Does such a thing exist? I’ve got a couple of older pieces of gear with rudimentary midi that I’m sure would get new life if they could be locked or modulated, Elektron style. A non-computer option would be ideal, although I’m not sure if there is any hardware or iPad app that can do this.
A quick google search doesn’t reveal a lot, so I’m guessing there is nothing and it is probably just a PITA to do…
mmm…i don’t think i’ve seen something like that and as you say, it would probably be a ‘big pita’
because of the way sysex messages work, one should probably translate all the Sysex message into a MIDI CCs (if any available). it could as well be that the Sysex message doesn’t have a corresponding MIDI CC on the machine and you can only do certain things with a Sysex message.
which messages can you send to your old gears?
Interesting idea. I have seen controllers (Behringer BCR, Novation Zero) advertised that they send sysex, but I don’t know if you could send them CC and have them send sysex downstream
I’ve written code to do this on a computer for some old Roland synths and it’s pretty straightforward. The issue is that you’ll need code for each different synth you want to support since the way parameter control is implemented with SysEx varies greatly between manufacturer and even model.
Arduino might be a decent candidate if you want to do this in a standalone device.
i’ll be up for building templates into the wee app i’m working on (that’s the basic idea behind it). if anyone else wants to, i’ll be happy to create templates for their machines…
Guga, I will check out your app over the weekend and see if it may work. If you were so inclined to help me with a template for a machine, that would be excellent
I suppose it may actually be better if it went CC>Sysex, ie translate a CC value sent from an Elektron to sysex on the machine in question.
As for what I’m trying to control, first and foremost is my Kawai XD-5 (is everyone sick of me talking about this thing and sysex control yet? ) and K4R, but I am also likely picking up an Alpha Juno 1 tonight.
Yeah, I’ve seen a few control options for the AJ. I’ve already got a Lemur template on my iPad in anticipation. However, I’m specifically hoping to have a way to parameter lock some things (filter cutoff, etc), which can only be done with CCs, hence the query for some way to send CC from the OT/MNM/MD to a device that only has those parameters as SysEx.
edit: StinkyBeat, the Midi Solutions Event Processor might just be the ticket. I’ll have to investigate it further. Thanks!
The Alpha Juno 1 responds to 6 CCs and you get some routing.
1 mod depth
4 foot controller (options below)
5 glide time
7 volume
64 sustain
65 glide on/off
The foot controller can be set to control volume, aftertouch, and dynamics. Volume is covered by cc7. After touch can be routed to pitch, filter cutoff, and VCA amount. Dynamics is envelope depth (must be sent before note on and does not respond while a note is playing); the envelope can be set to modulate the same parameters as aftertouch.
I’ve made a complete editor for Singles for the XD-5 using Max/MSP. I plan on sharing it at some point. Just need to iron out a few things with Patch i/o handling.
It would be easy to translate a CC to SysEx with something like Max/MSP. Although the XD-5 SysEx Params don’t send well while you are triggering the sound. You’d have to send the parameter changes right before you triggered the Sound.
Chad-I’d be interested in checking out your Max patch if you decide to share it. Looks excellent.
I actually picked up the MM-16 controller to help program the XD-5 and K4R, and it works quite well for that purpose and allows you to change parameters in real time, but it also gets frequent buffer issues and needs to be reset. I grabbed it with the hope of getting the strings from it to make my own templates for the Kawai’s, but getting sysex values via midi monitor hasn’t worked so far (the XD just doesn’t respond), so I’m at a standstill. Would you mind if I pm’ed you to get your input, since you’ve got some idea of the Kawai architecture?
The MM-16 is a great MIDI controller! Don’t see them too often. Not just for Kawai gear but really anything that you want to control.
You should be able to pull the MIDI messages from the MM-16. I remember doing this for a few parameters when I first started. The MM-16 seems to feature more controls for the K4 vs the XD-5. What are you using to watch the MM16 strings? Check out Venom Vysex librarian editor. A free editor which is based off of the old MIDI quest. I found that trick from this video:
Other things off the top of my head. Is your XD-5 OS 1.1 or 1.2? Kawai did fix some SysEx bug supposedly with Source muting in OS 1.2. You can order the latest OS chips from Kawai support. Or if you have an EPROM burner I can send you the .bin file for OS 1.2.
Would you still happen to have the Kawai XD-5 version 1.2 EPROM BIN available? I have been looking for it for some time and would really like to upgrade my unit.