this product seems like it will be a good match for many here. pricing is reasonable, $180/265, stick on wireless xy controllers (up to ten supported) $30 each, six-button wireless foot controller $70.
unfortunately the demo videos only show it switching patches, which it does do very well. i would like to see it control a kaoss pad or a synth with an xy input like hive.
has anybody here tried it out?
just got one, still doing some experimenting, all great so far, what exactly are you looking to control on the kaoss?
i’m guessing that the control will start from the center and move outwards from there.
that’s not the end of the world, but there are times where you’d want to start on an edge and move in. please confirm that this is not possible.
the second item would require two xy controllers, can you use the second one to hit ‘hold’ after finding the sweet spot using the first one?
and please let us know how the device performs in general, does it seem robust enough for the stage?
thanks!
@kimyoI was downloading the manual and I don’t thinking that the “XY” pad is behaving like a controller with outputting commands in two axis (like a mouse pad). For me it looks like it’s just a switch with 5 switching positions.
thank you - i should have thought to check the manual.
XY Controller has two 5-way directional switches, each of which can be pushed up, down, left, right, and center, for a total of 10 switches (X1 to Y5). Switching with your fingertips is easy and intuitive, similar to using a pickup selector switch.
they have a very patch-centric view of things. this device would be ideal for a performing guitarist who has a bunch of efx w/midi control.
hopefully they’ll add a ‘real’ xy controller in the future. also a ribbon style controller
imagine the charging process if you had 4 or 5 of these things stuck to your guitar. almost like giving it an ekg.
I’m looking forward to the release of such a device with continuous controllers…
Have you checked this products? They seem to come closer to what we are looking for.
https://amptonelab.com/products/xy-midipad/
If you use Apple this is a “cheap” and easy way to use the trackpad (that you could stick on the guitar with some tape) as a MIDI controller. They also offer a free trial of the software.
@Dutti67 Thank you for this very interesting information, but it’s not what I’m looking for.
I play on compact headless guitars (Steinberger Spirit and Hohner G3T) on which there is very little space to place a device, and I play with both hands permanently on the guitar + foot controllers.
The Graviton XY Controller would do the trick if there were a model with at least one continuous controller.
audioswift looks very well thought out. i can’t think of anything they left out.
unfortunately i’m not a mac person.
the xy midipad is also an attractive solution. based on my experience with a korg nanopad, i believe the smaller xy midipad may be too small to accurately manipulate synths and efx.
fitting the larger one in is limited to below the bridge on any of my guitars. i’d rather it be closer to the natural position of my right hand.
do i sound picky? to the extreme? i’ll cop to that.
in any case, thanks for alerting us to these options.
@kimyo & @Herold
I fully agree that the position of a touch pad would be ways better somewhere right below the high E string towards the bridge. A size of about 7 x 7 cm I would consider as ideal. It is possible to build a pad yourself using a small TFT touchscreen and a Arduino.
However with most from the shelf guitars that is a “no go” since the area is ocupied with switches and pots.
Further it requires massive milling work on the body (that I could do with all my tools) to countersink the pad.
For a moment I was thinking about a joystick kind of controller, but also there some modifications of the body are necessary. A trackball has the disadvantage that it doesn’t “zero” itself after letting it lose.
Then I found a app called “TouchDAW” and installed it on some old unused Android phone (the free version / check the play store for it).
In addition I had to install a virtual MIDI port software (rtpMIDI), there is a tutorial available how to set up the ports:
https://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi.html
Hell, it works!!!
The app itself has tons of possibilities and configuration options, the xy pad is only one of many.
Maybe this is worth a try?
This TouchDAW app that Dutti linked is awesome! I’m guessing that a screen protector would make the Z Value Source option Pressure (Stylus) less responsive when using your finger for the XY pad(s), so I’m tempted to take my screen protector off. X and Y axis seem to work great at least with something like the Korg Kaoss Pad vst. More tinkering needed on my part still.
Also of note in the app are pitchbend and mod wheels! I used midi learn in Reaper to link Kuassa WF 3607 Wah vst pedal position to the mod wheel and it seems to track pretty nicely. Thanks for the heads up!
One more interesting thing is that the rtpMIDI network driver utility also allows to route the MIDI signals received from the phone via WiFi to any MIDI interface that is connected to the computer. I just tried it quickly using a Roland UM-ONE and it works well. This is opening up further possibilities to control hardware outside any DAW.
thank you for posting this gem. i don’t have an android device suitable for use with touchdaw but one is on the way.
it’s going to be a perfect match for my fretless bass with its shiny new set of nu pickups (feeding 4 instances of mb/mg).
Glad to hear that! Sounds like an interesting setup that you were choosing for your bass guitar, congrats!!
BTW there are plenty of small (3" credit card size) smart phone for very little money on the market. I guess good enough to act as a touchscreen only.
e.g. this one (1000 Thai Baht ~ 28 USD):
i ended up with an 8" tablet and i am still tight on space.
but i could definitely see using those tiny phones for a different project.
thanks again for pointing us towards touchdaw. here it is in action. pitchbend! tremolo! fuzz! kaoss x 2! sustain! blend (synth <> analog bass)!
i even have an undo button.
Love it! What a great “toy”, I guess one can spend hours or days to discover the possibilities. Well done!
