External Expression Pedals

[Mikey Mike]

Hi everyone!

I've been experimenting with expression pedals but not having as much luck as I'd hoped. So far I've tried Ernie Ball 6166, Fractal EV1, Roland EV-5 and a no-name generic pedal. All but the the Roland failed to get anything remotely usable. I really hoped the EB's would work coz I love the feel, ruggedness and the sweep. The Roland feels plasticy (duh it's plastic, but you know what I mean lol) What are others using?
Also, is there a calibration facility for the external pedals? The EV1 and 6166's work like a charm with my Fractal MFC101, which also offers extensive control of the pedals' sweep, range, curve etc. Would love it if my Stomp IO could come even a little way towards rivalling that.
Aside from that I'm having a pretty positive experience with the Stomp IO so far!

[Ryan_IK]

Hey Mikey Mike,

Thanks for your post!

While we do not have a suggestion for a pedal here, as any MIDI expression pedal should work great here. The iRig Stomp I/O will offer a Calibration section within AmpliTube. Make sure to check the MIDI menu (Lower right hand corner) to enter this section in AmpliTube Mac/PC. Enter LIVE mode on AmpliTube iOS and you will see a MENU in the upper right hand corner. This is where you can calibrate external pedals on iOS.

[smcvey]

Hi Mikey!

Please let us know what you figure out. I am looking to add an expression pedal, but don't know what to buy. Don't really like the plastic Roland pedals that much. Hopefully, calibration solves your issue.

[Mikey Mike]

Thanks for the replies.

I've not had a chance to experiment further yet, but I'll be sure to post up when I do.

I didn't mention in my previous post, but my iPad is running Bias FX rather than AmpliTube. Having said that I was able to open AmpliTube and see the settings window that you referred to, Ryan. Anyway, I'll have some time in the next 48 hours to explore it further. Controlling multiple parameters via Exp pedals is important to me so I'll be sure to investigate thoroughly.

[Mikey Mike]

After spending some time the Stomp and my iPad I can definitely say none of my pedals except the Roland are being recognised. Im able to calibrate the Roland in AmpliTube (as per your advice, Ryan) but the other pedals don't even get a flicker from the screen.
Next step is to submit a ticket to support.

[Ryan_IK]

Hey Guys,

To clarify some information. Only pedals which are meant for MIDI controllers will work with the iRig Stomp I/O unit's external inputs. These external inputs are not meant for 'Wah' pedals or 'Volume' pedals designed to control audio signal. Pedals which affect your audio signal will need to go before the audio input on your iRig Stomp I/O. Check out an example of a pedal which would work great here.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accesso ... sion-pedal

Note - This is a plastic pedal, but it is designed by Moog

[alderjas]

I'm trying to use an M-Audio MIDI expression pedal connected to a BlueBoard with Amplitube. I can calibrate the pedal just fine, and in doing so it shows me the range of the pedal. But when I try to map it to an effect, like a wah pedal or volume knob, it's only on/off, it doesn't sweep the whole range. Is there something else I need to do to make it work as it should?

[Ryan_IK]

That does sound unusual.

Make sure to check with the iRig BlueBoard page meters in AmpliTube (Menu -> Settings -> External Control Settings) or with MIDI Wrench that your pedal is sending the correct range of MIDI CC messages. This should send a range of 0 - 127 if working properly.

If your pedal uses a detachable cable, make sure this is a TRS cable for expression pedal use. Using a TS cable can result in switch like behavior when connected to expression pedals.

Note* MIDI Wrench is a completely free app on the Apple App Store great for diagnosing issues with MIDI on iOS.

[alderjas]

Thanks, it does show the range of pedal in the calibration. Since making my post, however, I did try plugging the pedal into the second external input on the BlueBoard and it works fine. So it must be set to CC and the first external input to switch or something? Is there a way to change that?

[Ryan_IK]

This should not be the case. Make sure to try re-calibrating in the iRig BlueBoard section of AmpliTube to make sure this went through properly.

In the meantime, be sure to reach out to support to see what could be going on here. They should be able to swap out your unit if anything is not working properly.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support/

Send me your ticket number in a PM once opened.

[alderjas]

I found the problem. Under Home -> Settings ->External Control -> iRig Blueboard -> Setup -> External Controls, I can change each input from Switch to Pedal. 1 was on Switch, 2 on Pedal. After changing 1 to Pedal, it operates correctly.

[Ryan_IK]

Glad to hear