ED4: Question about Program Change messages

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Pim
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Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2019 6:15 am

ED4: Question about Program Change messages

Post by Pim »

Hi,

I know that I can plug a footswitch or sustain pedal into the controller input of my ED4 to cycle through banks but unfortunately, I need that input for my HH pedal.

I read that with Program Change messages, you could also cycle through banks but I'm wondering how to make that actually work.

Let's say I use Ableton Live 10 and have a midi controller like the Novation launchpad. Is it possible to set it up in a way that if I press a button on the Novation launchpad it cycles through the banks of the ED4? And if yes, what do I need to do to make it work?

And @Rob, is there any chance that you might implement a feature that let's you use the tuning knob of the Yamaha pads XP100 and XP120 to change banks? Is that even possible to implement?

Best regards,
Pim
Last edited by Pim on Fri Jul 24, 2020 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rob
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Re: ED4: Question about Program Change messages

Post by Rob »

Hi Pim,

Should be doable. Make a track, set the Novation as the input and the eDRUMin as the output. Make sure monitoring is enabled.

Rob
Pim
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Re: ED4: Question about Program Change messages

Post by Pim »

Rob wrote:Hi Pim,

Should be doable. Make a track, set the Novation as the input and the eDRUMin as the output. Make sure monitoring is enabled.

Rob
Thank you, Rob, that pushed me in the right direction.

For anybody who is also trying to set it up, here is what I did in Ableton:
I had to use a Max for Live device called Pks MIDI Tool 1.1 which allows you to transform MIDI notes into Program Change messages. Furthermore, it let's you filter notes, CC and more and you can add or substract a number to/from the incoming MIDI value (and more...it's a great tool).

I created 4 separate MIDI tracks as Rob specified, each containing the Max for Live device. The channel you choose corresponds with the banks of the eDrumin, i.e. set midi track 1 to channel 1 to recall bank 1, set midi track 2 to channel 2 to recall bank 2 and so on.

You can then pick any 4 buttons of your MIDI controller to switch between the 4 banks. Look at the incoming value of the MIDI note of that button, substract a specific value so that the result is 1 for MIDI track 1, 2 for MIDI track 2, and so on. Lastly, let the tool change these values into a PC message.

Something else that might be of Interest is that when using Dual Mono mode in the eDrumin, only the first of the two pads can be changed via Program Change messages. For example, if you splitted the signal into a bassdrum and a crash and you want to use the banks of the eDrumin to change between bassdrums, make sure it's the first pad in Dual Mono mode.

Hopefully, this will be useful for anyone that is trying to use a midi controller to change banks.

Thanks again for your help, Rob, having banks is really great since it's much faster to change snares etc. this way.

Best regards,
Pim
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Rob
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Re: ED4: Question about Program Change messages

Post by Rob »

You can also change the the bank for Ring (right) half of the input, but you need to use different messages unfortunately.
program.jpg
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Pim
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Re: ED4: Question about Program Change messages

Post by Pim »

Rob wrote:You can also change the the bank for Ring (right) half of the input, but you need to use different messages unfortunately.
program.jpg
Cool, that's good to know, thanks for sharing the list.
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