Is it possible to resend all MIDI CC values with sequencer running?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

I know that double tapping the stop button when the sequencer is stopped will do it, but is there any way to accomplish the same thing when the sequencer is running? I’ve had a pretty good look through the manual and I am guessing no (other than PLocking all of the values on step 1 of a sequence, not ideal since there are 14 parameters spread across three different drum voices but it’s a last resort option) but I’d love to be proven wrong.

I’ve started sequencing the drum section in my Anushri from the OT and there are a lot of drum synthesis parameters that can only be accessed by CC on the drum channel. Unfortunately, tweaking any of the handful of front panel controls, directly or via CC on the main control channel, resets ALL of the drum parameters that were tweaked via CC, including the sample rate reduction that sounds really good (Why, Mutable? Why did you do that?). I’d love to have a way to tweak the drum controls on the Anushri itself live and then quickly resend all of the CC values from the OT to get it back to whatever custom drum sounds I had programmed via MIDI, without having to stop the sequencer or PLock all of my drum sound edits and then wait for that step to come around again.

This is one of those times when I wish there was a small, cheap standalone device that would let you save a bunch of MIDI macros with arbitrary CC and Sysex data and then fire them out in real time from a simple interface. Basically like an Alesis Datadisk except small and geared toward live performance. I’d buy something like that instantly.

#2

There is a send request message : when receiving CC 61 the Ot send all CC values.

CC61 | Send request, 0 = all audio CC

But you’d like it for midi tracks.
What about a dedicated midi track or pattern for CC reset?

#3

I forgot about that, but I just checked the manual and it only sends CC values for the audio tracks (plus in my situation the only thing plugged into the MIDI input is a CZ-101 so sending CC to the OT isn’t really an option - this is a live rig so I’m reluctant to add any more hardware to it, not even a MIDIpal or something).

I’m going to check the Anushri github, maybe there’s a new firmware I don’t know about that changes this behavior (I’m still on the firmware the kit shipped with in 2013).

#4

Yes I read again your post, and I edited mine.
What about a dedicated midi track with same channel (or a pattern) for CC reset? (I mean sending desired values with plocks)

Edit : didn’t read carefully, you’d like something else but I don’t think it’s possible.

#5

Possible but kind of clumsy, since there are more CC’s than fit on a single track (14, although I could get it down to 11 by leaving out the individual volume controls and using track velocity for that instead) I guess what I could do is dedicate a one step long track to drum sound editing, plock all of the edits on a 1-shot trig, and then if I needed to reset I could arm the trig and it would send all the CCs out. Probably the best workaround I’ll find to be honest (unless we get MIDI parameters in scenes some day, which I seriously doubt but then look what happened with trig conditions) and it would open up some interesting possibilities as far as using more steps, plocking parameter changes on them, and having them run free with a different pattern length than the patterns that were actually playing the drum sounds, for example (not to mention what TRC will open up). It would make tweaking the drum sounds on the fly a bit less straightforward but the more I think about it the more good arguments there are in favor of it.

EDIT: unless I’m misremembering and you can’t have one shot trigs on MIDI tracks, I’m about to go out to a show and don’t have time to check right now.

It also looks like there might be some firmware updates that actually solve the issue but it’s hard to tell since it’s all undocumented C++ and I don’t code at all myself. I’ll dig into the Mutable forums when I have a chance and see if I can figure it out.

#6

FIRST TRC ?

#7

When you change parts, you send midi tracks CC values, as you’d double stop, from what I just tested.

#8

What if you just reload the part, does it resend cc? Haven’t tested… :thinking:

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#9

I tested with a poor midi monitor (can’t use my computer tonight), it seems to send midi CCs when you reload the part, but I can’t see how many of them.
Maybe it only sends changed values.
Not totally sure with part reload.:sketchy:

#10

I’ll see if reloading the part does the job. As far as my thought about using a one step pattern on a dedicated track with all the CC settings plocked, an even more flexible way to use that would be to plock all of the CC values on step one of a playsfree MIDI track, that way I wouldn’t have to rely on it having a one step pattern (which means it would work regardless of whether the pattern scale was set to normal or per track, whenever I triggered that track the plocked step would play right away/according to the trig quant setting, regardless of what step the sequencer is on) and also I could have different CC values plocked on different patterns,so it would actually work as a simple preset system for the drum sounds. So it should be useful anyway, even if it doesn’t end up being the best solution for my issue.

EDIT: it looks like reload is only resending CC values if they were changed since last time the part was saved. switching from a part to an identical copy in a different slot didn’t do it, either - unfortunately the OT is apparently smart enough to only send the CC values that are different between the two parts instead of sending everything. I guess that’s good overall but not for this one thing.

On the up side, I just realized that I was wrong about the front panel SRR control reverting all of the drum settings, it only does that when I change it via MIDI, not from the front panel. If I turn any of the tuning knobs for the drum voices ALL of them revert to their stock parameters, but I can tweak the sample rate knob all I want and it’s fine. So the solution is to just double-tap stop before I start the sequencer to send my drum settings, and then never touch the drum tuning knobs or send CC for any of the high level controls for the drums to the Anushri. I can probably use the other stuff we figured out for tricks down the road.

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#11

Does the Anushri have a local off mode?
If so when activated then moving a knob on the front panel of Anushri will not change the internal parameters directly, but instead would send a cc to OT, and with OT cc direct connect enabled the OT sends the cc back to the synth to change parameters…
This might settle any differences between turning a knob on the OT or the synth…

#12

Not that I’m aware of, at least it was never mentioned in the manual It’s a moot point for this setup, since I’m only editing stuff that’s not available from the front panel, anyhow. The issue is that the three front panel tones for the drums interpolate between a 5 or 6 different preset sounds for quick tweaking, an when you move one it clears any direct editing you did over MIDI. I was wrong about the sample rate reduction control doing that. So no real problem after all, I’ll just avoid the three drum controls and do all my drum sound editing on the OT.

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#13

Very very old topic, I know, but it might be useful: For this stuff I use an app on Android that’s called “Midi Commander”. If your set up allows to connect a smart phone’s midi output to your midi router (like with a iCM4+ and a OTG cable) you can set up lots of buttons/bars/knobs etc. Buttons can send up to 5 midi messages including sysex. I have 40 buttons per page, that’s a lot. Any android phone/tablet can do, so you could just buy a cheap one and dedicate it to that task, which makes it a very cheap standalone device with a touchscreen. No server/client stuff like TouchOSC, just standalone.

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