Midi control parameters of ableton VST from iPad PRO

garjoy

Hi there, here’s my situation. I have an instance of spectrasonics omnisphere synth 2 running as a VST inside Ableton on my old 2009 MacBook Pro. I’ve configured the parameters I want to control, cut off, res, frequency etc. and now I’m trying to midi map those parameters so they can be controlled via my iPad Pro.

I’m hoping Drambo can do this by using a midi module?

I’ve used the Mac’s midi studio to set up the routing of midi over WIFI from my iPad to the MacBook and it’s recognising the piano keys but I’m having zero success mapping midi knobs to the synths parameters.

Is this even possible? Pretty new to this but would love any ideas/solutions or anything that might put me on the right track. I have Audiobus 3 also but not sure how to implement that.

Thanks for reading.

sigma79

With Drambo. If setting up a midi app to control. Even in Drambo. I think it works by midi out module and set to midi feedback. Then obviously send same parameters.

Not sure.

Maybe woodtroller might send midi as its a bt app and is already mapped to some synths. If synths come with parameters mapped.

sigma79

I guess a cc knob module. Midi out. Midi feedback. Make knobs match cc of abelton parameters.

sigma79

Cant test your setup.

Drambo to Drambo as I dont think Drambo advertises as a bt controller but if you are getting midi because your mac sees ipad. Then feedback on module output should work.

If not Woodtroller works in standalone it has a bt button which is then seen on another ipads Drambo. Without needing modules.

You get 8 knobs. Some buttons. An mpe controller. When used as auv3 and not needing app to be full screen and dont need to use the apps knobs ( because of maybe mapping to a midi controller instead )

The mpe keyboard can be about 4 inches. So you like meh. What a ui flaw but the keyboard works just as well as full screen. Or in my case. For programming and being able to tweak synth still. Would then mayve resize.

Its because its got a scaling knob. Which means its also like tuning the pitch range of keyboard because of size scale. Other mpe keyboards need rows of keys to get gain octaves.

With woodtroller. Its like you got an 88 key octave. In a few inches and can still key notes.

Theres other bt apps. Surface builder etc. Just search app store for midi apps that have bt.

Should work just like pairing a korg nanokey etc.

But Drambo should be better if you need to additionally sequence or make drums etc.

RetroNewb

Omni TR is Spectrasonics own IOS controller app ,search appstore I don’t know how to link .
Last updated 7 years ago , don’t know if it still works , but I remembered them having one .
Good luck , @garjoy

wim

@garjoy said:
Hi there, here’s my situation. I have an instance of spectrasonics omnisphere synth 2 running as a VST inside Ableton on my old 2009 MacBook Pro. I’ve configured the parameters I want to control, cut off, res, frequency etc. and now I’m trying to midi map those parameters so they can be controlled via my iPad Pro.

I’m hoping Drambo can do this by using a midi module?

I’ve used the Mac’s midi studio to set up the routing of midi over WIFI from my iPad to the MacBook and it’s recognising the piano keys but I’m having zero success mapping midi knobs to the synths parameters.

Is this even possible? Pretty new to this but would love any ideas/solutions or anything that might put me on the right track. I have Audiobus 3 also but not sure how to implement that.

Thanks for reading.

Can you please clarify what you are sending from on the iPad? Sounds like maybe Drambo, but I'm not sure. Whatever app it is, can you post a screenshot that shows how the midi output is configured in that app?

wim

I've verified that it's possible to send MIDI CC's out from Drambo to control a VST (Synthmaster 1) in Ableton. So I think all we need to do is drill down to the details of what you've tried in order to figure out the problem.

garjoy

Thanks @wim Yes that’s exactly it, i’m attempting to send midi CC’s from DRAMBO over network session to a vst in Ableton. I was doing this by creating a midi rack and then populating it with several midi cc controllers that could be assigned to each parameter of the vst synth in ableton that I want to control.

On my mac in ableton on my vst I identified the cc channel of each of the parameters, cc81, cc82 etc and then on my iPad in DRAMBO I assigned each midi cc controller in the midi rack with a corresponding CC channel.

Then whilst in midi map mode in ableton, I’d select the configured parameter of the vst, move over to the iPad and tweak the cc controller in DRAMBO… but the vst parameter doesn’t detect the midi CC’s being sent.

wim

@garjoy said:
Thanks @wim Yes that’s exactly it, i’m attempting to send midi CC’s from DRAMBO over network session to a vst in Ableton. I was doing this by creating a midi rack and then populating it with several midi cc controllers that could be assigned to each parameter of the vst synth in ableton that I want to control.

On my mac in ableton on my vst I identified the cc channel of each of the parameters, cc81, cc82 etc and then on my iPad in DRAMBO I assigned each midi cc controller in the midi rack with a corresponding CC channel.

Then whilst in midi map mode in ableton, I’d select the configured parameter of the vst, move over to the iPad and tweak the cc controller in DRAMBO… but the vst parameter doesn’t detect the midi CC’s being sent.

I tried with iDAM, not with network session. It's late, and for some reason my iPad doesn't want to connect up to the MacBook over Network Session right now.

[edit] nvm - got it working.

Are you sure that the network session is connected? Does the iPad show as connected in the Mac Audio/Midi Setup? I'm guessing it is because you say you can send notes. A screen shot of that midi rack, as well as anything showing where you've set the midi output would be helpful.

Here's my simple test track that works fine. Note that I needed to establish the connection from the MacBook. I don't think Drambo sets it up automatically on its own.

sigma79

Were going to say. It isnt midi feedback. This is to direct midi ( of midi apps cc etc ) through the same Drambo

garjoy

garjoy

Trying to make that midi CC control the cut off on the omnisphere. But it’s not working.

garjoy

garjoy

When midi mapping to the VST the piano keys are detected but not the rotary knob which is what I’m looking to do.

knewspeak

@garjoy said:

Is it recognised as a control surface, blue hand and midi setup, preferences?

sigma79

Will it send midi. If you got a cc module, after the midi out module ?

wim

@garjoy said:
When midi mapping to the VST the piano keys are detected but not the rotary knob which is what I’m looking to do.

The routing, and what you're trying to do is difficult to figure out from your screenshot. There's nothing in the screenshot that looks like it would result in a midi cc being sent out.

• What is the midi output in the track settings set to?
• You've got a CC generator module. It outputs to the track output. But what is incoming to the track that would generate a CC? There has to be an input other than just the trigger in order to generate a value. Note how the input above the trigger is grey? That means it's not connected to anything, so there's no value for it to send. See how in my example there's an LFO connected to the value input? You don't have anything like that.

Can you maybe describe clearly what it is you're trying to use to module the VST cutoff?

garjoy

No still not working

garjoy

Thanks @wim and others for your help. I guess I just don’t know enough about Drambo and routing midi to figure it out just yet.

wim

I'm sure you can learn though by taking things step by step.

Keep in mind a couple of things:

• There are two ways to output midi from Drambo. There's the track midi output that you set in the track settings, and there is the midi output module. I like to use the midi output module because it's easier to see at a glance what is happening.
• Routing goes from left to right. A midi source should be to the left of the output module.
• Pay attention to what the input of the output module is connected to. For instance, in your example, the midi output module is connected to the track midi, not to the cc generator that is just to the left of it. You can tell that from the color of the midi plug on the midi output module.

I suggest starting simple and building from there. Try placing an LFO followed by a CC generator and a midi output module. Tap the top input of the CC generator, then tap the output of the LFO to connect them. Note that the input turns to the same color of the LFO module as a visual aid to show what it's connected to. The midi output module should have connected to the midi cc generator module automatically. That midi plug input should be the same color as the midi cc generator module.

It should look something like this:

See if that modulates the knob in your VST. If it does then we can build from there if you describe more fully what you're trying to do.

espiegel123

I think the first thing to test is that Drambo is sending the cc you want by routing it to a midi monitor on the iPad itself. Then deal with figuring out routing to the mac

garjoy

Thanks again @wim for the thorough advice. @espiegel123 that sounds like a good next step also

knewspeak

@espiegel123 said:
I think the first thing to test is that Drambo is sending the cc you want by routing it to a midi monitor on the iPad itself. Then deal with figuring out routing to the mac

Yes then also if this checks out correctly a midi monitor on the Mac.