Best MIDI Foot Controller For Touring Bands In 2024

Have you ever been playing a show and wishing that you could be doing more live? A MIDI foot controller now makes this possible. No matter what instrument you are playing, you can use a controller to launch scenes and clips that you’re not able to play. This makes it so you’re not just running backtracks when playing live all of the time.

In this article we are going to be taking an in-depth look at the best MIDI foot controllers available.

My personal experience with MIDI foot controllers is I use one every night on tour. I play keyboards in a synth-heavy band and we are always looking for ways to be playing everything live. The foot controller does just that for us as it allows me to play keyboards with my hands and launch clips with my feet. We will launch intros and outros from our controller without having to rely on a track system that can easily fail.

The MIDI foot controller that I recommend is the Behringer FCB1010. It’s hands down the most reliable and affordable option available right now.

I have used this since 2016 and still use it today in 2024.

Let’s take a look at my favorite MIDI Foot controllers.

Best MIDI Foot controllers

You will see below that I have listed 6 great MIDI foot controllers. All of these have their own purposes and uses & it is up to you as the musician to decide which route you want to go.

Behringer FCB1010

Best Foot Controller
Behringer FCB1010
4.0

The FCB1010 is one of my trusy touring friends. I use this as part of my keyboard rig as a means to launch tracks, trigger bass parts, and play specific bass lines.

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The Behringer FCB1010 is an extremely reliable and versatile trigger pedal. This is a stompbox-style foot controller and I like how easy it is to hit when playing. It has 10 different pads you can program and they all are lit up.

This helps when performing live because you can actually see which pedal you’re hitting in the dark. The construction is also very durable. You don’t feel like you’re going to break it when you hit it with your foot.

You can use this controller to take control of your amp as well. Say you want to use one of the pedals as a wah or tremolo and use another as a volume or chorus effect. This is made simple by the Behringer FCB1010.

If you’re in search of wah wah filter plugins, I recently just put together an incredible list for your reading.

Programming this controller is rather easy. I have seen some people saying it’s difficult, but it’s really not. Once you get your first thing programmed it all follows the same easy formula to program.

This is currently the best MIDI foot controller available in my opinion.

Nord Pedal Keys 27 MIDI Pedal Board

Nord Pedal Keys 27 MIDI Pedal Board | Sweetwater
4.5

If you're looking to shred some iconic bass lines with your feet like Geddy Lee, this is a great option. This is truly a great controller for those wanting play bass lines or synth parts.

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This is a different kind of MIDI foot controller built by Nord. This is built to resemble the Hammond B-3 pedals and it works with your Nord keyboards. I have played on this and I was really surprised at how well the foot pedals work and feel.

They actually feel close to a Hammond-B3 and I know a lot of people in the community agree on this.

The swell pad that this comes with, however, feels a little bit on the cheaper end. You can use these pedals to cover the bass with your feet. Keep in mind that if you haven’t played organ before, this will definitely take some time to get used to. This is built to be portable, however, I wouldn’t feel comfortable touring with it since it is so expensive.

Voodoo Lab Ground Control

Voodo Labs Ground Control Plus
4.0

The Voodoo Lab Ground Control foot controller is an incredibly powerful controller capable of auto switching presets for you on the fly as well as changing effects on-the-go.

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My quick overall thoughts on this controller are that it is great for guitarists looking to control their effects quickly.

You are able to switch pre-sets easily by just hitting one programmed switch. This controller is a little bit larger in comparison to others, but with that comes more features and abilities at your control.

You can get a lot out of this controller for the price. It is 17 x 11 x 2.5 inches making it a pretty average sized controller.

If you’re looking for something that isn’t a foot controller, you can view my guide to picking out the best MIDI controller here.

Nektar Pacer

Nektar Pacer
4.0

The Nektar Pacer is a great foot controller for launching clips and scenes. There's a small learning curve with this controller, but it 100% worth a look.

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The Nektar Pacer is a very in-depth look at a MIDI foot controller. You can use this with your guitar rig or with your DAW to launch clips and scenes. Its light-weight makes it really nice for touring bands. This controller has a small learning curve, but once you get the hang of it you will be flying through its pre-sets and effects.

I like the durability on this controller and it also has back-lit LED screens above the pads so you can see what you’re doing. Nektar has stated that they made this controller to kind of streamline the abilities that a musician can have in a foot controller. Over the years it has been a rather difficult thing in the music world, however, the latest controllers have gotten much better.

IK Multimedia iRig Blueboard

IK Multimedia iRig BlueBoard
4.0

The Blueboard is a simple controller that is Bluetooth. Portability is king with the Blueboard and this is a great budget option.

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Portability is the first thing I think of with this controller. This is the first Bluetooth MIDI foot controller and it actually works pretty well. It comes with 4 back-lit buttons that you can easily assign.

If you’re a fan of Bluetooth technology, view this article here where I breakdown the best Bluetooth MIDI Keyboards available.

The neat thing about this controller is that you can use it with your cell-phone or tablet and connect wirelessly. Overall, I like this product for its portability and ease of use.

Be careful when using the Irig Blueboard that you don’t let your computer go to sleep mode. You will lose connection to your device if this happens. You can go into your computer settings to easily fix this and set it to never sleep. 

 Logidy UMI3 

Logidy UMI3
4.0

Simplicity is the whole purpose of the Logdy UMI3 controller.

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This foot controller is designed to work with laptops and PCs. For this reason, it draws its power from USB. This is really common in the MIDI controller world today as it cuts out having to have a separate power source.

You need to be connected to a device in order to start programming this. This means that if you don’t have your PC or Laptop with you, you won’t be able to program it until you do.

I like this, but I prefer the Irig Blueboard over this as it is also wireless and can do the same things as the Logidy UMI3.

Conclusion

We hope you found this review on MIDI foot controllers interesting and helpful. All of our reviews are based on personal experience and hours of research to give you the most non-biased reviews.

I have spent many years touring with bands I have been using these controllers now for years. Leave a comment in the section below if you have any questions.

1 comment
  1. I’m considering buying the Behringer FCB-1010 to control various functions on my Yamaha GENOS while performing. I want to control “registrations”, “variations” etc – they all have a button on the GENOS, but I want to play hands free. I play 2 keyboards together – the Yamaha GENOS and my NORD Piano 4 – so it gets very tricky to quickly press the buttons on the GENOS. However, I know nothing about MIDI, and I’m worried I won’t be able to set up the FCB1010. I’ve been searching for hours and hours, but I can’t find an introductory “tutorial” for dummies to explain things. I’ve read the Behringer manual and I’ve also read the GENOS manuals – and it doesn’t make any sense and I have no idea. I’ve also tried a Yamaha GENOS forum, and still no luck. I don’t think I’m stupid – but everything I read assumes I know something about MIDI channels, configurations, MIDI note numbers, channels and other words which are a foreign language – even the very first introductory pages have all this assumed knowledge. All I want to do is plug it in and match a few GENOS buttons to the Behringer foot switches. Do you know how to help a dummy like me by any chance?

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