Guys, I’d appreciate some help in figuring out how to record expression pedal movement and apologise in advance for the lengthy post.
What I want to do.
Record guitar from the Axe into Reaper using an expression pedal to control the WAH block.
I have no issue recording with the pedal connected directly to the Axe, controlling the WAH.
However, at the same time as recording the ‘audio’ signal into a track (with the pedal controlling the WAH for the live performance), I’d also like to capture the midi positioning of the pedal onto a separate midi track (for future reamping possibilities).
Problem is, I’m fairly new to this digital recording stuff (despite being an old git) and I don’t even know if I have the correct gear to facilitate this, hence the request for help.
My gear / setup.
I’m using: Axe FX III, a mac, Reaper, expression pedal (Boss FV-500H), a Focusrite Clarett 8 Pre audio interface and an old Casio CTK-7200 keyboard.
The Axe is connected to the mac via USB and the Focusrite is connected to the mac via Thunderbolt.
The Axe and Focusrite are connected together via SPDIF and XLR cables (OUT 2 from the Axe). I use SPDIF for recording guitar DI and it works very well (don’t ask me why, I followed my son’s setup).
The Casio keyboard can be used as a midi keyboard (I use it to record with plugins), but does not have any midi in / out connections. It does have an ‘assignable’ jack for a sustain pedal.
What I’ve tried.
I’ve followed some aspects of Cooper’s video above, but I don’t have a midi-to-USB device.
What I did do is, connect the expression pedal to the Casio pedal jack and get the Axe ready to receive midi commands from Reaper (set ‘Source 1’ in the preset WAH block to ‘External 1’, and in the setup menu for midi, set External Control 1 to CC #4).
Then in Reaper preferences, I made sure that midi outputs were enabled for the Axe.
I then set up a ‘normal’ recording track and a separate midi track (where the route had the Axe selected as a ‘midi hardware output’).
Where I'm at.
When I operate the pedal up/down, I see the midi signal appear in the midi track in Reaper and I also see the midi IN light on the Axe light up momentarily.
Before recording, if I ‘draw’ a WAH shape in the editor of the midi track and then play guitar in the ‘normal’ track while the midi track is running, I hear the WAH effect applied to the guitar track.
However, I have no foot control over the pedal.
And this brings me back to my original question of what it is that I’m trying to do: record the guitar track using the pedal to control the WAH for the live performance), and at the same time, capture the midi positioning of the pedal onto a separate midi track.
Do I need a midi-to-USB device?
Any advice would be much appreciated
Cheers
Gary
