Lemur Controlling Soft Synth

Hi

My first project with Lemur is designing an interface for a soft synth (ImpOscar). All the controls work and knobs and sliders do as they are required.
I was wondering if it is possible to have the soft synth feed Lemur with the switch positions. The reason I ask is that when loading a preset, it would be nice to have all the controls on Lemur would change to reflect the position of the switches when the preset is loaded.

If it is possible, how do I do this ?

I'm totally new at this so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Alan

not sure about that man! it will defo involve a script being written for the lemur to update setting from the softsynth?
i would maybe say making a max patch that deals with the settings on the synth and sends them to the lemur via osc
hopefully someone will clear this up

if the switches are controllable in the softsynth, you can simply create switches in Lemur like you did for the knobs, and it will reflect the newly loaded preset's state.

I have the switches controlingl the on / off sequence. What I want to know is that if I were to operate the switches on the synth itself, would the change be reflected in Lemur. More specifically, if I were to load a new preset into the synth, can I set up Lemur to mirror the changes to all the knobs and switches.

Thanks
Alan

Lemur is per se bi-directonal, so everything that is controlled and mapped will be displayed in Lemur after a preset change or mouse input.

@Phil999, is there a setting to change to make Lemur recognize the changes. I have switches, knobs and sliders that work perfectly in changing the settings on the synth and they map perfectly, the problem is when I change to a different preset on the synth (not thru Lemur) all the settings on the synth change to reflect the new preset and those new settings are not reflected in Lemur, If I touch a control in Lemur, the settings on the synth jump to Lemur's setting.

it appears you don't have bi-birectional control. ImpOSCar in standalone does not send MIDI feedback to Lemur, you will have to use a DAW's function to have feedback.

As Phil already said, MOST of plug ins do not support bi-directional communication - in other words, they receive midi messages to alter the state of their controls but they do not SEND midi messages when the controls are changed from the GUI. This is why your best bet is to map the controls using the DAW's midi mapping functions instead of the plug in's. Each DAW has a different method of going about this, but all are pretty much straightforward - consult your DAW's manual and dont forget to delete-erase any midi mappiings made in the native system of the plug in as those will not be used!

That's too bad , thanks for the info

personally I find this good, because I can do all my control setup in one place and with the same method. In fact, the choice of my DAW (Cubase) was entirely based on its superior controlling abilities. I could have worked with any other DAW, it doesn't really matter to me. But parameter feedback to the plugins is a necessity for me.

Today, just as a side-note, I would choose a DAW that supports OSC. OSC is better than MIDI, higher resolution and transmitting parameter names to controllers. The only possible downside is the need for a stable wireless connection. But if you have that already, OSC is as reliable as MIDI with cables.

I would recommend Reaper. Easy to install and maintain (no dongle), and actually the only DAW with 'open' OSC controlling (Logic's OSC controlling is somewhat limited).

@Phil999
When using OSC I assume that all midi parameters used by the DAW can remain as is and that OSC uses a whole different set of communication. If I use midi with the DAW then all my DAW controllers are rendered kind of useless but if OSC uses different communication with the DAW this wouldn't be a problem. BTW, I use Ableton Live.
Thanks for all this great info
Alan

Ableton Live is able to send MIDI parameter feedback, so I don't see a problem with what you want to do. I'm not experienced with Ableton, I guess you have to set the remote MIDI output in the preferences, and your template should work bi-directionally.

Hey,

just an idea: have you opened the "plug in editor" in Ableton? That little button in the headline near on/off-switch of the plugin with the wrench-Icon... if activated you can see the plugin surface. The plugin editor have to be opened for sending Midifeedback in Ableton! I experienced that with good old "synth1" (love that synth!) - if not opened, no midifeedback. If opened, Midifeedback works fine! See a video here with Midifeedback on lemur on Programm change: http://youtu.be/89FZAKI2Eho?t=16s
I think, if old synth1 gives Midifeedback other plugins will do too.

Other possible problems:
Have you defined Midi-in targets on Lemur correct?
Have you activated Midiout in Live preferences for those targets?
If using variables on Lemur, Midifeedback is not working (like fader.x*fader.y)...well maybe with some scripting... but if you use controls direct it is woking fine.
Anyway.... Midifeedback is sloooow. On high traffic it can be a problem.
(btw: do not use same Midiport for in and out!)

Hope that helps
mat

Hi @mat

Being new to Lemur, not sure what you mean by defining midi-in target in Lemur. I have defined live preference control midi, etc in Ableton. Sounds like a good idea to play around with and explore.

thanks
Alan

Ah... I see!
For a bidirectional Midicommunication you need both: Midi in and out.

On Lemur:
- go to settings
- see your miditarget 0
- "From": set to a midiport installed on your system....e.g. maple 1 on PC
- "To": set to another Midiport...e.g. maple 2

In Abletons preferences:
- open track and remote (for Control change) input of maple 2
- open track and remote output for maple 1

Now you have a bi directional Midi control for Miditarget 0 on Lemur (you can add more targets, but 0 is standard)
Important: Do not use same port for in and out. This can cause a Midifeedbackloop which can crash your system (or at least your driver installation)

On Mac it is a bit different. That Midibus system (IAC) can handle bidirectional in one bus...however.... maybe a Mac-user can bring in some clarification???

enjoy
mat

@mat

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a try