Re: softstep report #1

[Zoe Keating <info@zoekeating.com>]

Hello Erdem!

I haven't explored yet anything other than pressure. This works very  
well, and you can set the sensitivity.
There is a very helpful GUI that shows you in real time how the pad/ 
button is responding to your toe press.

Nothing "gives" or clicks on the softstep. Its just a rubberized pad.  
This sounds disorienting, but what I've found so far is that if i  
press while looking at the GUI, I get a sense of the motion. Then once  
i've trained my brain, I can close the GUI start using it.  I don't  
know how to relate that to a wah-style mechanical pedal because I've  
never been successful in using those.

I have to put my experiments aside now and get to San Diego. My hope  
is to incorporate the SoftStep for a show in SF on Oct 12.

(sorry to miss the Y2KX! I leave for New York the day after)

best, Z

On Oct 7, 2010, at 3:20 AM, Erdem Helvacioglu wrote:

> dear zoe and keith,
>
> could you  comment on the use of continuous controllers of the  
> softstep? i really wonder how the pressure, x-y axis works and how  
> it "feels" like compared to other hardware expression pedals?
>
> 5 degrees of continuous control for each pad:
> X- and Y- axis, Clockwise Rotation, Counter-Clockwise Rotation and  
> Pressure. These control sources are mappable to any MIDI or OSC  
> destination
>
> thanks and best.
>
> www.erdemhelvacioglu.com
>
> New duo album with Per Boysen out now.
> http://erdemhelvaciogluandperboysen.bandcamp.com
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Zoe Keating" <info@zoekeating.com>
> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2010 4:31 AM
> Subject: softstep report #1
>
>
>> think I'll report as I go, since otherwise I'll never get around to  
>> it!
>>
>>
>> I downloaded the software, plugged in the pedal (comes with a nice   
>> long USB cable in case you need to be far away from your  
>> computer),  launched the software and the pedal lit up with its  
>> friendly blue  leds. (reminds me of the dashboard of a mini  
>> cooper)It goes without  saying that the pedal is small, lightweight  
>> and cute. Its not TOO  small though. The numbered buttons are the  
>> same size as the one on the  FCB1010. The navigation arrows are  
>> small and I have to look at my  toes, but I think I'll get the hang  
>> of it.
>>
>> I'm a bit impatient with manuals, so I decided to poke around the  
>> software interface first. I didn't get very far, and had to go and   
>> read the manual ;-)
>> I was stumped at first by all the modes, figuring out what was   
>> clickable, trying to read the tiny fonts, and understanding the  
>> naming  terminology. However, after almost 2 hours of blundering  
>> around I  managed to grasp the rudiments of the interface and  
>> modify some of the  presets. Now I'm mapping these to run to the  
>> basics of my set. (I'm  told documentation of the presets is  
>> coming, so this will be a quicker  process).
>>
>> As I started to realize the depth of what the SoftStep does, all  
>> the interface modes begin to make sense. Every single thing is   
>> customizable, from what kind of footwork the buttons respond to,  
>> to  how the lights behave (do you want a green light when you  
>> press?), to  how you want to page through your banks. I'm not even  
>> scratching the  surface of this pedal yet. So I'd rather have a  
>> complex, nested  interface where I can control any and everything,  
>> to an out-of-the-box  pedal that is not customizable at all.
>>
>> So far I've got one "scene" (or what I would call a bank) that  
>> sends Program Changes on Channel3 to MIDIPipe and one that sends  
>> notes to Ableton on Channel1. Each scene is accessed by going left  
>> or right  with the navigation arrows. When I'm in my program change  
>> scene, the navigation up and down arrows increase or decrease in  
>> increments of  10, just like you'd expect.  Now I have to make  
>> another scene of notes  for Ableton, and two scenes for  
>> SooperLooper and do some more  experiments with how I want the  
>> pedals to respond to my edwardian  boots and how the red and green  
>> lights should behave.
>>
>> That's it for now.
>>
>> Happy times!!
>>
>> Zoe
>>
>>
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