Dom, so glad you like PLUS 3! Thanks for making this video - when creating something all one can hope for is that people find it useful and I'm thrilled you did!
I was using the smallest korg microkey 25 on the road for quite a long time, and although it has only 25 Keys it has a sustain button which is so useful when you’re in a plane or a train or sitting in a hotel room. Since I exchanged it for a NI Kontrol M32, because it has more controller and still a very small form factor I immediately bought the plus 3 when I saw it on loopops video. Finally I get my Sustain Switch back. I think this alone is worth the money. And I love having an expression “pedal” on the table. If you have an eventide pedal like the H9 on a table it is simply inconvenient to connect a pedal instead of a device that is sitting next to it. I think this thing is absolutely brilliant.
Hello Dom. As a beginner pianist of two years, I'm curious about your daily practice routine. What exercises do you find most effective for keeping your fingers agile without eating up too much time ?
imo I'd still prefer my pedal to a switch as it lets me use both my hands, this is really no different though froma pitch / mod wheel/ball/joystick etc.. though that you are gong to have a hand taken up rather than a foot. IMO I think the 3 part pedal is still super cool for attaching one or two pedals. IMO some keyboards are going to have faders and knobs on them already. But I guess it depends what your setup is.
Vangelis had a proprietary system with his pedals and the things they were controlling. We cannot compare it with a cheap expression pedal and any software that’s not designed to work tightly with it :)
@@DomSigalas The new Keylab MK3 has a "hold" button, and of course you can map the faders to expression (and vibrato, dynamics), and frankly I would never want to use my finger for the sustain I lose an entire keyboard hand. But to answer your question, the new MK3 basically does do everything this little feller does, it's just WAY more expensive lol. EDIT: I just realized you also don't get the keybed of your choice which can be a deal breaker.
@@whatmusiciwantjust hear me out though :) let’s say you want to use a sustain or expression with a hardware synth or pedal like I explain on the video: you cannot do this with a usb midi keyboard unless you first connect it to the computer to get power and then do routing. Or send long cables to your synths. And still you have to have a midi keyboard next to your actual synth! This thing you can take next to any synth, midi keyboard, effect and add a nice fader and hold function even if the synth doesn’t have one. It’s meant to be standalone and control anything that accepts these inputs! ❤
@@DomSigalas I actually commented before I finished the whole video and thought the same thing! lol. Yes the portability is worth it, also it's not overly expensive like a lot of stuff now-a-days. If I ever have a studio like yours, it would be indispensable.
Hi Dom, loved the video :) could you recommend a usb controller for working with strings and brass? something that can be used to control not only expression, but at the same time modulation etc.?
It depends what libraries you use and how many CC controllers they require to work properly. Many libraries use only CC1 but others use a combination of CC1 and CC11- some require even more controllers. I use the Monogram CC but it's costly and to my knowledge, it's not available at the moment. I am also waiting for Softube to add CC mode to the new Fader MK3 ;)
Thank you Dom. You referred to the Mk3 keyboard several times - does the Mk2 work equally as well ? I have been looking for a 'basic 'expression' and hate using my Roland pedal. Also, how does the sensitivity compare with your usual (more expensive) controller?
Great little pedal at a reasonable price. If it would act as a pass-through for pedals it would be an actual additional layer of control. With pass through it would be very useful, the way it is now it’s very situational. Adding pass through would probably require active electronics and a power supply, and increase the price substantially. But, it would be more practical for my setup. it’s great to see these gadgets pop up, being spoiled for choice can never be a bad thing in the synth world :)
Hey, loopop here - thanks for the kind words! Chiming in - actually, a pass-through doesn't require any active electronics or power supply and can be achieved with a simple splitter (TS or TRS) you plug in the back of your controller. Please check out our manual for more info, you can use a sustain pedal as you'd typically want, and PLUS 3 in parallel.
Hi Dom, thank you! But ... so it's basically meant to be used on stand alone synths or keyboards? I mean, otherwise ... you could just use any MIDI USB controller with faders and buttons and program these to be momentary sustain, sustain toggle/hold and expression. I guess, it's the form factor. It pretty compact and easy to reach. How do make these nice labels of the video.
Technically you can program this- but it’s definitely the immediacy and the form factor- tactile feel of the switch and the fader. I avoided expression pedal inputs like the plague- with this one I can connect and use the fader instantly. Near :)
@DomSigalas I am searching for a 3-5 fader-only CC controller for months. Damn. Now I grabbed 4 ALPS linears sliding pots and an Arduino Micro Pro ... copied some code from the NerdMusician and baaam. Still need an enclosure, I think I will make a nice thin plywood thing ... but I should really add a sustain and sustain toggle button. Just to have it nearby.
The e-mail adress given in your UA-cam profile doesn't work, so I hope I can get my question answered this way instread (even if it's OT). When reorganising my sample libraries, I came across an older library of yours: Claps Vault POP by Som Signalis. This includes a whole Buch of .wav files. The Steinberg Library Manager seems to ignore these. The ReadMe pdf makes no mention of them, either! Are they needed? What do I do with them?
Hey Dom. Been learning a lot from you over the years. However, I have another interest that also uses controllers and didn’t notice your face in the thumbnail at first. So, I said out loud, “How the heck am I supposed to play a fighting game with that?”
Dom I need your help‼️🙏 I've been trying to convert my midi to audio on cubase but every time I try to record my midi it records from my laptop microphone and not from my modx Do you know how to fix this?
Sounds like you haven’t set your audio interface to be the MODX. You need to select the MODX/Yamaha driver in your DAW and your inputs. Yamaha have many tutorials about this :)
Internal midi: file-export-audio mixdown | keyboard/external midi: connect keyboard/midi audio to your input, add audio track, press record, it will play the midi and record the audio of it
Hey, loopop here chiming in - a pass-through can be achieved with a simple splitter (TS or TRS) you plug in the back of your controller. Please check out our manual for more info, you can use a sustain pedal as you'd typically want, and PLUS 3 in parallel.
I‘m not getting it. You can press the sutain pedal as long as you need it and most synth presets have expression mapped to the mod wheel. So what‘s the benefit of this device?
@@JM_2019 tbh I also dont get it, why should I press sustain with hand (and lose one of 2 playing hands) when I have a foot pedal? Why should I use the fader when I have a modwheel right away?
@@peterpeper4837 hahaha I got it! Vangelis was a master. His pedals were designed to perfection and working in perfect synergy with his sounds. His setup was nuts!
Joking aside, I know what you mean. I learned to use a sustain piano pedal but for expression I could never achieve the control I wanted even with Lehle pedals. Fader is the king
I just have to point something out not regarding this video, but DOM has answer I think nearly every single comment in this comment section, even the angry dumb ones! I mean, how many UA-camrs are that accessible? How many of your favorite UA-camr's seem so unreachable. This guy is a class act, sub his channel. Do it now, sub. Just do it. Also, the notification bell helps the algo, as well as commenting and watch time.
Thank you my friend. Quite honestly, I never thought that some (few) people would get so angry over a controller. The thing I realize is most haven’t really watched the video 🤷♂️
…you should have mentioned the independence sustain function earlier…till i got it i really was thinking „NOW hes totally into fooling young producers aka cashcows….“ But the independence Sustain is really brilliant.
Oh well… this was a 12 minute video for a 65 euro controller that I literally make zero bucks if you buy or not. How would I be “fooling” young producers independent pedal or not? 🤷♂️😅
The whole point is that you can toggle the sustain. Please watch the video, I explain the use cases in much detail. It might not be the product for you, granted, but this doesn’t make it less good :)
65 Euro's? More money for old rope. What's going on with you man? If you've got to play with one hand using this, you can press a button on a mouse, which you already have. You can automate all those functions really quite easily without spending 65 Euros and again if you have to play with one hand, you can use the keyboard controls as well. The Native Instruments S Kontrol has a few design flaws, which you can get around by spending another 65 Euros over and above the well over 1000 Euro for the S Kontrol? No thanks.
Hey Anthony, have you ever tried automating sustains pedals? It’s one of the most tedious things to do and it’s not easy to get it right. Never in this video I said that this is going to replace the sustains pedal - on the contrary. I explain in much detail what the use cases are for me. If you don’t find those use cases useful then it’s absolutely fine but why did this spark so much outrage? 😆 Just FYI, my sustain and expression pedals combined are £130. And no sustain toggle. And before you suggest getting a cheapo sustain- I’ve done it as a backup and broke after 11 months. No thanks too. 😃
Ok it’s not for you :) let’s agree to disagree on this one ❤️ I explain in the video why it’s useful for me - at least the video showed you that it’s not for you :)
Dom, so glad you like PLUS 3! Thanks for making this video - when creating something all one can hope for is that people find it useful and I'm thrilled you did!
It’s official, it’s now part of my setup! Now o need one with three faders hahaha -thank you for bringing this to life ❤️
I was using the smallest korg microkey 25 on the road for quite a long time, and although it has only 25 Keys it has a sustain button which is so useful when you’re in a plane or a train or sitting in a hotel room. Since I exchanged it for a NI Kontrol M32, because it has more controller and still a very small form factor I immediately bought the plus 3 when I saw it on loopops video. Finally I get my Sustain Switch back. I think this alone is worth the money.
And I love having an expression “pedal” on the table. If you have an eventide pedal like the H9 on a table it is simply inconvenient to connect a pedal instead of a device that is sitting next to it. I think this thing is absolutely brilliant.
@@ingmarsuberkrub681 How did you program it for the m32? Did you have to set up CC's in software?
Hello Dom.
As a beginner pianist of two years, I'm curious about your daily practice routine.
What exercises do you find most effective for keeping your fingers agile without eating up too much time ?
Aaaah! Scales! And Hanon (the virtuoso pianist book!)! It might be boring but it keeps your fingers agile and in shape!
@@DomSigalas Hanon FTW
@@DomSigalas Thank , Dom !
imo I'd still prefer my pedal to a switch as it lets me use both my hands, this is really no different though froma pitch / mod wheel/ball/joystick etc.. though that you are gong to have a hand taken up rather than a foot. IMO I think the 3 part pedal is still super cool for attaching one or two pedals. IMO some keyboards are going to have faders and knobs on them already. But I guess it depends what your setup is.
Vangelis was a genius...he could control a collection of pedals....I always thought..."what's wrong with my foot?" 😂 Nice device...
Vangelis had a proprietary system with his pedals and the things they were controlling. We cannot compare it with a cheap expression pedal and any software that’s not designed to work tightly with it :)
"I love this little guy" sums it up nicely 🙌
Hahahaha thanks for staying until the end Mick ❤️ this little guy works so well with the S88 MK3 🙌🏼
IMO, this should be built into a good controller already.
Yet no controller I know of can do this in such an elegant way :(
@@DomSigalas The new Keylab MK3 has a "hold" button, and of course you can map the faders to expression (and vibrato, dynamics), and frankly I would never want to use my finger for the sustain I lose an entire keyboard hand. But to answer your question, the new MK3 basically does do everything this little feller does, it's just WAY more expensive lol.
EDIT: I just realized you also don't get the keybed of your choice which can be a deal breaker.
@@whatmusiciwantjust hear me out though :) let’s say you want to use a sustain or expression with a hardware synth or pedal like I explain on the video: you cannot do this with a usb midi keyboard unless you first connect it to the computer to get power and then do routing. Or send long cables to your synths. And still you have to have a midi keyboard next to your actual synth!
This thing you can take next to any synth, midi keyboard, effect and add a nice fader and hold function even if the synth doesn’t have one.
It’s meant to be standalone and control anything that accepts these inputs! ❤
@@DomSigalas I actually commented before I finished the whole video and thought the same thing! lol. Yes the portability is worth it, also it's not overly expensive like a lot of stuff now-a-days. If I ever have a studio like yours, it would be indispensable.
Nice vid. Can this work with sp404 mk2? And Roland tr6s?
Hi Dom, loved the video :) could you recommend a usb controller for working with strings and brass? something that can be used to control not only expression, but at the same time modulation etc.?
It depends what libraries you use and how many CC controllers they require to work properly. Many libraries use only CC1 but others use a combination of CC1 and CC11- some require even more controllers. I use the Monogram CC but it's costly and to my knowledge, it's not available at the moment. I am also waiting for Softube to add CC mode to the new Fader MK3 ;)
@@DomSigalas From my understanding, most of the libraries I'm going to use are controlled by cc1, cc11 and sustain.
@@NISSIMKHALIFACOMPOSERdo you need very high quality hammer graded keys? :)
@@DomSigalas I'm using an RP301
I've always used a KeyLab by Arturia.
Thank you Dom. You referred to the Mk3 keyboard several times - does the Mk2 work equally as well ? I have been looking for a 'basic 'expression' and hate using my Roland pedal. Also, how does the sensitivity compare with your usual (more expensive) controller?
Great little pedal at a reasonable price. If it would act as a pass-through for pedals it would be an actual additional layer of control. With pass through it would be very useful, the way it is now it’s very situational. Adding pass through would probably require active electronics and a power supply, and increase the price substantially. But, it would be more practical for my setup. it’s great to see these gadgets pop up, being spoiled for choice can never be a bad thing in the synth world :)
Pass through yes, I would also like to see a bigger version with more faders and longer fader throws- but this is promising to begin with!
Hey, loopop here - thanks for the kind words! Chiming in - actually, a pass-through doesn't require any active electronics or power supply and can be achieved with a simple splitter (TS or TRS) you plug in the back of your controller. Please check out our manual for more info, you can use a sustain pedal as you'd typically want, and PLUS 3 in parallel.
@@loopop thanks 🙏 for the follow up! Sounds good 👍
Damn, this really is useful! 🔥✌️
Interesting for traveling or if you are not a pianist.
Great Video Mr. Dom Sigalas. Will this Plus # 3 work as a controller by itself, with out having any other controller?
Also thank you for your assistance with your Cubase Mastering Course. I really appreciate you. Have a wonderful weekend.
No you need a device that accepts sustain or expression inputs to use it :)
OK, but you cannot use this while playing with two hands ...
It’s not its purpose. Please watch the video if you’re interested (if you haven’t done so already) :)
does it exist as a midi controller?
Hi Dom, thank you! But ... so it's basically meant to be used on stand alone synths or keyboards?
I mean, otherwise ... you could just use any MIDI USB controller with faders and buttons and program these to be momentary sustain, sustain toggle/hold and expression.
I guess, it's the form factor. It pretty compact and easy to reach.
How do make these nice labels of the video.
Technically you can program this- but it’s definitely the immediacy and the form factor- tactile feel of the switch and the fader. I avoided expression pedal inputs like the plague- with this one I can connect and use the fader instantly. Near :)
@DomSigalas I am searching for a 3-5 fader-only CC controller for months. Damn.
Now I grabbed 4 ALPS linears sliding pots and an Arduino Micro Pro ... copied some code from the NerdMusician and baaam.
Still need an enclosure, I think I will make a nice thin plywood thing ... but I should really add a sustain and sustain toggle button. Just to have it nearby.
The e-mail adress given in your UA-cam profile doesn't work, so I hope I can get my question answered this way instread (even if it's OT).
When reorganising my sample libraries, I came across an older library of yours: Claps Vault POP by Som Signalis. This includes a whole Buch of .wav files. The Steinberg Library Manager seems to ignore these. The ReadMe pdf makes no mention of them, either! Are they needed? What do I do with them?
Yes these are just the standalone samples. You can use them in any way you want :) they have nothing to do with the Library manager :)
Which foot sustainer do you use on your midi-keyboard?
Yamaha FC3 and FC4- the best - indestructible!
Hey Dom. Been learning a lot from you over the years. However, I have another interest that also uses controllers and didn’t notice your face in the thumbnail at first. So, I said out loud, “How the heck am I supposed to play a fighting game with that?”
Damm bro that's like a Hubble Telescope over your shoulder @11:04! LOL
Hahahaha the camera work is real ❤️
Dom I need your help‼️🙏
I've been trying to convert my midi to audio on cubase but every time I try to record my midi it records from my laptop microphone and not from my modx
Do you know how to fix this?
Sounds like you haven’t set your audio interface to be the MODX. You need to select the MODX/Yamaha driver in your DAW and your inputs. Yamaha have many tutorials about this :)
Internal midi: file-export-audio mixdown | keyboard/external midi: connect keyboard/midi audio to your input, add audio track, press record, it will play the midi and record the audio of it
I presume that it doesn't have a pass through so you can use a sustain pedal with it?
Not possible to my knowledge. It would need an additional input which would make the device considerably bigger
Hey, loopop here chiming in - a pass-through can be achieved with a simple splitter (TS or TRS) you plug in the back of your controller. Please check out our manual for more info, you can use a sustain pedal as you'd typically want, and PLUS 3 in parallel.
About as useful as a chocolate fireguard.
only thing is i need both hands lol
I‘m not getting it. You can press the sutain pedal as long as you need it and most synth presets have expression mapped to the mod wheel. So what‘s the benefit of this device?
I explain this in the video :)
@@DomSigalas I saw it - probably my MIDI controller is just too good… :)
@@JM_2019 which one do you have ? :)
@@JM_2019 tbh I also dont get it, why should I press sustain with hand (and lose one of 2 playing hands) when I have a foot pedal? Why should I use the fader when I have a modwheel right away?
@@DomSigalas AKAI MPK261 with 8 Faders/Knobs/Buttons.
Vangelis is turning in his grave
Hey Peter! How’s things? :) why is Vangelis bothered at all? 😂
@@DomSigalasJust a joke. Im sure even where he is he is pressing his 10 volume pedals, so big part of his way of playing
@@peterpeper4837 hahaha I got it! Vangelis was a master. His pedals were designed to perfection and working in perfect synergy with his sounds. His setup was nuts!
Joking aside, I know what you mean. I learned to use a sustain piano pedal but for expression I could never achieve the control I wanted even with Lehle pedals. Fader is the king
I just have to point something out not regarding this video, but DOM has answer I think nearly every single comment in this comment section, even the angry dumb ones! I mean, how many UA-camrs are that accessible? How many of your favorite UA-camr's seem so unreachable. This guy is a class act, sub his channel. Do it now, sub. Just do it. Also, the notification bell helps the algo, as well as commenting and watch time.
Thank you my friend. Quite honestly, I never thought that some (few) people would get so angry over a controller. The thing I realize is most haven’t really watched the video 🤷♂️
…you should have mentioned the independence sustain function earlier…till i got it i really was thinking „NOW hes totally into fooling young producers aka cashcows….“ But the independence Sustain is really brilliant.
Oh well… this was a 12 minute video for a 65 euro controller that I literally make zero bucks if you buy or not. How would I be “fooling” young producers independent pedal or not? 🤷♂️😅
This product is not so good in my opinion with all due respect. I need to sustain with my hand. Now I can only play with one hand!
The whole point is that you can toggle the sustain. Please watch the video, I explain the use cases in much detail.
It might not be the product for you, granted, but this doesn’t make it less good :)
To be fair it has its uses.
65 Euro's? More money for old rope. What's going on with you man? If you've got to play with one hand using this, you can press a button on a mouse, which you already have. You can automate all those functions really quite easily without spending 65 Euros and again if you have to play with one hand, you can use the keyboard controls as well. The Native Instruments S Kontrol has a few design flaws, which you can get around by spending another 65 Euros over and above the well over 1000 Euro for the S Kontrol? No thanks.
Hey Anthony, have you ever tried automating sustains pedals? It’s one of the most tedious things to do and it’s not easy to get it right.
Never in this video I said that this is going to replace the sustains pedal - on the contrary.
I explain in much detail what the use cases are for me.
If you don’t find those use cases useful then it’s absolutely fine but why did this spark so much outrage? 😆
Just FYI, my sustain and expression pedals combined are £130. And no sustain toggle.
And before you suggest getting a cheapo sustain- I’ve done it as a backup and broke after 11 months. No thanks too. 😃
Super unnecessary not for the pros stupid invention
Ok it’s not for you :) let’s agree to disagree on this one ❤️ I explain in the video why it’s useful for me - at least the video showed you that it’s not for you :)
Hi Dom you are absolutely right I am a Cubase user and I learned a lot from your videos thanks Gr.Nes