I’m using a Line 6 Helix LT to control a Digitakt. Program changes work fine, but I haven’t found a way to control start/stop. The Digitakt is set to receive MIDI clock. The Helix has no concept of transport, so if I enable Send MIDI Clock on the Helix, the Digitakt starts playing immediately, and I have to stop it manually, after which it does nothing. The Helix can send CC, PC and MMC messages, and I have read other threads of people successfully controlling Digitakt transport, but I don’t know how to do it in this case. There are probably only so many people here doing this specific thing, but perhaps you can still enlighten me as to how you control Digitakt transport via MIDI now that tempo and transport have been merged. I’m relatively new to MIDI control, so it’s possible I’m overlooking something obvious. Thanks.
Sadly, this can’t be done anymore without external midi tools.
There used to be a separate menu option for transport control in the sync options menu.
It’s been removed in one of the earlier firmware updates. 
That had kind of been my suspicion, based on what I’ve read – but there are people talking about controlling start/stop on the Digitakt somehow, unless the update that removed transport control made that impossible. Are there other options are out there that work with current firmware? What external MIDI tools are you referring to? Or perhaps people need to start trafficking in the old firmware… 
Sorry, my brain somehow missed the MMC part…
The Helix LT can send MMC, so you should be able to control the transport of the Digitakt.
The Helix LT manual doesn’t specifically state which MMC messages it can send, but assigning one button to ‘play’ and another to either ‘stop’ or ‘pause’ should work.
The Digitakt should be set to receive midi clock and the Helix LT will have to send out a constant midi clock signal.
(I don’t know if the Digitakt responds to MMC record messages, but they are part of the the MMC spec so it can’t hurt to try those too. Might be usefull.)
edit: According to the manual, all the midi assignments have to be done with the ‘Command Center’ software.
Thanks for the replies. I can set a footswitch on the Helix to send MMC messages, but the Digitakt doesn’t respond – as soon as I set the Helix to Send MIDI Clock, the Digitakt starts playing the current pattern immediately, but if I subsequently press the footswitch I assigned to the MMC Stop command, the Digitakt doesn’t respond, and once I stop the Digitakt manually, I can’t restart it with an MMC Play command.
I haven’t gotten any MMC commands to work yet, but I’m not sure if you need to specify a channel or anything on the Digitakt, and there is no channel setting for MMC messages on the Helix. There doesn’t seem to be much information out there about the Digitakt and MMC commands, and the word “transport” appears only once in the Digitakt manual, with no explanation other than enabling Receive MIDI Clock, and “MMC” doesn’t appear at all.
Do you know of ANY existing method for controlling start/stop on the Digitakt via MIDI that still works with the current firmware? I’ve seen videos of people controlling start/stop with external hardware via MIDI with the old firmware, but I’m still trying to determine if it’s possible with the current firmware.
I don’t think the Digitakt will respond to MMC messages, but the standard MIDI messages (single-byte messages) like
- start (decimal 250, hex 0xFA)
- continue (decimal 251, hex 0xFB)
- stop (decimal 252, hex 0xFC)
are working.
As far as I have seen you are out of luck to use that directly with the Line 6 Helix, but you can work around it by inserting a MIDI processor into your MIDI chain which can translate CC messages into start/stop/continue messages.
You’re right. I mixed up MMC with the midi clock start/stop/continue.
I thought I could make it work for you with only the Helix, but my very first answer appears to be the correct one.
An external tool would be for instance Bome Midi Translator.
For a stand-alone solution there is the Bomebox.
Retrokits also sells hardware that can be programmed, but requires knowledge of C/C++.
Helix LT Digitakt Transport.bmtp (1.4 KB)
I made a Midi Translator project that does what you want. You can use it in the trial version to test.
It will ask for 2 midi assignment on startup, the Helix and the Digitakt.
Send the following messages from the Helix and it should work:
CC 1 is Stop
CC 2 is Start
CC 3 is Continue
edit: To work correctly, you still have to make a routing connection from the Helix to the Digitakt. I could’t get it to save with the file.
Thanks for your help guys! So the Digitakt doesn’t read MMC messages (which I suspected), but it does understand MIDI start/stop messages, if you have a device capable of sending them (which the Helix and many others I’ve seen don’t appear to be). I could conceivably do what you’re suggesting and send a CC message to a box such as the Bomebox (or maybe even the Retrokits RK-002 with the right programming) and have it translate it into start/stop messages – not sure if that’s overkill, but it’s an option.
Wow, thanks for going above and beyond DreamXcape! I’ll check that out. If I did have a Bomebox and a file like the one you attached, would I still need a computer (aside from many the initial setup)?
Tnussb, how are the MIDI messages you’re describing typically categorized in a MIDI setup? Most MIDI devices can send CC, Program Change and Note messages, and some can do SysEx – is what you’re describing SysEx, or something else? I’m still learning about the many flavors of MIDI…
Alternatively, is there any kind of standalone box you guys might suggest that would be able to send MIDI transport commands the Digitakt would understand (what Tnussb is describing above) without a computer? If so, I assume that device would also have to be responsible for sending MIDI clock to the Digitakt (and thus managing the tempo)? It looks like the Soleman MIDI foot controller may be able to do it, but I’m still a little fuzzy as to how exactly it all works. =)
The Bomebox I mentioned is the stand-alone version of Bome Midi Translator Pro. It requires a computer to upload the files, but is completely stand-alone after that. The file I uploaded can be used with that.
The Bomebox can’t generate midi clock, but it can route, split, divide and translate midi clock. Since the helix can send midi clock, it can be routed to the Digitakt.
The Bomebox can do a lot more though. For instance, my Digitakt now has portamento. 
The Retrokits RK-002 could also probably do what you want, but you’ll have to code it to work.
It is a lot cheaper than a Bomebox though.
I don’t exactly understand what you mean with the sysex part. Sysex is System Exclusive messages, they are different for every device. MMC is also send as sysex messages, but they are standardized.
edit: I see now the sysex question wasn’t for me. What tnussb describes are the bytes that are sent, midi is basically an old serial connection. The messages described are standard midi messages.
Helix LT Digitakt Transport.bmtp (2.1 KB)
Here is a better version of the file that also blocks the transport messages from the Helix so that enabling the clock doesn’t start the Digitakt immediately. It also has the clock already routed to the Digitakt.
For other CC messages, you still need to create the routing.
(I do midi translator stuff for fun, to me it’s just a puzzle waiting to be solved 
)
The Soleman MIDI foot controller will also work, since it can generate midi clock by itself.
They are categorized as MIDI realtime messages and are just a single byte long and have the highest bit set. The special thing about these realtime messages is that they can appear anywhere in the MIDI stream even in the middle of another MIDI message (for example: a long SYSEX message).
And, yes, the bomebox is really overkill for such a simple CC-to-Realtime translation. You should be able to do this with almost every MIDI processor even the cheapest ones.
It really sucks that uou can’t start/stop Digitakt from Helix. It’s surprising given that its such a basic feature and critical for any live performance.