Announcing Nektar PACER MIDI Foot-Controller

[justin3am]

I see it has foot switch inputs. Could I buy this: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender/FM6 ... tswitch.gc
or this:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... oot-switch

and use it as way to add 2 more foot switch controls to Pacer - specifically to be used to control functions in Cubase? Or is the footswitches only used for sending off preset or configurations for the pacer pedalboard? Manual is hard to follow on this topic, and videos are non-existant.

Thanks!

The Boss FS-6 will work. The Fender pedal looks like it's for a specific amp.
Yes, you can set up the external switches to control DAW functions in Cubase. You would need to setup a Generic Remote but it's not difficult.

[justin3am]

For those seeking an Editor for Pacer...

A kind customer name Francois Georgy has put together a web based editor which will allow you configure Pacer's presets. Here is a link: https://francoisgeorgy.github.io/pacer-editor

This editor will work in Google Chrome and maybe Opera (I've only tried Chrome so far).

[CORbiniAN DR]

Hi,
I‘m interested in the Nektar Pacer and it‘s Features.
Before buying it I want to think through my entire setup.
There is one thing I would like to do, that I don’t know how to implement:
I’d like to be able to control with the foot switch to wich track an Input from my Audiointerface is sent to.
The idea is to have a track for Lead- and one for rhythm guitar and switch between those teo. I don’t want to simply switch presets in Bias FX because I process these tracks differently, in the final mix they might be playing at the same time and I usually double track my rhythm. So I definitely need two different tracks (three with dual tracked guitars)
As of now the best solution would be to use an A/B switch and send the signal of the guitar to different Inputs of my Audio Interface (Presonus Studio 1810), but i’d rather not get another foot switch nor do I want to waste an input of my Audiointerface.
My DAW is Tracktion T7.
Is it at all possible to do that with my equipment + the Nektar Pacer?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I should mention that I have a Behringer X-Touch. Would that in help in any way?

[CORbiniAN DR]

Hi to everyone again,
With racks in Tracktion I managed to do what I was trying to do. And i bought the Pacer.

Now I´ve got another question:
I would like to control my DAW (still Tracktion T7) with the Pacer.
T7 supports MMC (or at least so I was told) and MCU (I can say that for sure because of the Behinger X-Touch I´m using it with) but the MMC Preset seems to do nothing.
I haven´t found ony options for using the Pacer as an MCU Controller.

In the Manual on page 11, chapter "Type Data settings" there is one option called "Nektar DAW Control" which doesn´t show as an option in my settings. In the Midi setting however (those that change which controls are sent when a preset is loaded) I can see DAW control as an option in the online Editor (I haven´t found this Option on the Display of the Pacer). But these controls seem to make some weird things (For example function 6 seems to send the start record function over and over again and even in my browser it constantly types "r" until i do a panic reset.

I created an account with nektar as was written on page 5 of the manual to get the Nektar DAW integration Files and updated the firmware. As Tracktion wasn´t a choice for the DAW I use I clicked "x-other". Does this mean I can´t really use my Pacer as a DAW Controller? That would be uncool as I´d be quite happy with it´s features if Transport worked.

I use both the Nektar display and the online Editor (Thanks Francois Georgy! and opera works, too) to change my settings.

Has anybody an idea on how to get that working?

Edit: I just downloaded and installed the Firmware Update for Studio One (The Artist version came with my Interface, but I don´t use this software). Now the presets for Transport work the way i´m used to MCU Controllers work in Tracktion. But as T7 implements the Mackie Protocol differently than other manufacturers I would like to customize the commands that are being sent by the Pacer(I´d like for example a preset with wich I can change some fx in Bias FX with switches 2 through 5, start a recording and arm my input device with switch 6, enable Loop with switch 1, load a different preset in Bias FX with A&B and leave C&D the Way they are (I have no trouble whatsoever with midi cc and pc. all of that works, so controlling Bias works fine)). I still can´t find the aformentioned DAW control settings. The presets for Track and Transport seem to be presets 1 and 2 but they don´t show up as presets per se and I guess they aren´t one of the 24 presets that are stored on the pacer.
Again: What am I doing wrong?

[songsfor]

Hello,
I am a newbie in midi world. I have bought pacer and can't manage to do it work. I want to engage my effect pedals ´ plugin. So I want to press on the controler once to engage and once to turn off the effect.

When i press the pedal on my Pacer, it gives to my plugin two on/off messages immediatly.

Can someone tell me what i ma doing wrong ?

[CORbiniAN DR]

Which Data Type are you sending when you press the pedal?

[JustHavingFun]

I'm looking for a midi foot controller that can send 3 or more notes at the same time on a single switch. I'm having trouble determining if the Nectar Pacer can do more than one note per switch? I have an arranger keyboard that responds to chord changes for accompaniment so would like to be able to control that with my foot while playing my guitar and singing. I know the McMillan 12 step can do that but I really do not like the softer buttons.

[justin3am]

I'm looking for a midi foot controller that can send 3 or more notes at the same time on a single switch. I'm having trouble determining if the Nectar Pacer can do more than one note per switch? I have an arranger keyboard that responds to chord changes for accompaniment so would like to be able to control that with my foot while playing my guitar and singing. I know the McMillan 12 step can do that but I really do not like the softer buttons.

Yes, you can configure up to 6 "Steps" for each Stomp Switch and all 6 steps can be triggered all at once or one at a time, in sequence. You can read more about setting up steps on this page: https://nektartech.com/activating-and-e ... eps-pacer/

[songsfor]

Hello,

I still cannot understand how this work. Could someone provide me with links to tutorials regarding Pacer ?

What I want to do is to engage or disengage a pedal in amplitude standalone or Neural DSP standalone:
- I put these programs in midi learn mode.
- when I click on any peal of the Nektar Pacer, nothing happened.

What are the steps to configure pacer to do so?

Thanks !

[lfm]

What you should look for is
- in Amplitube spec see if it wants fix controller value, like over 64 for on and below for off(tip below) or a pulse(on value followed by off value).
- in Pacer(or external controller) look for toggle mode or not depending on above(and below)

Physical stomp boxes are usually toggle, so might be the case in Amplitube too. One pulse(both high and low CC# is send each press) to turn stomp on.

Test with ordinary midi keyboard and use midi learn and do mod wheel(CC#1) and see how stompboxes work in Amplitube. Usually daws will have onscreen keyboard, and you can load plugin version of Amplitube) if you don't have a midi keyboard.
- if it's driven by level look for Pacer toggle setting, so one press/release send on, next press will toggle.
- if it's driven by pulse, send one CC# value when pressing down and one CC# value when releasing Pacer pedal.

[songsfor]

thanks. I will try.

[Burillo]

i am trying to set up a non-trivial MIDI mapping scenario in Pacer. i've figured out most of what i need, bar one thing - MIDI feedback.

currently, Pacer's state tracking is limited to active preset, which means if i toggle a switch, then switch to a different preset, then switch back, the toggle is in "off" state again. i thought i could use MIDI feedback to set the toggle to the correct state by re-sending the MIDI CC value back to the Pacer (and enabling MIDI LED feedback on the toggle). however, when sending MIDI feedback, it seems that Pacer would not actually set the correct control state - it will just light up the LED, but the toggle would still be "off" as far as Pacer is concerned.

is there any way to make Pacer follow the MIDI feedback and recognize on/off states as not just "light up this LED" but "set this toggle to on-state"?

[justin3am]

If you can, I would suggest setting the message type to 'CCTRG' when using the MIDI Feedback option. I know that this sounds like your parameter would only remain in the 'on' position as long as the stomp switchl is held but many devices and applications have a mode in which parameters will change state each time they receive a value of 127 (rather than switching on when receiving a value of 127 and off when receiving a value of 0). This way, the controls don't get out of sync with their parameters and MIDI feedback tells the LED what state is currently active.

If that isn't an option, you can us the MIDI Config settings for the preset, to set the parameter's state to match the state of the stomp switch, as soon as the preset is loaded. If you have a stomp switch configured so that it's 'Off' state is active when the preset loads, setup a MIDI Config to send a value of 0 for the same CC, when the preset loads. This way the stomp switch will be in sync with the parameter it's controlling.

There currently isn't a way to force a value change via MIDI Feedback but we are looking into a number of solutions to this type of problem, since it's common to the MIDI foot controllers I've used. Another thing we would like to do is have presets remember the state of each control, the last time a preset was loaded.

[Burillo]

many devices and applications have a mode in which parameters will change state each time they receive a value of 127 (rather than switching on when receiving a value of 127 and off when receiving a value of 0).

tell that to Bitwig developers

If that isn't an option, you can us the MIDI Config settings for the preset, to set the parameter's state to match the state of the stomp switch, as soon as the preset is loaded. If you have a stomp switch configured so that it's 'Off' state is active when the preset loads, setup a MIDI Config to send a value of 0 for the same CC, when the preset loads. This way the stomp switch will be in sync with the parameter it's controlling.

as in, if i turn on a looper, then switch to a different preset, then go back, and the looper is automatically deactivated. no thanks

There currently isn't a way to force a value change via MIDI Feedback but we are looking into a number of solutions to this type of problem, since it's common to the MIDI foot controllers I've used. Another thing we would like to do is have presets remember the state of each control, the last time a preset was loaded.

both of these would've been awesome. MIDI feedback is easy for triggers/toggles, but would be hard to accomplish for MIDI steps - remembering the last step would be much better.

it looks like i'll have to look into virtual MIDI cable and MIDI Lab/BlueCat Plug'n'Script to rewrite MIDI on the fly...

[Burillo]

i ended up setting everything to CC trigger mode and essentially treating the Pacer as a dumb trigger box with MIDI-controlled LEDs, while all of the actual control is happening through a MIDI Lab script. i now have preset state recall/sync, mutually exclusive groups (i.e. if switch 4 is turned on, switch 5 turns off automatically), MIDI CC curve mapping (to adjust pedal feel), and many more features

so, Pacer is not quite as programmable as i would have hoped, but programmable enough to overcome its limitations using scripting in MIDI Lab.