MIDI Pedal Boards for use with AdrenaLinn III

Here are some recommendations for MIDI pedal boards for use with AdrenaLinn III. Given that AdrenaLinn III accepts up to 10 foot switches and 2 expression pedals, we're limiting our scope to self-contained units that include 2 expression pedals, around 10 foot switches and are intended for general-purpose MIDI control. There are only 2 units we're aware of that meet those criteria: The Roland FC-300 and the Behringer FCB1010, described below.

Regardless of which unit you use, here is the MIDI information that the A3 needs to receive:

1) For foot switch controls, the A3 needs to receive MIDI CC (control change) message numbers 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 80, 81, 82 and 83, so your pedal board's foot switches must send only these 10 CC numbers. These 10 CC numbers are assigned to AdrenaLinn III functions using the Foot Switch Source and Foot Switch Destination parameters (see page 66 of the manual). These assignments are global, meaning that they don't change when a preset or drumbeat is changed.

2) For expression pedal control, each of A3's presets contains a unique assignment for each of 2 MIDI expression pedals, called PEDAL 1 and PEDAL 2. Set the Pedal 1 Source parameter to the CC number (1-99) of messages from the first expression pedal, and set the Pedal 2 Source parameter to the CC number (1-99) of messages from the second expression pedal. (These are both global settings, meaning they retain their settings even if the preset or drumbeat is changed.) See page 41 of the manual for details.

Roland FC-300 Compared to the Behringer FCB1000, this is better mechanical quality, has a much easier-to-use operating system and the manual is well-written. The street price is around US$295. It has 2 modes of operation that are most useful with the A3: STANDARD and CONTROL. In STANDARD mode, the UP/DOWN foot switches and 5 front-edge foot switches are used for bank/preset selection.

In CONTROL mode, the 5 front-edge foot switches send 5 MIDI CC (Control Change messages) messages after the UP foot switch is pressed (labels 1-5) and a different set of 5 CCs after the DOWN switch is pressed (labels 6-10), with 2 lights for each switch to indicate on/off status of the 10 controlled functions. In this way, the 5 front-edge switches act like 10 switches. There are 2 additional foot switches called CTL 1 and CTL 2, plus a toe switch under each expression pedal. (For example, if the left expression pedal is Volume, its toe switch can be Amp Boost; and if the right expression pedal is Wah, its toe switch can be Wah On/Off (by turning Mod FX on/off). These 4 switches and the 2 expression pedals can send any CCs, and these 6 assignments are the same whether STANDARD or CONTROL mode is selected.

Here's an example of how you might set up the FC-300's Control mode for use with AdrenaLinn III:

There's one problem: a bug in AdrenaLinn III's v300 and v301 software causes the A3 to respond erratically to movement of the FC-300's two expression pedals. This bug was fixed in A3's v302 software. If your AdrenaLinn is running v300 or v301, click here to learn how to update your AdrenaLinn III to v302.

Behringer FCB1010 Compared the Roland FC-300, this product has lower mechanical quality. The unit we bought required much higher force on foot switch 1 than the other switches and the rubber mats had fallen off of the expression pedals when we took it out of the box.

More importantly, the confusing operating system and manual make it difficult to program. Also, there are no toe switches under the 2 expression pedals as on the Roland. However, the street price is about half the price of the Roland at only $149 and its 10 foot switches are a perfect match for A3's 10 MIDI foot switch assignments.

If you use this one, we'd recommend programming it with the free FCB1010 MIDI Editor (Windows only) by Mountain Systems. The same company has a very helpful Idiot's Guide to the FCB1010, which should be your starting point and will ease your suffering. Also, a smart Belgian guy has created an improved OS chip for the FCB1010 that not only makes it easier to program but also fixes a few nasty bugs. You can buy it either from his site or from this site. Incidentally, the same guy also makes a small hardware programming module for the FCB1000 as well as a couple of very good standalone MIDI pedal boards.

Here's an example of how you might set up the FCB1010 for use with AdrenaLinn III:

Other resources

For the Do It Yourselfers, an AdrenaLinn III owner has created a design for a MIDI foot controller with 6 foot switches. He provides the circuit schematic and software free on his site: www.maxgreco.com/fun/microfoot.