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Author
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Topic: IVL Steel Rider - MIDI Interface
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Bob Lawrence
Member From: Lwr Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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posted 24 August 2003 08:21 AM
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Has anyone found any type of MIDI interface that they have tried with the SteelRider. For example it could be used to decode MIDI messages or a board that controls lights based on the MIDI notes that you play.(Your own light show) Over the summer I wrote some simple software that could send MIDI messages from my computer through the USB port to my Roland sound module and I'm thinking about going in the reverse direction.(winter project) It should be possible to do things such a capturing the MIDI messages to a file on the computer and play them back. That could lead to an advanced version that could allow you to edit the messages (just in case you made a mistake). There is no way to capture what lever or pedal / combo that was used (that I can think of) but you could get the MIDI note number which could be converted to notes by the software.(simple tab machine) What if your MIDI sound module is out of date (like an old Roland unit)or broken. Is it possible to use the Virtual sound module such as the Roland VSC(that comes with band in a box) on your computer directly with the Steel Rider? How about hooking it up to a X10 unit and turn appliances, motors, lights etc.. on and off by playing a certain note/s while you are practicing (your wife will think that you are doing work around the house).  Hook it up to an infra red unit and control your TV while you are practicing. then you can use a Paul Franklin lick to speed through all the junk channels on TV that you don't want to watch. Anyway, you probably get the idea so let me know what you have tried. ------------------
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Earnest Bovine
Member From: Los Angeles CA USA
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posted 24 August 2003 08:34 AM
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quote:
It should be possible to do things such a capturing the MIDI messages to a file on the computer and play them back. That could lead to an advanced version that could allow you to edit the messages
MIDI sequencers with event list editing have been around since the Apple II and Commodore 64. |
J J Harmon
Member From: Salisbury, North Carolina, USA
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posted 26 August 2003 10:08 AM
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I talked with a forumite that was using a Roland GK-2a into a synth. I don't think it was GR-33 but that would work as well.He disected the GK-2a to get string spacing and of course could only get 6 strings. Piezo pups would track better but how would you mount them in a changer? |
Chris Erbacher
Member From: Sausalito, California, USA
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posted 26 August 2003 11:11 AM
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i've also been looking at figuring out the elusive midi questions. i think if you put a piezo into the changer, you would end up with a lot of pedal noise too. using light beam pickups may work....then again maybe not |
chas smith
Member From: Encino, CA, USA
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posted 29 August 2003 10:09 PM
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 The midi pickup on the E9 neck is made from two GK-2A pickups. I machined an aluminum mount and made a circuit board that I mounted all of the pole pieces to and wired them back to the two Roland "senders". All of this is cast in black resin. I am now qualified for brain surgery and this wasn't easy. |
James Quackenbush
Member From: Pomona, New York, USA
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posted 02 September 2003 10:31 AM
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Chas,
How good do the Roland pickups track ???..How well does everything work ??....If all is well, would you be interested in making me this setup for a price ???.....I'm a keyboard player with many midi modules, and have written many letters to various manufacturers to see what they could do to come up with a midi pickup for the pedal steel, and I haven't gotten not one reply back !!... I don't want to spend over $1,000 on the old IVL pickups that may need repair soon !!...Somebody really needs to make something more current or at least something more durable !!...Thanks for listening....Sincerely, Jim |
chas smith
Member From: Encino, CA, USA
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posted 02 September 2003 11:19 AM
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quote:
How good do the Roland pickups track ???..How well does everything work ??....
The pickups track well, it's the pitch to MIDI converters that I'm using, Axon, that are the problem. There are threads in the archives, here, that get more involved. Basically, the Axon is billed as being the best pitch to midi converter for.....normally tuned guitars. For how I use it, single pitch long tones, this setup works just fine. Forget speed-picking. Also it tracks the bar fairly well, which the tech in New Jersey said it shouldn't, but it doesn't like the pedals. I also made a volume pedal where the volume pot and the CV pot share a shaft so the guitar volume and the sampler volume track each other. I'm not using traditional samples. quote:
If all is well, would you be interested in making me this setup for a price ???.....
Jim, I love you, but not that much and when you got the bill, our friendship would be severly diminished. quote:
I'm a keyboard player with many midi modules, and have written many letters to various manufacturers to see what they could do to come up with a midi pickup for the pedal steel, and I haven't gotten not one reply back !!...
If there was any money in making a pedal steel pickup and system, they would be calling you. quote:
I don't want to spend over $1,000 on the old IVL pickups that may need repair soon !!...Somebody really needs to make something more current or at least something more durable !!...
If you were going to spend some money, perhaps you should buy a "backup" system and then muck around with the IVL. |
Michael Brewer
Member From: Carrollton, Texas
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posted 03 September 2003 11:58 AM
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The pickups are easy. I have a half dozen on the shelf. It's the converter (Steel Rider) that is difficult. Most of the problems are in the pickup preamp. The IC's are tricky little items to replace because they are surface mounted and small. Anyone who wants the capability to repair them must purchase a soldering station designed for the surface mounts. The price for a good one runs $500 and up.------------------
Mike Brewer
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James Quackenbush
Member From: Pomona, New York, USA
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posted 08 September 2003 12:29 PM
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Well guys, Thanks for the replies...They were not what I wanted to hear, but that's the way it goes... I sure wish that there were a brighter future for midi pedal steel...Heck, it would make a better, brighter, future for pedal steel period !!...Thanks to all..Jim |
Jack Turlington
Member From: Toccoa, GA, USA
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posted 14 September 2003 09:35 AM
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What's the deal with Al Petty's Steel Guitorchestra? I hear he's been in a bit of trouble and is probably not making them anymore, but does anyone have any experience with one? I saw him demonstrate it in St Louis, and have been haunted by it ever since. At the time, (and now), there was a funds issue that kept me from buying one. But, if the Guitorchestra is no longer available, isn't there one laying around somewhere that one of you electronic wizards could check out and reinvent? There's a lot of times I'd just love to dial up a fiddle, or piano, or a good ole choir of African Native Women to throw into a song, but I just can't find 'em on my Profex II!!
Seriously though, the Guitorchestra (sp?) may be an old subject that I've missed when I'm too busy to read the forum, so could someone bring me up to speed on 'em??------------------
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Jim Smith
Member From: Plano, TX, USA
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posted 14 September 2003 10:50 AM
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The last few times I saw Al with his MIDI rig, it said GuitOrchestra on the front and IVL SteelRider on the back.   As far as I know, that was the only difference. |
Joe Wheeler
Member From: Marion Louisiana Union
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posted 31 October 2004 11:17 AM
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Years ago I used a program called midiex to dump new sounds to and from a sound module on an IBM XT computer. I also used a 12 string midi pickup with 2 Kramer 7000 pitchriders and a midi merge box that worked quite well on my 10 string steel. I used a kurzweil 1200 sound module that had horns that were simply great. Just a few thoughts for the experimentors.
Joe |
Scott Appleton
Member From: Half Moon Bay, California, USA
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posted 31 October 2004 06:53 PM
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The IVL what a nigtmare that was .. I used the 10 string model with two interface mods to the pitchrider then to an assortment of sound moduals.
tracking was weak and after a few months became impossible to play. I sent it back to Canada 3 times and each time it worked for a month or two then quit,
I gave up in a bit of a huff one night after a gig and
beat it to death. No more IVL.
I have a roland synth attachted to one of my steels now and just a 6 string PU. centered from the top down. it works ok for single note runs and straight chord comps.------------------
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