Re: Foot Controllers.

[Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com>]

Cool idea, Torben! For a software looper that supports QWERTY key
commands a simple a dirt cheap foot controller is just a basic USB
computer keyboard where you take off some of the keys and glue
table-tennis balls on some keys. A very portable, replaceable and
totally silent solution - just a bit less sturdy than the Gordius
pedal and not as flashy as the KMM :-)

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.perboysen.com
http://www.youtube.com/perboysen


On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 5:07 PM, Torben Scharling
<torbenscharling@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey guys, sorry I’ve blatantly glanced over this thread, but I recently
> bought my first “gamer mouse” a logitech g502 and I’m AMAZED at how 
> smooth
> and precise the optical sensor is…I then learnt that in games, u can set 
> it
> to raw input. That means it bypasses whatever settings and things the
> drivers etc. do in windows or os x and use the direct hardware drivers to
> run the mouse movement. Meaning it’s as fast as it can be. Which can be 
> set
> to 1000Hz (quite an impressive refresh rate). Now this is a usb mouse of
> course, and I assume the same applies with “gamer” usb keyboards and 
> perhaps
> other periferals as well..just as with running core audio in os x..Now in
> the game I’m playing, I cannot actually enable raw input for some geeky
> reason in OS X but works fine in Windows…Anyway my point is just, that I
> guess we’d wanna go for controllers that can run kinda like these 
> devices,
> thus the latency doesn’t have to do with anything other than that (which 
> is
> pro gamer level instant fast) and then your round trip latency obviously
> audio wise should be set as low as possible, then I think it should be as
> good as hardware…U guys have more experience with this, and or know 
> devices
> that for sure don’t introduce latency? I would have never bothered with 
> all
> this, but since I’m thinking of building my own usb midi pedal stomp box 
> I’d
> wanna know more about this. Personal experience with the Novation Remote 
> and
> Novation Remote SL Mk1, I was not happy with the delay before the 
> software
> responded to hitting the faders and knobs…
>
> On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 3:48 AM, Josh Elliott <jrelliott500@gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>>
>> Yes that makes alot of sense. I suppose if there is any latency in my
>> hardware rig..I've grown used to it after 2 years. My Pog octave 
>> pedal(for
>> bass lines) has bad latency..but I adjust to it. It bugs me though. But 
>> I
>> want to use live like a hardware pedal..running acoustic instruments and
>> voice through it. I have it working but can't figure out how to map 
>> undo to
>> a controller...so no room for mistakes.
>>
>> On Dec 8, 2015 8:41 PM, "Sylvain Poitras" <sylvain.trombone@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 9:07 PM, Josh Elliott <jrelliott500@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> But...this is a big reason I'm afraid to move from hardware to 
>>>> software
>>>> Looping. The clock sync in my hardware rig is sooo tight( at least to 
>>>> my
>>>> ears) and I'm really afraid of latency being an issue in software 
>>>> setups.
>>>
>>>
>>> Every instrument has latency. For guitarist, the sound is coming from
>>> somewhere onstage and the latency from the moment they play a note to 
>>> the
>>> moment they hear the note can be quite long, depending on their setup.
>>> Guitarist learn to deal with this. I never could get used to that... I 
>>> play
>>> trombone and I'm accustomed to hearing my notes in my head through bone
>>> conduction very slightly before I hear them with my ears.
>>>
>>> That doesn't mean I don't deal with latency issues... Low notes take
>>> longer to start than high notes (ask your physics teacher). When I 
>>> play very
>>> low notes, I have to think to start the note before its time to make 
>>> sure
>>> the long slow moving waves sync with the trumpets' high notes. Through
>>> practice, I've internalized that and my low notes are in time, even if 
>>> I
>>> start them sooner than my ears tell me they should start.
>>>
>>> There's latency inherent to playing with a group of musicians. I've
>>> played a lot of big band music with 24+ musicians. The size of the 
>>> bandstand
>>> can hinder a group playing tight, unless you're listening for it and 
>>> can
>>> adjust your playing. This is (partly) why large orchestras have 
>>> conductors.
>>> The musicians sync to a visual cue, not what they hear, they could not 
>>> sync
>>> otherwise. Again, they might start a note before the time that their 
>>> ears
>>> tell them is the right time.
>>>
>>> Playing an electronic instrument with latency should not be seen as
>>> impossible. With practice, you'll learn to trigger the notes or 
>>> functions
>>> when you need to for the music to be in sync. As with most aspect of 
>>> music
>>> playing, lack of practice is the problem, not (reasonable) latency. Of
>>> course, minimizing latency is a worthy goal, but I wouldn't make it an
>>> obsession... just fight it until you can live with it.
>>>
>>> * * *
>>> btw, you're thinking of using Live? One way that and other software 
>>> deal
>>> with controller latency is to quantize commands to musically relevant 
>>> times
>>> (1/16th, 1/8th...1 bar). Makes you sound tighter than you actually are.
>>> Never mind all that stuff about practicing, just hit buttons. ;)
>>>
>>> Sylvain
>
>
>
>
> --
> Torben Scharling