Hello, I've scripted an act that I'm super excited about... only to find out that there is no device currently on the market that does what I need.

I want to have a conversation with a pre recorded voice.

Since I'm years away (lifetimes away?) from having a sound guy, I need to get a recording to play with a toe switch I have installed in my shoe. Something like this. https://www.amazon.com/RuiLing-Self-Lock......&sr=8-16

Ideally, every button press would play a small pre recorded bit... but the more I research, the less likely I find this to be a possibility.

You can email me at MattyMediocrity@gmail.com


At this point I'd be happy if I could just use the button as play/ pause thing and hopefully I'd be able to time everything right with enough practice and make it look like I'm in fluid conversation with the recorded voice.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can make this happen?

Another route I could go is just a one button mp3 player installed in a notch I carve in the shoe and have that Bluetooth connected to a larger speaker, but I've now perused hundreds of mp3 players and they all have other function buttons around the main play button and I'd surely mess up and occasionally click those instead of the play/ pause button.

Or maybe I could disable the rest of those buttons somehow?

Anyways, I can't tell you how grateful I would be if someone can get me over the hump with this.

The act is scripted, the props are built, the sleights are refined... but the tech problem is at square one ????

You can email me at MattyMediocrity@gmail.com

Without going into any great detail.....how about a simple low voltage momentary remote control relay, where the O/C contacts of the relay connect across the play button on your mp3 player....or the pause button if that works better for your particular recording device. Press the button on the key fob (transmitter) to energize the relay (receiver) and the mp3 (recording device) plays part of the conversation / recording....release the key fob button at the end of conversation / recording and it stops....ready to play the next part.

You can find lots of examples of key fob operated (momentary) remote control relays online (eBay, etc).

Hope this helps!

Oh man, this is great. I love the idea of holding the button for it to play and releasing to stop.

This really decreases the chance of error.

I still have no clue how to accomplish this with how mp3 players work with a single button tap, but with what you've given me to research, I'm confident I'll get at least part of the way there. I feel like you've put me on a viable path.

Thanks!

Https://audioaperemote.com/

Yeah, that thing is legit. Control an entire stadium from your ankle.

When I was first researching this I came across that... I think the bare bones started at 800... then you're quickly into the mid 1000s when you get the accessories to enable hands free.

Thanks for the link, but that's going to be out of my price range for a little while.

But if anyone reads the features on that thing, it's truly incredible. I'm surprised I haven't noticed more acts taking advantage of it... I think it's mostly DJs using it.

A magician could make solo miracles with that thing... in fact... when I was asking vanishing Inc if they had anything for me, the guy I was emailing with mentioned he uses it. I wish I would've asked for a link to one of his shows to see how he was using it

Yeah, pretty much any app that triggers individual audio files could do it. Go Button is a popular favorite due to it’s programmability but even the free audio ape app could do what you need. Each line would just need to be a separate file and arranged in sequence to be triggered. Then you’ll just need some way to trigger it. The Audio Ape remote would probably be the best although it doesn’t have a toe switch. If you’re handy with electronics and soldering, you would just need to solder on the leads from the momentary toe switch to one of the switches on the Audio Ape remote but I would check with Charles to make sure it was safe.

A hacked consumer mp3 player with single toe switch control over play/pause and a single audio track is technically simple and could work, but I'd worry about how tightly you could get in sync with this. It might be achievable with enough practice and if your toe clicks are sharp and reliable. But it would be a bummer to accidentally pause mid-word, and then resume mid-word. And if you add enough pause buffer to safely avoid this, then I could see the conversation getting sluggish and obvious.

If you are willing to tinker, there are a lot of hobbyist electronics audio effects circuit boards out there, with varying levels of capacities and features. I've personally used these from SparkFun, but there are a lot of similar audio boards out there:

MP3 Trigger: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13720

Wav Trigger: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13660

I found the MP3 Trigger, at least the revision I tried, to be finicky, requiring occasional power cycling to behave. The Wav Trigger, though, has been awesome. I have one that has been powered up continuously since 2017, doing audio duties flawlessly, 8 hours/day, 5 days/week, all year long. Audio is CD quality and easy to change (on micro SD card). I use the freeware "Audacity" to create my audio clips.

You could use an audio board, like the Wav Trigger, standalone. But if you marry it up to a microcontroller, like the Arduino, then you can have limitless flexibility in how you wish to configure the triggering. For example, you could load up the audio board with dozens of audio files, each a snippet of your voice partner's response, wire one I/O on the Arduino to your toe switch, and program the Arduino so that each push of the toe switch = play next track once then stop and wait. Your big toe only needs to be concerned about syncing the start and not have to worry about the stop. You could even program in a double toe click to back up one track, long toe press to jump ahead, etc., if you need to recover from a flub. And with the infinite flexibility of the Arduino, you could wire in LED indicators to give you feedback of where in the program you are, add a track number display, etc.

If programming does not appeal to you, there might be an audio board out there that works fine standalone that is better suited to your triggering needs than just a hacked consumer mp3 player. This audio board is designed to be used standalone without a microcontroller, but it still has a lot of triggering options:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2133

I think the "Play Next Trigger" might achieve what you're looking for, though this one seems to be limited to 10 audio files. But at least it gives you an idea of what's out there. Googling "Wav Trigger" gives a lot of hits.

Hope this info is helpful. Sounds like a cool project!

Good luck and have fun! Hope we get to see you perform this!

Ross

Maybe you have figured this out…but after using an Audio Ape I now use the following setup:

- iPad running GoButton
- Flic 2.0 in my front right pants pocket

The Flic 2.0 truly is a fantastic Bluetooth remote which can work from a great (and I mean GREAT) distance!

I'm not exactly having a conversation with myself or using my toes to conjure the other half of a conversation, but I do have some magically appearing animal sounds in my children's show, which I use this little bluetooth remote connected to my smartphone and audio app for: https://www.pegani.dk/en/products/blueto......91remote

The version I got, however, has a little more protruding button, that might be useful if triggered with your toe (attached photo).

Click here to view attached image.

If you can find it, I'd suggest "Cue Control" by Axel Hecklau

The Flic2 with Go Button is amazing. You can do three commands with this button - single click, double click, and hold. I have them set up as single click (play/pause), double click (advance), and hold (previous). This is all I need as a single performer. I run Go Button off my iPhone. The Bluetooth range is amazing. I use the clip to attach the button to my pants and painted it black to blend in. Hanging outside my black pants, it is nearly invisible. The button is nice and big making it easy to control. At a price under $50 for the Flic2 and the free Go Button app, you can’t beat it!

All good suggestions...i have a way low level idea I use ...powerpoint.....i stop and start wih remote to my laptop..
Just a quick way with no out of pocket.

Marty