Connect to Roland Integra 7

[cgrafx]

As you have noted the Integra does do some things all on its own without the S1/S2 buttons. And yes, you could do some creative reassignment of something like the sustain pedal. However, its a really convoluted path and I'm pretty sure is going to end up being a pretty poor compromise. I think a simpler solution would be just to buy a small midi controller. For that matter just get a Roland A-49, its small, lightweight, inexpensive and already has dedicated S1/S2 buttons.

A Korg Nanopad 2 I believe could also be easily mapped and its really small. I actually use one velcro'd to the top of my Alesis keyboard to do lighting cues.

[stringtapper]

I don’t know the details of the Roland unit, but when I need to transform MIDI messages to the CCs that a particular destination device expects (and I don’t want to use a laptop and MainStage) I use one of the MIDI Expression boxes by AudioFront:

https://www.audiofront.net/MIDIExpression.php

[anotherscott]

Cool... I didn't know Audiofront made a box with 5-pin MIDI connectors that would work without having to have a computer of some sort in the mix! So yeah, with their MIDI Expression iO, you could connect a dual footswitch (or a pair of sustain pedals), to get the two CCs you need to access Integra's alternate articulations. It even has a MIDI merge function built it, so you can go MIDI Out from the NS3 into the box, and the combination of the NS3's MIDI and the dootswitch CCs will be sent out to the Integra, no additional merge required.

[stringtapper]

The only thing about the MiDI Expression boxes is that they do have to be powered over USB. I plug mine into the USB charging input on my Coda STOMP.

You do have to plug the Expression into a computer and use the software editor they provide to tweak the settings to what you need, but from there it will work standalone (as long as you have a way to power it).

[anotherscott]

Yes, it needs to be plugged into a computer to configure it to do what you want it to do (in this case, assign the proper CCs to foot switches for S1 and S2, which are CC80 and CC81). After that, yes, you have to power it to use it standalone, but that's not a big deal. You can use a regular USB charger or a 9V power adapter. It's not uncommon... after all, guitarists are always powering their pedals, and lots of organ players are using powered Ventilator pedals and the like.

[stringtapper]

Yes, a 5v phone charger works fine. The designer told me the Quattro uses about 45mA when booting up and then settles down to around 35mA.

[anotherscott]

The more I think about this, the more I like it, and actually *prefer* it to having a control surface with assignable switches. For live performance, my left hand is often busy on another keyboard (which is why I'm among those who rarely use articulation switches on any of my boards that have them, and why I have sometimes rigged up foot pedals to do pitch bend). Adding an articulation with a foot switch means I still have both hands available for playing.