[Replicant]

Hi, I wanted to turn pages in MobileSheets for android using the pedals of my Roland FP-30X (the official pedal unit is called KPD-70), which allows the soft and sostenuto pedals to act as left/down/pgdown and right/up/pgup keys via bluetooth.
Unfortunately, this took me a few hours to finally figure it out, so I wanted to write here the steps I found in case someone else is looking for a solution. ;-)

First of all: they are not recognized by MobileSheets as Bluetooth page turning pedals, so it's not possible to use the "Touch & Pedal Settings" section of MobileSheets settings. You have to use the "MIDI Settings" section instead, and configure them as Bluetooth MIDI pedals.

1) Make sure your FP-30X is updated with the latest firmware (check on the Roland website on how to do so, it's trivial)
2) Make sure you turn off Bluetooth or un-pair any other device you may have paired with your FP-30X, to avoid any confusion (sometimes the keyboard connects to other devices first, and can connect only to 1 device at the time).
3) Turn on Bluetooth on the keyboard (hold down Function and hit the A0 key, just before C1). See the attached PDF for more info from Roland if needed.
4) Select the MIDI+Turn Pagers mode (hold down Function and hit E1). See the attached PDF for more info from Roland if needed.
5) Pair the keyboard with your android tablet (keep the Bluetooth button pressed until it blinks, then pair it in your android Bluetooth settings).
6) Configure MobileSheets "MIDI Settings" section as:
   - MIDI Receive Channel: 1
   - MIDI Send Channel: 1
   - MIDI Echo: OFF
   - Allow Multiple MIDI Channels: ON
   - MIDI Device: Generic
   - Prevent Looping Between Songs: ON
7) Click on MIDI Actions and add 1 action (use the plus icon):
   - Action: Go To Previous Page
   - MIDI Commands (click on the other + icon) as:
      - Label: "Soft pedal"
      - Command Type: Control Change
      - Channel: 1
      - Input Port: Any
      - Command Number: 67
      - Command Value: 127
8) Save, then add a 2nd action (use the plus icon):
   - Action: Go To Next Page
   - MIDI Commands (click on the other + icon) as:
      - Label: "Sostenuto pedal"
      - Command Type: Control Change
      - Channel: 1
      - Input Port: Any
      - Command Number: 66
      - Command Value: 127
9) Go back to the "MIDI Settings" section and click on "Configure MIDI Connections" (this is the part that I was missing and took me the most to figure out....but was simple). Configure it like the attached screenshot:
   - MIDI Library: Google
   - Connection Type: Bluetooth
As soon as you click "Bluetooth", a scan will start, and 2 MIDI ports will appear for input and output. CLICK on those two to connect!
10) That's it! Next time you want to use this, you just have to remember to start the app and only then turn on the piano, otherwise you'll miss the automatic Bluetooth connection part. If that happens, you can always go back to "Configure MIDI Connections" and just repeat step 9.

Hope this helps!
(Mobilesheets team, you could make this simpler, for example preparing preconfigured MIDI actions for this kind of pedals, or improving the automated bluetooth connection of the midi device, which sometimes is faulty).

[mdkgr]

Hello,

Did not work for me... I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra along with a Roland FP-30X.

First of all, it's quite odd that we can't easily connect such a popular piano to probably the best music sheets app on Android.

Replicant, the manual page you're attaching is not included in the official manual that Roland provides for the FP-30X. Where did you get it from?

Also, MS need to connect to FP-30X Midi for the first time at the end of the process, after completing all the steps you mention (otherwise MS doesn't recognize the MIDI device).

MS is connected to the FP-30X but the KPD-70 pedals do not respond.

Any ideas?

[mdkgr]

Hey Zubersoft,

Would you be kind enough to help?

I really do want to make this software work for me and of course buy it if I can get it to work, lol.

I've attached pictures of my setup. I managed to connect successfully, set up the proper commands but when loading my .pdf method book, nothing happens when the pedals are pressed.

Is there anything you can suggest?

[Zubersoft]

If you bring up the MIDI listen dialog and press the pedal, what MIDI commands are shown? You might want to try setting the value to 0 for each of those commands, which would trigger the pedal when you release it. If you can show me which commands are sent when you press the predal, I can provide additional feedback and guidance.

Mike

[mdkgr]

Thank you for the fast reply!

Tried "playing" with everything before asking for help, including the MIDI listen dialog.

Nothing happens there, don't know if I'm doing something wrong...

Here's a gif:

[Zubersoft]

If you bring up the MIDI listen dialog, and then press the pedal, and nothing shows up, that means something is wrong with the connection, as MobileSheets is not receiving any MIDI commands. I'm assuming you followed all of the steps Replicant posted, correct? I'm not sure if this is a keyboard configuration issue... it seems strange to me that you have a successfull connection over bluetooth to the FP-30X but you aren't receiving any MIDI messages from the pedals. If you just press a key on the keyboard, does that show up in the MIDI listen dialog?

[mdkgr]

Nothing shows up in the dialog and I've pressed every possible key (and yeah, the keyboard appears to be connected).

As you said, something might be wrong regarding the connection. What can I try though?

[Zubersoft]

According to the manual, that keyboard has a USB-B connection on the back. Please try connecting your tablet over USB instead of bluetooth, change the connection type to USB in the MobileSheets settings, and then repeat these tests. I want to see if it at least works over USB.

Also, it would be a good idea to completely forget the bluetooth pairing with the keyboard in the bluetooth settings, turn bluetooth off, then back on, then go through the pairing procedure again, then connect with MobileSheets again to see if it works. If you've verified that it works over USB, then this would help rule out any issues with a faulty bluetooth connection.

Mike

[mdkgr]

Tried pairing-unpairing from the beginning with no result.

Tried re-installing the app with no result.

Trying the usb method will take some time because I'll have to order a USB-C to USB-B cable.

I'll try my personal smartphone to check if it can "talk" to the keyboard.

[mdkgr]

And yeah, my smartphone can send midi actions that the keyboard recognizes.

So, something is wrong between the tablet and the keyboard. Samsung did it again (the smartphone is a Xiaomi phone).

Will experiment a bit...

Atm, I'm updating the tablet's software. I'll try to reboot the tablet. Fingers crossed...

[mdkgr]

I can confirm that the software update fixed the connection issue.

[Zubersoft]

That's great news! I'm glad there was a simple fix.

Mike