Synth s/w and Roland PK5a advice

[farmer61]

So I have some Roland Pk 5a pedals and a mac book pro.

I want a good old moog(y) bass pedal sound, I need a midi interface and some software. Any advice out there please.

[jonsmith]

Many moons ago, I tried to do something similar with a set of PK5s and a PC running only a software sampler and drivers for a soundcard (midi input). Fortunately I tried it at rehearsal first, where it worked for a while but suddenly locked up mid-song. I immediately went out and bought a dedicated rack mounted synth/sampler which has never let me down. I guess Macs would be considered more stable and I've seen them in use on stage running Logic before, so I suppose you could try the EXS sampler and load it with some Taurus samples or similar (not sure about midi interfaces for Macs). However I have to admit that I'd feel safer using a Roland Fantom XR (my current setup) or Moog Minotaur with my PK5s. I believe one or more of the Nords also does pretty good bass pedal sounds.

[TorturedSaints]

There's a thread here : http://basschat.co.uk/topic/222721-foot-keyboards-or-something/

with some details of what I currently use. I think it would be easier for Mac, although I use a Windows Vista laptop, and so far it has worked just fine - the only problem came when I pressed the wrong pedal sequence on the PK5 and sent a CC message which was duly accepted by the soft synth. If you wanted to go the hardware route, then a MIDI module like the Emu Classic Keys has a great Moog sound.