Use NI Rig Kontrol to send CC MIDI messages and control MOD Duo

Using MOD devices
#21

Yes @domlo,

I think I will also order the foot-switch extender and the arduino shield from the first 100 units batch for Beta Testing.
But I’m still mostly interested in getting the two expression pedal inputs ( in the back of RK3), and of course the third built-in pedal in RigKontrol Hardware, to work with the MOD Duo.
When it finally gets to work, we could connect other external pedals ( like traditional analog resistive output type expression pedals some of us may have already bought in the past ) to pedal 1 and pedal 2 inputs of Rig Kontrol, interfacing these two and the built-in “pedal 3” with the MOD.
So, at least for now, I will not get rid of my RK3 till I can further test these posibilities. :slight_smile:

But your idea to use the Control Chain Arduino Shield to interface your traditional expression pedal with Duo is of course another great solution : I think people in MOD Team already made a similar hack to use the Quadra Pedal with Duo, by using an Arduino and the Control Chain Shield.

Please tell us about any advance on that direction :wink:

Regards

#22

HeyHello.
I dont own a Rig Kontrol, but I’ve made and arduino MIDI controller, that sends CC messages, that I can then assign with “learn Midi” and it, works great.
But what I can’t do (and want to) is to get any feedback from guitar rig, to send it back to the arduino (to toogle a led for example)…I’ve tried a MIDI monitor but I don’t see anything from the guitar rig. Is there a way to accomplish this?? I’ve read all the post but I only understood 50% I think :cold_sweat:

I found very useful the picture with the CC Messages sent by the RK, I would later try to send exactly those messages to see if the Guitar Rig reacts, or if it move the expression pedal without needing to use “midi learn”

#23

Hello Monti,

Correct me if I am wrong : You want to control Guitar Rig Software with a custom control board you have built ( based an Arduino ). Right?

By now, you have accomplish sending MIDI messages from Arduino to your PC ( running NI Guitar Rig Soft, most probably on top of MS Windows ) and the software recognize the commands, but only if you first configure the chosen controller using MIDI Learn, right ?

Now, you would like to move the pedal or footswitches on the virtual Rig Kontrol showed in the LIVE window of Guitar Rig software directly, in a “plug’n’play” manner - without having to go through MIDI learn on each of these controls mentioned before… yes?

OK, I think you need to undertsand the way GR Software communicates with the Rig Kontrol Hardware.
Here are some excerpts from the GR Documentation that may help you understand it better:

Rig Kontrol Rear Panel two 5-pin DIN connectors:
The RIG KONTROL features a MIDI interface with one input and one output. The RIG
KONTROL does not require MIDI to send controller messages to GUITAR RIG, but it is able to
send MIDI signals to other applications.

Switching Between MIDI Mode and GUITAR RIG Mode
You cannot switch between MIDI mode and GUITAR RIG mode from the RIG KONTROL 3. To
switch the RIG KONTROL 3 to MIDI mode:
► Simply start the Controller Editor.
Or, if the Controller Editor is already running:
► Use the Connect button in the Application Control Bar.
Inversely, if you want the RIG KONTROL 3 to control the GUITAR RIG software again (or one
of its instances), you need to re-connect it.

Visual Feedback on your Controller
Most control elements on your RIG KONTROL 3 are equipped with LEDs that inform you about
the assignment status of the control elements at any time. The fast bidirectional communication
between your RIG KONTROL 3 and the Hardware Service on the software side allows status
indications on your controller to be made in real time.

The Display
The LED Display of your RIG KONTROL 3 simply informs you about the current mode of your
Controller:
► In GUITAR RIG mode (i.e. if your Controller is connected to an instance of its dedicated
software), the LED Display shows you the number of the preset currently loaded.
► In MIDI mode (i.e. if your Controller is connected to the Controller Editor / NI Hardware
Service), the LED Display shows the letters “con” (for “Controller Editor”).

As stated in Controller Editor user’s manual, the Rig Kontrol hardware can be operated in two modes: MIDI mode or GUITAR RIG mode. The led feedback from RG Software to Rig Kontrol HW is only possible while in “Guitar Rig mode”, not in MIDI mode… but still happens throgh the NI Hardware Service, I guess…

If you want to get led status feedback, you should emulate the way the Rig Kontrol HW communicates to the GR Software in “Guitar Rig mode”( with your Arduino appearing as some kind of USB keyboard interface, similar to the way the Rig Kontrol HW does it in reality ).

Hope that helps Monti,
Regards :wink:

1 Like
#24

Thank you very much for your answer fratto.
I’ve just realized this forum is about Mod Duo, I’m a bit out of topic here :smile: sorry, didn’t know about Mod Duo until now, it looks awesome.

You’re right, what I want to do is to send information to the GR software (using the Arduino) and that the Gr software thinks its the Rig Kontrol talking. This means… It will change the leds on the “live view”
The “pulg n play” you mention would be great, but its not a problem for me use the MIDI learn function, the problem is that MIDI learn is “external” even if I assign a footswitch to a switch already assigned to RK by default, the Live view will not change when I press it.

I can control everything on the software sending any midi message I want, but the live view never change, I’ve also tried sending the same MIDI you posted previously but it still dont react. Clearly the software its not waiting for MIDI from the controller.

I think there will be no problem using the Arduino as a USB keyboard (its an Arduino Leonardo which have this feature) but I don’t know what “key Events” (as I read here) is the software waiting… I’m thinking of making a program that sends every possibly key (ascii character) and see if the software do something. I’m not really sure what Key events are.

I’ve attached a picture of my controller just because I think it looks cool :sunglasses:

Thanks again!
Bye

#25

Hello again fratto.
Im going to ask you a very big favor, if you dont mind😇. Is it possible to you to install some USB logger software on your PC to see what information the RK send? If you press each button and move the expression pedal, and send me the log, I could then send the same bytes using the arduino in Raw Hid mode, its like a generic usb, and the GR should think is the RK talking, and maybe I can even get information back from the guitar rig… So again if you please can do this, whenever you can, I would thank you for ever. tell me if I can do something for you. Thank you !

#26

Is there any progress on this?
I still haven’t come around to selling my Rig Kontrol while still having problems (not stage ready/reliable) with my arduino device.