Ok so I like to tinker
And like all wannabe guitarists I dream of the day I can beast that awesome solo !
Really !!
Well maybe a little bit ..
But then I also want to be able to stop and start practice tunes with my foot - especially when I'm on Yousician.
Heres a little side blog about my programmable pedal board experiments.
Materials
- Teensy Board
- .75mm Wire
- Stripboard
- Switches to taste
- Board casing to taste
Construction
Step 1 - Preparation
The Teensy board really is tiny! about half the size of my thumb. As my soldering skills (and eyesight) aren't what they used to be I mounted the Teensy on a piece of strip board. This makes the job a whole lot easier.
Then run a Ground bus for the switches fiddly but again makes a nicer job.
Connect up a single push to make switch to pin1 and the ground bus and we are ready for trials.
Step 2 - Programming
The Teensy website has loads of simple scripts you can use. I started with the simple "Button" sketch to make the on board LED flash and it worked a treat!
I then took the demo "Keyboard" sample and re-purposed it.
It was actually easier than I thought
Step 3 - Case
I mocked up my pedalboard with some 3mm MDF board I had lying about. When I'm happy I will remake with decent Plywood.
The cable runs are messy at the minute as I don't want to have to resolder the whole board when I finalise my case design - there's plenty of slack!!
It works !!
I now have a fully programmable USB pedalboard that I can use to control Yousician - Play / Pause / Repeat all without taking my hands off the guitar !! I can even swicth Clean / Dirty channels on my Mustang I
Cost so far £30
Cost so far £30
The Next Steps
My aim is to have a full midi controller for a Boss GT-001 so I will be working on the case layout for that. When I'm happy I will make up the proper case and complete the installation.
Of course I also need to find a decent midi code script for the Teensy - there are many demo's out there so I'm confident.
UPDATE
With my new found enthusiasm I have also updated my pedal board. I added a few extra switches and tidied up the wiring.
MKII is still in the old mockup housing but works really well. I added code to let the pedal run different "Modes" .
Mode 1 is for Yousician. Pause/Play Switch to Practice mode , Restart and also a coupld of mouse position and click presets so I can "Contiue" and progress most things now without needing to reach for a mouse or keyboard. The only thing I cant do yet is adjust the practice speed / Auto toggle)
Mode 2 is for Youtube - The switches now control Play / Pause / Fullscreen / Start / End as well as skip forwards / backwards 20secs
I also have a new housing in progress - by Christmas I hope it will look really nice !
MkII has Arrived !
- Cycle up or down through the GT-001 favourite patches A through D
- Toggle between Channel A and B on any patch
- Use 1 Expression Pedal (Currently using for Volume)
More You Say ?
The code will support multiple modes so MkIII is already underway. This adds a 16x2 LCD screen and a second Expression input.
Testing !
I bought a second Teensy to play with and develop on and learning from my mistakes with a breadboard also helps !
New Brains
Since I cant print my own PCBs strip board will have to do.Its still a little 'compact' and scruffy but much better than the original.
Waiting on a set of cable connectors then we can get on with the install.
Rock On !
Finally Finished
I'm so pleased with how this has turned out. I have learned alot through the course of this little project. My soldering skills have really improved and I have dabbled in both Arduino code and MIDI code.
The finished article looks great and is still expandable. 10x programable footswitches and 2 analogue inputs. I'm already having fun switching tones as I play.
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