Hello all!
This may be a generic topic, but I am wondering how many of you guys are using your Pisound setups when playing live, and what steps you take to make sure you get solid performance and reliability when whacking it on your board.
I’m keen what whack mine in a rack, but power would be provided on/off when the rack is powered on/off, so I’d like to make sure I’m not going to scramble my OS if it loses power without the graceful shutdown.
Thanks
Craig
@craighissett I use my Pisound/Modep every week live. The version I used when I first started would on occasion cause me to have to reboot the Pi but with subsequent upgrades I never have an issue using my setup. I’m actually considering getting a second Pisound setup for backup purposes but that’s really no different than taking a backup amp to a gig in case the primary dies.
My Pisound is mounted to a pedalboard so I plug in the pedalboard then plug in the Pi. And when I’m done I just pull the power cord without doing a shutdown. Have not had any issues doing this.
Hope this helps
Thank you buddy, thats some great feedback and the type I am after. Have you done anything fancy like set the OS to read only or anything like that, or is it that silid out of the box?
Ive built a little recording rack in a Shallow 4U case, and im hoping to stash my Pisound and Pi in the back of that, and have its inputs wired up to my input panel and its outpus cinnected to two channels of my interface.
For controlling my Pi I have a MIDI Commander with two mini expression pedals attached to a little pedaltrain Nano, so I’d pass a USB port to my panel for that too.
Nope, pretty much out of the box. The Pisound/Modep setup really is simple to use.
Well I’m sold, thank you!.
Just put it into my 4u case, need to finetune the in/out volume and get proper cables made for it (TRS to 2 x XLR male and TRS to 2 x XLR female) and then will give it a whirl with my trombone!
That’s an interesting application of the PiSound. Are you running effects on your trombone with that setup? I played trombone throughout high school and my first two years of college.
Thanks buddy!
The setup is really flexible and will serve me as a more standard pedalboard/amp sim for guitar work, it will be mostly for trombone.
Ive veen messing around with sustain effects and also the octave/harmony pedals to create a layout which lets me put down a wallnof sound on my own. All goes into a looper at the end as well, which is great fun!
Once we get all the control voltage stuff working it would be interesting to see if you could create a pedal board that would add a saxophone and trumpet synth sound.
The potential is huge!
Id love to get a second Pisound for purely live use alongside a clip on microphone. It will be great to have a brass section in a box’ setup.
Next challenge for me with my current setup is to find the best way to use my melaudio MidiCommander with patchbox 
I actually looked at that device before I built my own. I’m assuming you’re wanting to control effects on a MODEP pedalboard with that device, correct? If so, it’s easy to do from within the MODEP interface.
Thats right buddy.
I want to make my own long term, but Im a software giy rather than a hardware guy, and wouldnt be cinfident that what id build would look good, ha ha.
The MIDI Commander is great, it is solid and has two expression inputs too.
It has a few midi modes, so just need to find the best one to put out the right commands to work best 
Well if it helps I’m also a software guy but I built my own anyway. And I think it looks good.
Right now it’s basically a stateless midi controller much like what you have but at some point I will modify the code to talk to MODEP.
Ah please keep me posted with your work mate. I love all of what youve said there, ha ha.
One day Id like to build an Arduino Mega-based controller wjth everything I’d need; buttons to cycle boards in MODEP, plenty of buttons to toggle effects in the boards, a sizeable (touch?)screen, plus two expression pedals built into it for it, with the remaining analog pins being passed to jack sockets for external pedals to be added.
Here’s another pic of mine with the expression pedal. Mine uses the Raspberry Pi Pico W and CircuitPython from Adafruit (https://circuitpython.org/). I chose Circuit python over MicroPython because Circuit Python had support for MIDI. ’
If you’re interested you can read more about my custom device on this post: MIDIZilla for MODEP
Thanks for this!
I have a few Picos, I love them, and prefer circuitpython too.
I use two of them for keyboard shortcuts for work, both if them using the RGB 4x4 button pads.
I’ll study your build and plan something. Were you ever tempted to build the Pi and Pisound into your box?
Id like to, if i build one. Could have the jack in/out and power input exposing directly on your enclosure, then expose a USB port or two via panel connectors if you need them.
Good question about the integration of the Pi and Pisound into my custom box. I actually thought about that after the fact but in my case I chose to not go that route. Mostly because I already had a Pi, Pisound and the Pisound enclosure from Blokas. And since I help out with compiling/uploading/testing Modep plugins and testing new releases of Modep I sometimes need quick access to the SD card so I just kept mine separate.
You might also want to look at the pi Stomp (https://www.treefallsound.com/). They have done something very similar to what you’re talking about.
Thats exactly whybinwant a second one ha ha, one to quickly use when I fancy, and one to build into an all-in-one beasty for gigs.
I love the treefallsound one, it just lacks the amount of buttons I like
I am not completely familiar with “4U case” but I had a quick look on the web, and I would strongly recommend against it without forced cooling.
The Pi runs hot and starts to slow down as it heats up. I forget the exact figures, but I think it can get to 70 celsius (which is very hot) before it starts to slow down to cool itself.
You do not want to be there, live.
@worik good point! That’s why I installed the Pimorini Fan Shim in Pisound setup:
There’s a couple of topics on this forum about the fan shim and if the software needs to be installed. Some have reported that the software interferes with the Pisound. I myself did not install the software so the fan is always “on” and I have not had any issues.
Hey buddy, thanks for chipping in!
Yeah the 4U shallow case Im using is a standard 19" rack unit flight case, with space for four 1.75" units of equipment. Mine is around 2cm deep I believe .
In the bottom slot I have my behringer UMC1820 interface, above that I have an input panel.
I have my Pi and also a lattepanda inside on a 1u shelf next, then the top has a vented blanking plate.
The back is open except for a power strip mounted in the top slot.
In order to get the heat out of there I have two large USB fans (140mm) fitted to the back panel to pull air throigh the case. Tbey are quiet enough to allow them to run continuously.
