Newbie help

[teleholic]

Hi everyone i'm new to sysex and Lemur and am hoping for some help..i've got a Roland GR-55 and Lemur (mac and ipad)..i'm trying to create a template to help me control my GR-55..Can anyone help me with some basics ? For starters i'm trying patch change, so i created a button, then a custom midi, and on the custom midi i select F0 (sysex),trigger =x, and enter the hex code but it doesn't recognize, so i converted it to dec and it recognizes it (string is in blue)..now what do i do for the button? do i select F0 as well? What about the data string ? If i enter anything, it just goes 0,0,0,0,0,0...Thanks for the help!

[Macciza]

Hi
For patch change you should use 'Program Change' option rather than sysex, far easier . . .
Don't worry about custom midi until you get some more basic's under control.
Have a real good read of the manual and check out many of the projects in the Liine library.

There are many ways of achieving similar things depending on the intent and complexity of your project.
If you are wanting to do a major editor like on the VG forum it will probably need some scripting.
If you want a 'gig assistant' that selects favourite patches and does a bit of control thats far easier.
So a bit more info and we can get a bit more in depth and get it sorted out.

Cheers
MM

[teleholic]

Hi Macciza thanks for the reply! Yeah i realise program change is way easier but im only able to select 0 - 127, or till user 43-2..using gumtown's sysex codes i could potentially select all the way to user 99-3 which is what i'm hoping to do eventually, also i'm using program change as a simple example for help, as i would eventually like to include other parameters as well...are you able to guide me through the lemur system exclusive coding i mentioned above? Thanks so much!

[Macciza]

Hi
It simply a matter of sending bank change messages as well but you need to write them yourself.
Find out what the Bank change numbers are and it will be easy. I can select all 400 patches on VG99.

Sysex has been covered a fair bit in a few topics here with code and projects -check them out
A scripted approach will probably be best but you will need to understand how it works.

I'm sure we will be able to help you sort it out,

Cheeers
MM

[bxsj]

Here is a thread about sysex handling: http://liine.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1103

< >
Beware, sending sysex to Roland has to follow certain rules. Here is an example to request a patch name from a Roland V-SynthXT:
F0 41 10 00 53 11 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 64 F7

"41 10 00 53" identifies it as a Roland sysex msg to a V-Synth XT
"11" is the command DT1 - Data Request (sends back a information as a sysex message)
"10 00 00 00" is the address were to get the data from (in this case the start address for patch 1)
"00 00 00 0C" is the length, here 12 bytes as patch names are 12 bytes long in a v-synth
"64" is the checksum byte, I can provide more information on how to calculate this (see link above)

Now just need to receive the reply using an ON MIDI expression. Again see link above.
</ >

Let me know if you need more information.
Cheers,
B.

[teleholic]

Thanks for the replies both of you! Macciza you're right i'm looking more at a 'gig assistant' level of programming haha..not full blown like marc's TouchOSC template where almost every parameter is controllable..Ideally I'd like all my favorites and patch change on one page for ease of use live..I'm really new to sysex and remember reading somewhere that the GR-55 doesn't recognize CC's so sysex is the way to go..Really confused on the proper way to write the msg, do i or do i not add 'midiout' in front? not sure when to add 'floor' or x*127 or something like that too..also after reading some sysex tutorials i'm still confused as to which of the 4 addresses is the msb/lsb..would really appreciate an example string for me to start getting my feet wet! Say with patch change..this is from gumtown:

F0 41 10 00 00 53 12 01 00 00 00 00 00 7F F7 = user patch U01:1
F0 41 10 00 00 53 12 01 00 00 00 02 28 55 F7 = user patch U99:3

how would i key it in the custom midi in lemur to get a fader to go from 1-1 to 99-3? Many thanks to both of you!

[Macciza]

Hi

Heres a quick run down on the sysex message -
F0 - Opens sysex
41- Roland,
10- Device No , should match to device
00 00 53 - Model ID#1,2,3 - VG99 is 00 00 1C
12 - DT1 Data sets, 11 is RQ1 Request data
01 00 00 00 - 4 byte Parameter address msb>lsb
00 00 - 02 28 = data values
75/55 - Checksum
F7 -closes sysex

So jus t need to nut out the range of values and what the correlate to in GR55 speak
Probably be something like 00 00- 00 7F, 01 00 -01 7F, 02 00 - 02 28 which seems about right . . . hopefully
So you need a fader, knob, or pads or whatever to pump out some of these values via scripting or midi mapping

Honestly, for patch change , doing it with bank/program change would probably be a lot easier . . .
Will try to grab the latest version of gumtowns editor and have a look, I don't have a GR . . .

Get a bit of an interface together so I can see what you want to do . . .

Cheers
MM

[teleholic]

Hi Macciza, really appreciate the help! Now the string is clearer to me..yeah i think PC and CC would be easier for bank change but i'm not sure if the GR55 allows that..cos i remember reading that the GR55 doesn't read straight CC's so one has to use sysex..maybe only for patch change it'll work i dunno...i'll start putting up some stuff in a rough template really soon...Thanks again!

[bxsj]

Here is a link to the manual of the GR-55: http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/GR-55_OM.pdf According to the MIDI implementation chart program changes and CC's are supported.
Hope that helps,
B.

[teleholic]

Hi bxsj, i'm really bad at Lemur and can't even figure out how to input text after creating a text box..so i attached some screenshots of Marc's amazing TouchOSC template..basically i'd like to take bits and pieces of the 3 pages i attached and make them into one or two pages , or it'd be cool if i could do link pages like how he did at the top...also i'd like to select user patches 1-1 to 99-3 too.. would really appreciate if you could give me a few sample programs or scripts so i can start going on my own..wouldn't wanna trouble you too much..cheers!