Another Midi Footswitch?

Q & A for building and interfacing your rack gear with Ground Control Pro and GCX-based systems.
Post Reply
planethood
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:39 am

Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by planethood »

I love my Ground Control Pro, but I need more buttons! I have the GCP controlling my GCX switcher and Control Switcher. I currently have all of my loops on my GCX full with stompboxes and/or rack gear so I have no more buttons on the GCP to control the parameters of one of my stompboxes (the STrymon Timeline). I want to be able to control the tap tempo, start recording, stop recording, and a few other things. I may also want to be able to turn effects on/off within the timeline instead of switching patches on it. So...

How can I get more buttons? If there was an add-on board for my GCP, I would go that route (I HATE the idea of buying any midi stuff besides Voodoo Lab). However, this is not an option at the moment and probably not for the forseeable future. So, is there an economical midi board that I can somehow use to just control the parameters of the Timeline (it must be able to send CC messages and have at least 6 buttons)? How would I hook it up? Would I need some sort of midi thru or merge box?

My current midi signal flow is...
GCP out ->Swicher in -> Switcher Out -> GCX in -> GCX out -> Digitech GSP1101 in -> GSP1101 out -> Strymon Timeline in

Thanks!

unix-guy
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:25 pm
Location: Vacaville, California
Contact:

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by unix-guy »

Buy a used Ground Control (not Pro) on eBay... You can find them for $100 or so.

I've got an extra I would be willing to sell :)

Kevin
Gear List:

'87/'88 Ibanez Sabre's (7), '86 Ibanez PL1770, Budda SuperDrive 18, George L's Cables, Barber Direct Drive (best $99 ever spent!), Rodenberg GAS-828, Nobels ODR-1, Morley Bad Horsie II, TC Electronic G-Major II, Ground Control Pro and GCX...

planethood
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:39 am

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by planethood »

How would I hook them up together then? Do I run the midi outs of both the GCP pro and GC into a midi merge or thru box? Like a box from midisolutions? Then, send a midi cable from that into the rest of my chain? Or, do I run everything as usual and put the merge/thru box directly before the strymon timeline and insert the midi cable from the GC into that?

Any input on the signal flow of all of this is appreciated!

unix-guy
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:25 pm
Location: Vacaville, California
Contact:

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by unix-guy »

If that GC was just controlling the Strymon, you could just connect a MIDI cable between the GC and Strymon...

I think you could also do what you are talking about with a MIDI-merge device, but I have no experience with those.

Kevin
Gear List:

'87/'88 Ibanez Sabre's (7), '86 Ibanez PL1770, Budda SuperDrive 18, George L's Cables, Barber Direct Drive (best $99 ever spent!), Rodenberg GAS-828, Nobels ODR-1, Morley Bad Horsie II, TC Electronic G-Major II, Ground Control Pro and GCX...

planethood
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:39 am

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by planethood »

unix-guy wrote:If that GC was just controlling the Strymon, you could just connect a MIDI cable between the GC and Strymon...
I may not have been entirely clear. I want my GCP to control the patch changes and bypassing of the Strymon. So, when I step on a new patch in my GCP it will change my amp, stompboxes in my rack, and the patches of the Strymon. I simply want another midi controller to use for controlling parameters within a Strymon patch (e.g. looper record, etc.).

Anyone else on some ideas on how to hook this up? Or, other suggestions? Thanks!

planethood
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:39 am

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by planethood »

bump

How would I hook up another midi footcontroller to control the Strymon Timeline parameters (record, play, etc), while having the GCP control the on/off state (bypass) of the Timeline with my GCX?

JohnClark
Posts: 7494
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: The Lab

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by JohnClark »

You can connect a second MIDI controller to the MIDI In of the Ground Control Pro. Any messages sent from the new controller will be allowed to pass through the Ground Control Pro and continue on down the line and the Ground Control Pro will still be able to control everythiong as it already does.

Another option (although probably requiring a good bit of audio cable) would be to simply put the TimeLine out on the floor and use its buttons for the looper control.
------------------====Cheers!====------------------
Image
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------

planethood
Posts: 84
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:39 am

Re: Another Midi Footswitch?

Post by planethood »

Thanks John. That is the answer I was looking for. Now....if you guys only made an expansion board for the GCP then I wouldn't have to look elsewhere :D Preferably one that could work off the phantom power from the GCX and GCP....

Post Reply