Nektar

M
usic
technologists
tend to be pretty
tactile people.
Most of us
favour MIDI
keyboards for
note input which frequently offer rafts
of dials, switches, knobs and sliders
to allow our fi ngers to perform
parameter changes too. The closest
you probably come to using your feet
as part of the creative process might
be if you have a sustain or expression
pedal connected to your controller
keyboard. Foot controllers, as a result,
have largely remained the preserve of
guitar players, with effects pedals
– often connected to multi-effects
hardware or software – a popular
approach. That said, more advanced
options for studio-based guitarists
who’d like to keep their hands free,
while operating a DAW, are also more
limited than you’d expect. Nektar’s
Pacer could well pique the interest of
both camps.
Pacer’s main USP is that it allows
you to confi gure MIDI control
messages which you can target at the
parameters of your choice. A basic
example: you can assign starting/
stopping on your DAW to one pedal
switch, with the next one allowing you
to step through program changes
from one song to the next while
further pedals trigger MIDI notes or
phrases. For a guitarist using, say,
Guitar Rig, this is self-explanatory,
will appeal to live electronic
musicians who want to add a
powerful collection of MIDI control
options to their rigs whilst keeping
their hands free to perform. It’s not
such an immediate solution for
non-guitar playing studio-based
musicians, who have less of a need
for the kinds of real-time switching at
which Pacer excels. If your workfl ow
would benefi t from putting foot
control front and centre, though,
Pacer merits a serious look.
but you could equally cycle through
synth presets or move from one
section of your live set to another.
Pacer goes further, letting you build
relays of control messages, so that a
single pedal click can instantiate a
number of messages triggered at
once. This has massive potential; use
it to switch multiple sounds or sound
parameters across a production
simultaneously, or as a ‘musical
director’, switching patches,
electronic drum confi gurations, guitar
effects settings and even reverb for a
lead vocal, at once, for a whole band
performing live.
Round the back, you can connect
further control power in the form of
up to four external foot switches and
two expression pedals. For non-
guitarists, these latter two options are
signifi cant, as they put the potential
for control over 128 steps of MIDI
data at your feet. Literally.
Guitarists whose amp solutions
are software-based will love that they
can navigate Record Mode in their
DAWs without moving their hands
from their guitar strings. Equally, it
THE PROS & CONS
+
Both individual and
relay messages
transmittable from
each pedal
DAW control as well
as MIDI message
controls
Impressive and solid
build quality
-
Of most appeal to
tech-savvy guitarists
(though not
exclusively)
Two-row display isn’t
always intuitive
FM VERDICT
8.3
A highly confi gurable control
surface which leaves your
hands free, for guitar-centric
studio musicians and live
electronics artists alike
Puts the potential for control
over 128 steps of MIDI data
at your feet. Literally
Nektar Pacer | Reviews
95
FMU335.rev_nektar.indd 95 02/08/2018 14:59