer FCB1010. Loved by those who use it , a whole host of ways to assign different pedals and two expression pedals. Second hand? As low as £50.

Tech 21 Mongoose and Mouse I discounted after coming close. The Mongoose "simple to use" instruction video may just as well have been written in Esparanto and translated to Hebrew. Not the programming, the use. The Mouse I really liked because essentially it adds what the Future Impact most needs, a fast scroll and a back button.

Special mention to both Harley Benton pedals - surely the best value for money out there.

In the end though I went for this.

image.png.4a630e3d845dc74a8a5b117e5df9ffd7.png

Affordable, can be battery powered, and above all else, small. I was close to the Behringer, because I know the brand and know to ignore the tommy-rot about reliability, and anyway - look at all those switches!! Common sense prevailed however. I need simplicity on stage, not a thousand possibilities. I'm scaling my kit down not making it bigger. When people are paying to be entertained they don't want to look at me frowning at the floor trying to work out what the hell to stomp on next.

This is just up, down, select. The only thing it does beyond that is allows me to set 20 presets. So instead of endlessly rearranging the order on the FI, I can leave that as is, and preset effects for whichever gig and band I'm in that night.

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28 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I have my midi controller coming soon. After much delibration I ended up choosing (broadly speaking you understand) based on; price, function, ease of use.

Anything over 150 quid was a no no.

First favourite was the Behringer FCB1010. Loved by those who use it , a whole host of ways to assign different pedals and two expression pedals. Second hand? As low as £50.

Tech 21 Mongoose and Mouse I discounted after coming close. The Mongoose "simple to use" instruction video may just as well have been written in Esparanto and translated to Hebrew. Not the programming, the use. The Mouse I really liked because essentially it adds what the Future Impact most needs, a fast scroll and a back button.

Special mention to both Harley Benton pedals - surely the best value for money out there.

In the end though I went for this.

image.png.4a630e3d845dc74a8a5b117e5df9ffd7.png

Affordable, can be battery powered, and above all else, small. I was close to the Behringer, because I know the brand and know to ignore the tommy-rot about reliability, and anyway - look at all those switches!! Common sense prevailed however. I need simplicity on stage, not a thousand possibilities. I'm scaling my kit down not making it bigger. When people are paying to be entertained they don't want to look at me frowning at the floor trying to work out what the hell to stomp on next.

This is just up, down, select. The only thing it does beyond that is allows me to set 20 presets. So instead of endlessly rearranging the order on the FI, I can leave that as is, and preset effects for whichever gig and band I'm in that night.

I got the MIDI Mongoose, but haven't tried it yet; I think it's either something I'll "get" or it'll be a pain in the rear doing a little dance (the "mongoose step"?) operating it.

 

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4 minutes ago, prowla said:

I got the MIDI Mongoose, but haven't tried it yet; I think it's either something I'll "get" or it'll be a pain in the rear doing a little dance (the "mongoose step"?) operating it.

 

You may well understand it, my condition leaves me very hard of thinking so I would have struggled.

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The FI can fast scroll by the way: hold the foot switch down. Doing it after a single press moves up, doing it after a double press moves down.

Does your new controller allow the sending of MIDI CCs? If so you can have it control PC up/down and bank up/down (among other things).

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16 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

The FI can fast scroll by the way: hold the foot switch down.

I missed this nugget! Thank you. However the ability to save 'favourite presets' and the up / down option will (I hope) still be useful. 

Being so very new to the world of midi I don't know what CCs are. 

EDIT :

Did some research and cc has two meanings! Also pc isn't a computer but a program change. Fascinating stuff. Anyway here is the blurb on my footswitch 

"Gecko MKIII has 20 presets. Each preset can store one PC (program change) message for each of 16 MIDI channels. In modes E1 and E2, you can edit presets. PC # can be set between 0 to 199**. Also, if set to OFF, no MIDI signal will be sent to that MIDI channel.

Each individual MIDI channel can be turned off globally. Since MIDI channels that are set to OFF globally are not displayed during preset editing, setup can be shortened.
Also, for each MIDI channel, you can set the CC number to send when pressing the OK/TAP footswitch and use it as tap tempo control. Since you can set individual CC numbers for each channel, you can control tap tempo of up to 16 devices at once."

Edited by stewblack
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1 hour ago, stewblack said:

I missed this nugget! Thank you. However the ability to save 'favourite presets' and the up / down option will (I hope) still be useful. 

Being so very new to the world of midi I don't know what CCs are. 

EDIT :

Did some research and cc has two meanings! Also pc isn't a computer but a program change. Fascinating stuff. Anyway here is the blurb on my footswitch 

"Gecko MKIII has 20 presets. Each preset can store one PC (program change) message for each of 16 MIDI channels. In modes E1 and E2, you can edit presets. PC # can be set between 0 to 199**. Also, if set to OFF, no MIDI signal will be sent to that MIDI channel.

Each individual MIDI channel can be turned off globally. Since MIDI channels that are set to OFF globally are not displayed during preset editing, setup can be shortened.
Also, for each MIDI channel, you can set the CC number to send when pressing the OK/TAP footswitch and use it as tap tempo control. Since you can set individual CC numbers for each channel, you can control tap tempo of up to 16 devices at once."

See - you're turning into a techie!

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