MIDI Increment / Decrement

[mrjixies]

Hi all,

I was wondering. Is it possible to send incremental controller change data? I really like to make two pads that can control the preset banks of my vsti. At the moment I have a regular knob that controls the presets. But it would be a lot handier to use a up and a down button.

I googled, and I found something on the jazzmutant forum.

1. Create a set of 2 pads - 2 columns, 1 row
2. Create 2 custom MIDI messages for these pads
3. For the incremental MIDI message:
- Message = Control Change
- controller = anything - no trigger
- value = 1 - no trigger
- Scale uncheck
- Channel = anything - no trigger
- Trigger = x[1] (for the right pad--x[0] for the left) - trigger when value increases (+)
4. For the decremental MIDI message:
- Message = Control Change
- controller = same as incremental - no trigger
- value = 127 - no trigger
- Scale uncheck
- Channel = same as incremental - no trigger
- Trigger = x[0] (left pad) - trigger when value increases (+)

But this doesnt seem to work. (it doesnt send out any midi) I would really appreciate the help!

[SuperChester]

How do you have the knob controlling the presets currently? Shouldn't the pads work very similarly? Does the VSTi have up and down arrows built in to increment/decrement the preset list? Can you map your pads to those?

[mrjixies]

I currently have the knob set up to control the program change. Unfortunately the vsti dont have an option the map the up/down keys. I also downloaded an object from the user library that shows how to increment/decrement but this is attached to a monitor object. I have no idea to attach this to a knob or fader?

[SuperChester]

I'm not at my music computer to try this, but I would think you could just write a script on the Pads to increment the X value of your knob. Have you tried doing that yet? Most of my work has been with faders/pads, so I'm not sure of the common caveats with knobs yet.

Try creating a script called incProgram() for your increment pad (lets call it Pad1) that fires the script "On Expression", for "Pad1.x" and set it to execute on "rise". Then write a line to increment the X value of the knob, such as: "Knob1.x += 1;". "++Knob1.x;" should also work in this editor, I think.

If you're able to get this working, then you would be able to have the best of both worlds, using the knob to slide through many program changes quickly and using the pads for fine tuned incremental changes.

I'll have to try and see if this works when I get home, as I would be interested to know how it behaves.

[mrjixies]

Thanks for the Idea, but I have absolutely no idea how to program. Luckily I've managed to do it using Bome's Midi Translator.

It's a bit of a shame that there are so little resources out there to learn how to code the lemur. Its such a wonderful product, and I really like to do more with it.

[Macciza]

Hi
It's probably worth learning a little about programming then as you'll get greater mileage with some knowledge . . .
If you learn a little about 'C' that should help you out quite a bit - just standard stuff like variables and functions and structure of programs.
And look through as many projects as you can to see 'what' can be done and then work out the 'how' they did part if needed . . .

It seems like a different language but you will get used to it through some practice and playing around, looking at other code helps . . .
You just have to think about it as a process and break it down in to little bits, often writing 'pseudo code' can help map out what you need to do
If you state you problem / solution logically it will often lead the way - and then just hack away at it, stealing bits from other projects that do part of what you want.

And both MIDI and OSC have their own little oddities so a bit of research there will help as well - but buckle up, it could be a bumpy ride . . . .

Re your increment/decrement problem, there are probably a few different ways to achieve it depending on various things.
Have a go at following SuperChester suggestion below, just follow the steps as best you can and have a good think about it all whilst doing it -
Also have a look at this thread http://liine.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1110 for a way to get your buttons to repeat their values
When you have it mostly together, post it here and we can debug it for you - you will then have it doing what you want as well as learning lots along the way . .

Cheers
MM

[zvukofor]

Had the same problem about PC buttons.
Read the manual and this forum for 1 day, here's the result, you can use it as it is. If you want to change MIDI channel for PC, just change target for CustomButton3' custom midi line. Good luck!

[mrjixies]

That did the trick as well. Thank you very much for sharing!