Correct you need to switch channels to whatever channel the tracks MIDI IN is set to. On the Keystep at least this is very easy by just holding Shift and selecting a channel.
Hypothetically yes you could set all 6 tracks to receive on the same channel. But do you really want to trigger a sample on all 6 tracks with every key press? To be clear here, all tracks will be receiving the MIDI data you send not just the one you have selected for editing on the device.
Not quite, you set the controlling keyboard to the Auto Channel of the MC and whenever you change tracks the two will be connected
Wait seriously??? How the hell do you set that up? My mind just exploded.
EDIT: looks like it is mentioned in the manual, I probably just didn’t care at the time when I read that bit and promptly forgot. Wow this is excellent. Now if only they’d fix the MIDI Thru issue.
Establish the auto channel from the MC (different value to track channels) … iirc it might be 8
Set the KS to that and it acts like the onboard keys, especially useful for parameter locking etc
Wow and I bet that would fix the issue that I have been having where I press keys on my Keystep but it doesn’t trigger samples while I’m digging through the patch library. It instead triggers the channel current preset instead.
Wow dude you solved multiple problems for me, thanks. Lol and I thought I was originally commenting to help, ended up learning more myself.
EDIT:
Alright well solved one of my problems, the auto-channel bit worked. Unfortunately even when sending over auto-channel I can’t find a way to use an external keyboard to trigger samples you’re previewing from the folders.
Great.
And how to use the Arturia pads to select Model:Sample tracks ?
Should we send some CC ?
It’s not one of the supported CC commands - you’d need to do some deep-dive sysex tweaking to do this via a pc e.g.
the MC is meant to be more about hands on i guess
On another side, I can select patterns with PC, but still searching how to start play 
Might be worth checking out something like MIDI-OX that lets you monitor all MIDI activity on a device (i.e. PC, audio interface). You might be able to get the command info you need from there. Here is an example of the output you see as MIDI commands are flowing:
it’s just a standard midi transport message - but not all controller devices support sending it, there are some though, but there’s no way to control seq recording on the Elektrons, that’s hands on too
I already use MIDI-OX, thanks
But which one ? CC number ?
It’s not a CC - it’s a system real-time message, no channels, no settings, just a command called Start (or Stop)
https://www.midi.org/specifications-old/item/table-1-summary-of-midi-message
0xFA in Hex - the controlling device is where you need to look for compatibility, it will be obvious in its text labelling if not in Hex
Do you know how to send it from Midi-OX ?*
The Arturia MiniLab MkII appears not to be able to send the required messages (Start, Stop, Continue).
MiniLab sends it but under a SYSEX form : F0 7F 7F 06 02 F7
Looking for a way to send 0xFA if its the real thing to send for play.
It would be nice if Model:Sample would accept the SYSEX form which seems to have been adopted by many…
EDIT because I reached the limit on message number on 1st day:
It seems that the SYSEX message is the normal form for MMC Play/Stop
Problem must be in the Device ID equal to 7F (All devices) used by Arturia?
0xF0 0x7F deviceID 0x06 0xF7 ???
Model:Sample does not answer to this message.
Disappointed, I still need to press play/stop on it where all the other parameters can be midi controlled 
…
I just discovered that when you change some PARAMETER with midi CC, the display is not activated to show the changes, it works silently… would have prefered to see the changes but it’s minor because most of the time you can press a note and hear.
The Midi Out / Thru issue is such a bummer. Not being able to trigger (hear) an external piece of gear from say a Keystep while recording the midi to the sequencer is a major flaw for my setup. Any ideas on a work around?
Yeah, I hear you. For the Keystep specifically, the workaround is easy - just record the sequence into the Keystep’s sequencer (while in MIDI Thru mode). Once done, you can ‘teach’ the Model:Samples the sequence from the Keystep (live record on the M:S, play on the Keystep).
For some other MIDI controller that doesn’t have a built-in sequencer, there is no real workaround. Generally what I would do is just create a sequence using an internal sample on the M:S, then send that sequence out to the external piece of gear. If you use a sample that sounds somewhat like the external piece of gear, it should be workable.
That is a good solution. I think my main issue is that I hate the Keystep sequencer haha. I’m much more of a visual step sequencer kinda guy. I should pick up a Beatstep or BSP and use that.
