Triggering samples with feet whilst playing?

topdog91

I know this comes across a bit prog excess but we want to do some more modern pop songs which can be greatly uplifted with an original sample or three. Keyboard player has enough on his plate, singer not very enthusiastic, so I was thinking about triggering them by foot. I don't know much about this stuff but I'd go for an FCB 1010 and a software sampler on my laptop (linuxsampler). Anyone got any lower footprint (literally) solutions? The FCB 1010 is a bit of a beast and floor space can be at a premium.

bloodandtears

Any footprint is governed by the number of buttons you want immediate access to..

I have a helix and that can do it, cos its got midi capability... so I can hook it up to a laptop or whatever...

I used to just use a foot-pedal sized looper, Digitech Jamman Stereo... load it with samples and trigger them one at a time...

You could probably find a Raspberry Pi / Ardueno based smaller gizmo??

TheBigDipper

This is something I've been pondering for my trio (For the bass player to trigger, I'm busy enough!). I'm against backing tracks, but have no problem with samples triggered at the right time by a live musician.

Obviously there are "proggie" organ-style bass pedals that are MIDI controllers to drive anything that accepts MIDI, but they're similar sizes to an FCB1010. 

I'm quite keen on my Hotone Ampero Control. That's a 4 button MIDI controller with 99 banks of presets, pretty small on the floor, you program it using an iPad app and it sends MIDI over 5-pin DIN and/or USB cable and even via Bluetooth. Runs on 9v DC. The only thing missing is the display telling you what preset bank is loaded is numeric rather than text, so you'd need to know what number wwas needed for what song.

The footswitches are quite flexible, too. One footswitch could be a single message, or toggle between two messages, or momentary or hold (you press once and it pretends you're pressing it for a preset amount of time IIRC). It can send PC, CC Note ON or Note OFF messages. So you could probably trigger a 4 bar sample and just let it run or press and hold or a pad sound, releasing it when you want it to stop. 

Worth a look, TBH.

icu81b4

Our drummer does all our trigger work as he has a click in his ear and makes sure it’s all in sync.

sxard

Boss RC-500 might do the job - you can preload the loops you want to trigger on to it, pretty compact too.

bloodandtears

sxard said:

Boss RC-500 might do the job - you can preload the loops you want to trigger on to it, pretty compact too.

yeah basically the same as the Jamman principle..

icu81b4 said:

Our drummer does all our trigger work as he has a click in his ear and makes sure it’s all in sync.

So does ours fortunately now..

Moe_Zambeek

We used to do this with an Alesis samplepad. Really meant for drummers to trigger but our bass player would trigger them with a well-placed tap of the foot. Honestly though it seemed to cause untold chaos at gigs with sound persons who for some reason found it a challenge to integrate. We could never figure out why it was so hard for them.

topdog91

@icu81b4 @bloodandtears But what if a sample falls at the same time that the drummer is using all four limbs? (Don't say it!!!)

bloodandtears

topdog91 said:

@icu81b4 @bloodandtears But what if a sample falls at the same time that the drummer is using all four limbs? (Don't say it!!!)

a sample can have be created with a moments worth of lead time.. so the drummer can trigger a beat previous (i.e. when a spare limb is available).. but if on the beat is critical then, as others allude), have another band member use a remote pedal to trigger it by foot..

bloodandtears

Moe_Zambeek said:

Honestly though it seemed to cause untold chaos at gigs with sound persons who for some reason found it a challenge to integrate. We could never figure out why it was so hard for them.

This is insane...  the outputs are basically the same as a keyboard!!

We use an Alesis too, never had this issue, but we carry stereo DI boxes just in case...

topdog91

bloodandtears said:

topdog91 said:

@icu81b4 @bloodandtears But what if a sample falls at the same time that the drummer is using all four limbs? (Don't say it!!!)

a sample can have be created with a moments worth of lead time.. so the drummer can trigger a beat previous (i.e. when a spare limb is available).. but if on the beat is critical then, as others allude), have another band member use a remote pedal to trigger it by foot..

Yeah, I think that's the thread title.

bloodandtears

topdog91 said:

bloodandtears said:

topdog91 said:

@icu81b4 @bloodandtears But what if a sample falls at the same time that the drummer is using all four limbs? (Don't say it!!!)

a sample can have be created with a moments worth of lead time.. so the drummer can trigger a beat previous (i.e. when a spare limb is available).. but if on the beat is critical then, as others allude), have another band member use a remote pedal to trigger it by foot..

Yeah, I think that's the thread title.

correct.. which is what I answered in my initial response but since the discussion deviated I saw no harm in continuing..