Plugin to send MIDI Program Changes?

Contribute Feature Requests
#1

I am wondering if there is a plugin that will send out MIDI Program Change messages.

The reason I’m asking is because I have a Digitech Whammy DT and want to have it change settings with a push of a button. Currently I have to bend down and turn the knobs to the settings whenever I want to change them. I have different settings for different songs. The Whammy DT (and Whammy Gen 5) has Midi input and you can control everything on the unit with MIDI.

Another creative thing is to be able to change a MIDI note to a MIDI Program Change. You can use the sequencer to change the settings on the Whammy and have some really crazy beat based pitch shifting effects. A company that makes something like this is Molten Voltage called the G-quencer http://moltenvoltage.com/products/G-Quencer_-Revolutionary_DigiTech_Whammy_Controller-_by_Molten_Voltage.html

With the upcoming 1.3 update there can be sooo much great stuff we can do and streamline the live playing experience with the “scenes”… I can’t wait!

I know there is already a whammy plugin but I just don’t have enough CPU for what I want. However, if these plugins are around or available, the DUO would be the same price as having a Whammy DT ($300) with a G-quencer ($350)…

#2

maybe @x42 can add this to the great midi-filter package :wink:

there is already a note-to-cc

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#3

I would love to see that, too, for rhythmically activating effects. And turning them off again. And on again. And off. :smiley:

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#4

Could you elaborate what the input is? IIUC the OP wants a MIDI-generator (control in, MIDI out) not a MIDI-filter (MIDI in, MIDI out)

#5

I had not actually thought deeper about the matter but you’re right

According to @Skydiver original post , there would are actually two possibilities:

1 - in the midi filter package, following the midi-in/midi-out standard, we would have “MIDI-CC to MIDI-PGM” or a “MIDI-Note to MIDI-PGM” plugins, just like the existing MIDI CC-to-Note and MIDI Note-to-CC ones

2 - another option is the out-of-standard ControlPort-to-MIDI-PGM

I guess both options could be useful.

#6

I could see 2 different plugins, one with 2 toggles (up, down) and one with just a port that on change sends that value PC

#7

MIDI-CC to MIDI-PGM is tricky. CC are 3 byte: key + value pair. programs-select are 2 byte (single program) optionally prefixed by a bank-select message.

The MIDI-filters all use standard control ports which are automatable (can change any time, the filters adjust and prevent getting stuck notes etc).

For fancy cases like CC to PGM a fixed - not automatiable and rule-based config is appropriate. That’s what https://github.com/x42/midimap.lv2/ does; but midimap.lv2 depends on a config file (containing the rules) and is hence not available on the MOD. A workaround until the MOD allows a user to select files would be to ship a few presets.

Still it’s probably overkill and a small dedicated plugin for the issue at hand would be more practical on the MOD. YMMV.

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#8

Very interesting… I always learn more than I expect from things I post… HA! :sweat_smile:

I think there will be people who will want to control outboard midi gear from their Duo.

For this specific case, I want to be able to pull up a pedalboard for a song, or a scene for a part of a song, and have my Whammy DT set to the settings that I need. I saw this video for Steve Vai’s rig and he shows that his Whammy is connected via Midi to the Fractal. https://youtu.be/90HmdenswGM?t=28s

Would it be hard to create a plugin that sends out a specific Program Change message? Maybe be able to scroll through different program messages. When I bring up a pedalboard I would want it to send out the message without having to hit a button… same for any “scenes” I scroll through…

What do you think?

#9

Creating a plugin that sends pgm-changes (or any midi sequence) is easy.
Making that plugin configurable is the hard part. – and making it look cool (no boring textarea) even harder :slight_smile:

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#10

How about starting simple: 2 knobs to define programs (0…127) and a push-button. Every time you press the button a midi-pgm message is sent alternating between the two selected programs.

It could also be 4 or 8 steps, and maybe another control to select the MIDI-channel…

#11

Sounds good. I say keep it simple in the beginning.

The Whammy DT has two sides to the pedal and so I may want to send two messages at one time… but I’m thinking that is very specific to the Whammy DT… :blush:

When the new “scene” function comes available with 1.3 I can place two pedals and have them engage when I pull up that “scene”… We will see…

Looking forward to testing your plugin.

#12

uhm, I’m not planning to write one, sorry. I was speaking hypothetically… brainstorming.

#13

I’d definitely keep the textbox in the plugin config dialog if possible, not on the plugin UI on the pedalboard. It will look much better that way IMO.

Another approach would just be to send the pgm-change whenever the port changes so just have 1 input port with range (-1,127). That way when it loads the pedalboard and the host sets the port value it will send. Wouldn’t be very good in many cases but would work for Skydiver’s specific request of buttonless PCs.

#14

:joy:

My bad… I hope someone would write this… Haha…

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