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Which app let you control midi Program Change
I have seen that StepPolyArp is now able to receive Program Change midi data. But do you have an idea how it can be pragmatically used and which app can pilot this feature?
Comments
I don't think there are many (any?) DAW/sequencer apps that send Program Change messages. There are a few MIDI utility apps that will send them. What are you wanting to do, exactly?
Midisteps
Sidecar works for my BopPad
Auria and Xequence certainly can, and pretty sure Cubasis and MTS do as well.
I can certainly imagine it would be cool to embed triggering certain SPA patterns in something like FugueMachine....
In this specific case I would like to automatically change the patterns in StepPolyArp. I like the idea of FugueMachine doing this by the way. But in a more “live” way, I would like to be able to change a preset in a synth just by pressing a button or automatically (for example triggered by a randomizer like Refraktions)
Using a hardware button on your controller should be easy - depended on the hardware.
As for bringing up FM, that’s a pipe dream - I’m unaware personally of anything in the step sequencer world that has PC (modstep maybe?). And in general, I’ve never heard of random a PC generator....
perhaps setting up something in Midiflow could be done. Setup a step sequencer with probability on the notes, and have Midiflow convert those notes to PC and send them to SPA. Hmmmm
I have a question as to how do you generate a PC message? Is it on a specific CC channel? Is it formatted in a specific way to tell the synth it is a PC message? How do you usually generate and send these messages on a Midi KB or with a sequencer app?
@CracklePot
Program Change is an absolute message - not like a CC message that can be mapped to any function. So there is one PC message per midi channel.
How it is transmitted and received is going to vary quite a bit though. A hardware controller may have to be setup to transmit PC when a certain button is pushed. In Auria, one must open the automation lane for PC and draw in a point with the correct PC value. A hardware synth would need to be receiving on the midi channel the PC is sent on, and may have to have PC receive enabled. iOS apps as well will need to be set to the right channel - as long as that app has the functionality to implement PC changes.
So while PC is a clearly defined message in the midi spec, each manufacturer or dev may implement it differently.
If you have specifics about what hardware and/or apps you are using it may be easier to answer your question....
That was actually really helpful already. I have a better idea of what PC messages are and how to generate and send/receive them. It seems rather complicated, which is what I suspected. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t some simple or common method for using them that I was not aware of.
When the day comes, I am sure I will be bugging you for advice.
I use MIDI Studio Pro
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/midi-studio-pro/id590496392?mt=8
I don't remember if it was that expensive when I bought it ages ago, but since you can design your own MIDI controller interface with it, I made a controller with 4 buttons on it to switch between the 4 presets on my Keith McMillen BopPad. Works like a charm.
There's a non "Pro" version of this app, but I'm not sure what the limitations are....
Quantum sends PC, Audio Evolution Mobile, Midiflow to name a few.
I note that the selected patches in apps are nor saved with the audiobus file. This renders it unusable in a live situation. I guess this is because there is no program change facility.
which apps are you referring to?
Audiobus saves patches in standalone apps which have Audiobus statesaving added, or if they are AUv3 apps.
You can also use AU apps to add program change to audiobus sessions. Streambyter can send a program change on load with a script for example
I added a thread about this in the apps tips and tricks section.
I give life again to this thread as it doesn’t answer so much the OP.
I am using an Octatrack and iOS synths via AUM. The program changes are well sent on the specific channels of each synths (Mersenne, Model 15, Audiokit amongst others).
The synths respond to the PC but everytime i load a project, the patches played and their settings (i.e volume) are not set properly. I have to change the settings/bank number and come back so the synths obey.
I don’t know if it is due to the Octatrack or the synths (maybe AUM as well).
Could you clarify whether you're using the synths as AUv3 or IAA?
If those synths are loaded as AUv3, restoring an AUM session should restore all their settings. This probably won't work for IAA apps (listed as Inter-App Audio by AUM). They will just load whatever their default is. That's why you need to use PC to load the correct preset.
Some IAA apps support "Audiobus state saving" (they're marked in the Audiobus Apps list), and should work when an Audiobus preset is restored. So you might have more success with Audiobus.
I use them as IAA. So my problem would be that i’d need the octatrack to send a PC change on start. It seems it sends in case of change but not when i startto play the pattern.
A little StreamByter, loaded in AUM, might be able add the needed message, possibly reacting to the start message.
Could you tell me how to set it up? Shall i load it as a separate channel?
Yes, for example. You'll have to actively send all the required PC messages before the track starts. Since decades, MIDI files often have 1 or 2 empty bars including all the required program changes on the respective MIDI channels before the song starts because usually you'll have to wait a few hundred milliseconds until the synth is ready to produce sound again.
Dunno which sequencer you're using inside AUM but Imaginando LK supports both MIDI files and sending PC messages anywhere.
I don’t use any sequencer in Aum. As said in the OP, i am sequencing from an octatrack.
You can use StreamByter to convert a CC or note message to PC one.
You load StreamByter on a midi channel, route octatrack to streambyter, and from streambyter to whatever you want to actually control.
I can't help you on the code to make it work tho. But it comes with some examples.
By way of example, here's a quick Mozaic script demonstrating sending a bank and program change on host playback start. It could be expanded to set the bank and program via knobs rather than in code, but that would make it longer.
Or, if the Octatrack can be made to send out a particular cc or note just once at the beginning of the pattern, then something like mfxConvert could alter it into a PC message without any coding needed.
I have the non-pro version, and I while I can have buttons for Program Changes, I can't find a way to enter bank (MSB/LSB) parameters. Am I missing something? Is that something you can do in the Pro version?
Bank select messages are plain standard CC messages. MSB is CC #00 and LSB is CC #32.
PatternBud also let’s you sequence PC messages.
Thanks! With that guidance, I thought I was all set... but it turns out I think I misunderstood the whole concept of MIDI Studio, as I can find no way to send the Program Changes directly to my keyboard, it seems to only want to talk to a computer/DAW, am I correct? I have a bluetooth connection to my keyboard and just want some buttons to call up sounds, and I don't think this is the program after all.
I've also looked at MIDI Designer Pro, but can't figure out how its PC/MSB/LSB works. And I've looked at MIDI Macros which looked promising, but it says my bluetooth MIDI device is offline, even though the iPad's Settings app shows it as connected. Then TouchOSC but haven't seen how to enter more than one command on a button (i.e. the Program Change and the Bank Change). I didn't expect sending MSB/LSB/PC to my keyboard from a bunch of on-screen labeled buttons to be so tricky!
@anotherscott2 Using separate buttons for sending MSB/LSB/PC is a good start.
Make sure you read the manufacturer's MIDI spec in detail, from what I've seen, most devices only change a program bank after receiving the complete set MSB+LSB, then PC.
Yeah, with some of these apps, it would be easier to see how to do it using 3 separate on-screen buttons. But if the idea is quick patch changing in the middle of a song (e.g. at a gig), it's much better to tap one button than to have to tap a sequence of three. Plus there's the variable that, every now and then, you can miss (or for some other reason an intended tap does not register)... If you miss one, you can just do it again, but if something goes awry in your sequence of three screen taps, more can go wrong (you could accidentally invoke some other sound, etc.). Plus, if you need three screen-buttons to change a sound, that means you can only fit one third as many possible sounds on a screen. :-(