The Expressionator! With Video! Expression Pedal Multiplier!

[behndy]

ooooo! quick crappy demo vid going over the ins and outs (giggety) of the Expressyahmahculator!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkP9ondC7i0[/youtube]

[Haki]

Copy/paste from the GAS thread so this thread can hold the relevant info on this beautiful wimp.

hey guys - I'm the guy building the expressionator. I mainly just needed/wanted something like this for myself, and found a dude with the hardware/software knowledge to make it.... for an idea that is relatively simple, we had to be very creative with both hardware and DSP... and as a gigging musician I wanted it to be intuitive and able to be used on stage quickly and effectively.

The original concept was the deluxe version - we underestimated the complexity and decided that we should probably do a basic version and see how well it does - if it goes over well and it pays for itself as far as FCC/CE certification and development time, we will build the bigger, bad-ass version (we've already spent six months to get it to where it is now) and also we can get feedback from people for things to do on the deluxe. We actually snuck a couple of the deluxe's features into the mini at the last minute (set span per channel and an internal CV switch) - setting span was originally gonna have two knobs per channel but we decided to set it using the treadle (behndy - how do like that?).

The mini is great for those of you with a few expression-capable effects and want to use them all without lugging 3 expression pedals. And it's capable of some pretty nutty shit - with different combos of span and tapers. The deluxe version will seriously be over the top - not going to give out all the details but the mini has 21 cnc-cut holes... the plan for the deluxe is about 46 at the moment. And one channel will have Pink LEDs, per behndy's request.

Sorry no website yet and no company name (any good ideas?) - but we still need to get a few beta boxes out to test the shit out of it. I don't know if it's legal here, but if you want to get on the waiting list just pm me your email address and what expression-capable pedals / treadle you plan on using with it. Probably be $199. I think there's a dedicated thread here and a rather informative thread over at talkbass. Any questions, just ask.

Jean - the Span Set works BEAUTIFULLY. really quick and easy, and the locked in range opens up a elephant's shit-load of possibilities.

[Haki]

Thanks for the demo big guy!

Couple questions on controls; so the footswitch lets you cycle through the active channels? And then which ever channel is active but not currently selected will hold the last value it was on before you de-selected it? Any way you can actively control more than 1 channel at the same time?

Also, somebody needs to procure a Copilot Broadcast to test this thing with.

[behndy]

so, there's the Selection LED at the top, that's what the footswitch cycles through and makes the Active channel. the Active channel is the only one you can select taper and set a range on.

the little LED's in the middle have tiny black push buttons for on/off. that selects which channels are getting data sent to them.

so whichever channel is set to ON will get expression data fed to that pedal through the taper setting you have selected. say you want A to keep following whatever the exp pedal is doing, B to be locked to 50 and C locked to 75. you would have all channels turned ON, move the exp pedal to 50, turn channel B OFF. that would "lock" it into 50. really, what it's doing is not sending any NEW data, but it works like a lock. then move the exp pedal to 75, then turn OFF channel C.

it might sound a little complicated, but it really IS an intuitive layout. took me less than 5 minutes to get my head around how it deals with what's plugged into it and how to set a range.

[BlindtoFaith]

This may be one of the most useful utility items ever made. This will/should be huge.

[behndy]

i hope so. they deserve it. it's so fun because LIS earlier i've always wanted a one into many expression box, but i never even condsidered any of the extra stuff they put in. i just wanted something so didna have to lug around multiply pedals. the extra bits have made me use pedals in different ways though. super impressive happy fun times.

[elevenstrings]

Couple questions on controls; so the footswitch lets you cycle through the active channels?

Yes, the stomp cycles through each channel left to right. The large led with the bezel indicates the pedal/channel you are controlling.

And then which ever channel is active but not currently selected will hold the last value it was on before you de-selected it?

Playing with it, is a lot easier than trying to explain it.

All 3 channels are always sending a signal (you don't want to ever cut the signal because that would be like unplugging the TRS from your expression-capable pedal) - but the difference is your treadle/rocker control will disable when you switch channels... but it will keep your treadle position. So say, you have your Faye Sing at 50% if you cycle to another channel your Faye Sing will stay at 50% as you move your FrantaBit 0-100%

Any way you can actively control more than 1 channel at the same time?

Each channel has an a ON button (we are thinking of re-labeling this "LINK") - click that and you can simultaneously control that channel even when you cycle to another channel (so you can conrtol 1, 2 or 3 channels simultaneously - this is the nutty shit I referred to earlier )

Hope this all makes sense.

[Toonster]

Always cool, some utilities to use the rest of your equipment to the fullest!

[Haki]

And then which ever channel is active but not currently selected will hold the last value it was on before you de-selected it?

Playing with it, is a lot easier than trying to explain it.

All 3 channels are always sending a signal (you don't want to ever cut the signal because that would be like unplugging the TRS from your expression-capable pedal) - but the difference is your treadle/rocker control will disable when you switch channels... but it will keep your treadle position. So say, you have your Faye Sing at 50% if you cycle to another channel your Faye Sing will stay at 50% as you move your FrantaBit 0-100%

Any way you can actively control more than 1 channel at the same time?

Each channel has an a ON button (we are thinking of re-labeling this "LINK") - click that and you can simultaneously control that channel even when you cycle to another channel (so you can conrtol 1, 2 or 3 channels simultaneously - this is the nutty shit I referred to earlier )

Hope this all makes sense.

Somewhat, though it does raise more questions! So to have channel A be fixed at 50% you would have to leave the channel OFF, select it through the stomp, move to 50%, then stomp to the next channel? Because if you have channel A ON but stomp to either say B or C, it would still be actively controlling A as well? In that case, might want to label it active control rather than on/link for clarification purposes. Then again it's something that'll be obvious from playing around with it for a couple of minutes.

There's a bit in Mercedes BENz' video where he sets the taper range for a channel, which seems to be stored as you stomp to others. Does this also work for that squarewave 0%,100%,0%,100%, etc where you set the taper and it becomes 30%, 60%, 30%, 60%, etc. instead?

Always cool, some utilities to use the rest of your equipment to the fullest!

Apparently, these will not be directly available to Eurotrashians because of money sucking certification issues. Though that just adds to the excitement of procuring one.

[behndy]

Squarewave and Sawtooth - range set = less times, not less percent. ie Saw still goes 0-100, but 6 or 8 times instead of 16 times.

[SVE]

This thing is sweet. I need to get more pedals with expressions out... so i can justify the purchase of this...

[Haki]

Squarewave and Sawtooth - range set = less times, not less percent. ie Saw still goes 0-100, but 6 or 8 times instead of 16 times.

That's unfortunate, I prefer the 16 times 30%, 60% better. Possible feature for the Deluxe Pimp Daddy You Know You Want It version?

[behndy]

lol. poke away at Jean. i'm just a lowly end user/tester. he's in the design clique.

that would be interesting. so far it's a BLAST to use the Squarewave with a pitch shifter.

[Haki]

Aren't you one of a select few testers? Which means that you're not lowly, but rather important and your input could lead to changes before it goes into production. I'm not denying the ridiculously awesomeness of this pedal as it currently is, because it is fantastic and I need this. Just merely offering suggestions and throwing ideas around which I imagine is what Jean is looking for from testers/videos being put up.

It's your pitch shifter squarewave fun that got me thinking about 30/60 to begin with, well and getting a pitch shifter. Since you could use that to quickly alternate between 2 of your favourite settings. Then I imagined doing that with the Threshold on the Fuck OD.

[behndy]

yessuh! you sum up things WELL. i'll pass on the idea to them. it sounds interesting. anything else occur to you?

jia. if you can find a Boss PS-6 cheap (i think they're like $160 new?) they're pretty cool. the digitalness is kinda complementary to some fuzzes.