If I play guitar with both my hands, can I control the EMX-1

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:27 am

If I play guitar with both my hands, can I control the EMX-1 using any midi foot controller?

I play a lot of rock (new wave, punk, alternative), and would like to mix Trance music with my sound. For example, I want to be able to play the guitar with my band, and when the chorus part comes up, I want to be able to step on a midi foot pedal and assign it to activate a killer synth during the chorus part of the song. Has anyone done this before? Or know of anyone who plays like this?

Is it possible to do something like this? If it is.. what is the set-up? How many XLR cables, or instrument cables do I need? What goes where? What kind of midi foot controller do I need? Any help would be appreciated. I'm more of the traditional set-up type of musician, so this is new to me. I love trance so much that I want to add it to my current sound. I just ordered an EMX-1 a few days ago and can't wait to use it. Thanks, guys.

-Byron

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:17 am

You hook the midi out of the midi foot controller to the midi in of the EMX-1, using a midi cable.

You hook the L/MONO+R outputs of the EMX-1 to the PA mixer line inputs using cables with 1/4" mono TR phone jack plugs (unbalanced). Then you pan the L/MONO to the left on the mixer channel, and pan the R to the right.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the midi foot controller. All you have to do is hit play and stop. Get yourself a looper so that you can free up your hands occasionally after looping the bars you play on the guitar. It's fun to tweak knobs on the EMX on a synth part while it's playing. A Boss RC2 Loop Station is cheaper than a midi foot controller, and looping is a lot more useful to a guitarist than midi control.

travisthered · Post by **travisthered** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:55 pm

Are you a solo artist?

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:40 am

Hey, xmlguy, thank you so much for the advice. I'll give it a try. I'm too broke right now to get a Boss loop pedal, so I figured out how to trigger the EMX parts at my live shows. I'll set the EMX right next to my drummer, and he'll hit the play button when the chorus/bridge parts come on.

travisthered wrote:Are you a solo artist?

Well, you could say I'm a solo artist with a band lol. We're called mannaRose.

chad9477 · Post by **chad9477** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:47 pm

I'm a guitarist who uses a Behringer FCB 1010 footpedal to trigger EMX loops. The FCB works really well for this purpose. You can pick one up for about 200 bucks and it's built like a tank. All you'd need is a MIDI cable to hook them up.

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:23 am

chad9477 wrote:I'm a guitarist who uses a Behringer FCB 1010 footpedal to trigger EMX loops. The FCB works really well for this purpose. You can pick one up for about 200 bucks and it's built like a tank. All you'd need is a MIDI cable to hook them up.

Thanks for the tip, chad9477

I would love to hear your stuff and see how you're integrating the EMX1 with your guitar parts.