roland pk-5 midi pedals and questions about midi.

[pedalguy1]

hi everyone. I was looking at buying a pk-5 midi pedal unit to add some cool background sounds to my band and have a few questions for you folks that use them or have used them. First, do i download midi patches and save them to it, or does it need to be hooked up to a midi source while in use? secondly, how would i go about using it in a live application? can i run this with other effects at all and into my bass rig, or do i need a seperate amp/speaker for just the pk-5?

[73jbass]

It has some built in effects,but I've never used any of them.I run mine into an Alesis S4+ sound module,then straight into the board.It has lots of nice synth pads,effects,and even has the Tom Sawyer filter sweep. Don't need to clutter up you bass tone with other stuff,so use a separate channel for the pedals.

[pedalguy1]

Originally Posted by 73jbass

It has some built in effects,but I've never used any of them.I run mine into an Alesis S4+ sound module,then straight into the board.It has lots of nice synth pads,effects,and even has the Tom Sawyer filter sweep. Don't need to clutter up you bass tone with other stuff,so use a separate channel for the pedals.

So wont be able to play bass and use the pedals at the same time through one amp?

[T-bolt]

Do a search, I know there's a similar thread created recently. That being said, the Roland PK-5 has no audio capabilities on its own, you need a midi tone generation module (i.e. synth) to make sound. For live use, I'd run the synth straight to the PA if you can. For practice with the limited PA at the rehearsal space, I run my synth through the effects loop return on my amp (your amp needs an effected/clean blend for that to work though). Sounds OK.

[pedalguy1]

Originally Posted by T-bolt

Do a search, I know there's a similar thread created recently. That being said, the Roland PK-5 has no audio capabilities on its own, you need a midi tone generation module (i.e. synth) to make sound. For live use, I'd run the synth straight to the PA if you can. For practice with the limited PA at the rehearsal space, I run my synth through the effects loop return on my amp (your amp needs an effected/clean blend for that to work though). Sounds OK.

okay I think I got ya. I sadly dont own any synths, but I have a keyboard player in my band and im thinking it would be cool to take advantage of some of his cool sounds.