cv to midi???

[WeAreAs1 at aol.com]

Paul Perry wrote:

<< The Anatek "Pocket Pedal" can be found very 
cheap sometimes, seeing as it is tiny and almost
nobody knows what to do with it. >>

One of the best things about the Anatek Pocket Pedal is that it not only has 
a MIDI output that will send controller messages, but it also has a merging 
MIDI input.  This input allows you to place the Pocket Pedal anywhere in the 
MIDI chain that it is needed.  For instance, you could use the Pocket Pedal 
to add MIDI Volume Control messages to the output of any old MIDI controller, 
such as an old DX7, Poly 800, or a MIDI drum machine or sequencer.  The 
Yamaha MCS2 that Larry Hendry was talking about also has this ability, as 
does the Peavey PC1600, which is pretty much the king of MIDI controller 
devices (the jury is still out on the Kenton Control Freak, though it 
certainly does show promise...)

BTW, Anatek no longer makes those Pocket Pedals - they seem to have gotten 
out of the MIDI business.  But a former Anatek employee, John Fast, has a 
small company named MIDI solutions that makes similar devices.  He has a 
little box that works much like the Pocket Pedal, but which has more features 
and is user-programmable via sysex.  I think he sells the box for about 
US$119.  He also has a much more sophisticated box which has multiple pedal 
inputs (I think about 8 inputs), for those who need to have access to several 
MIDI controllers at once.  I've spoken to John a couple of times, and he 
seemed to be the kind of guy who would be happy to help if you needed to 
solve a particular DIY problem - such as hacking his box to make it work with 
external control voltages.  I doubt that Anatek would be forthcoming in this 
respect (if they are even still in operation..), and I am also pretty sure 
that their box can not be easily opened up, being permanently glued shut 
(although that wouldn't scare off many of us, would it?).

MIDI solutions also has several other neat little problem-solving MIDI boxes 
(mergers, velocity converters, MIDI-controlled relays, etc.), and they are qui
te willing to modify the firmware of any of his MIDI devices to the specs of 
the customer (budget $$ allowing...).  It's definitely worth taking a quick 
look at their website.

Here is the contact info for MIDI solutions:

http://www.MIDIsolutions.com/
MIDI Solutions, Inc.
P.O. Box 3010
Vancouver, BC 
Canada V6B 3X5
tel>  604-794-3013
email>  info at midisolutions.com

Paul Messick's MaxMIDI PIC-based foot controller device 
(http://www.maxmidi.com/diy/foot/index.html) looks like it would be very 
useful in many situations, but it does not have a merging input, so it would 
always have to be the first device in any MIDI chain - unless you had some 
sort of additional merging device that would allow you to combine the MIDI 
signals from the foot controller and any other MIDI data that was needed.  I 
don't think the Paia device has an input either (correct me if I'm wrong 
here).

Maybe Paul M. would consider developing a version of this device that also 
had an integral merging input?  Not an elementary task, as far as I can tell, 
but he seems to be a clever lad - maybe he's up to it?  I have seen other 
PIC-based MIDI control devices that had both MIDI output and merging MIDI 
input.  The little 12 knob control box that Kawai made for their K5000 series 
had this configuration.  I don't remember which particular PIC chip it 
contained (possibly the 16C84??), but I do recall that it did not have any 
additional RAM on the circuit board, so all MIDI input event queuing and 
buffering must have been done within the internal RAM of the PIC chip.

Michael Bacich