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MIDI routing in AUM: MIDI control, MIDI buses, and outboard controllers
I use MFXstrip in AUM to filter MIDI channels so I can control on the fly the routing from my two keyboards to four different softsynths. I'm sending commands from MIDI Designer.
The weird thing is that I had this working, but now it doesn't and I forgot how I did it. Why? Because I haven't even turned on my music setup for more than two years, and I forgot how I programmed this in the first place. (I spent the last two years doing abstract painting and not music; now I'm back to doing music.)
Specifically, in the little Audeonic MFXstrip plugin, how do I access the MIDI receive parameters for the "allow incoming" field? I'm sending from buttons in MIDI Designer, but something got corrupted in my absence and now I'm trying to fix it. I want to switch between "any" "1" "2" "3" in MFXstrip.
Or is there a better plugin now that will do the same job and not be so cryptic? It's just a little switch I duplicate in each of the AUM channels that send MIDI to the individual soft synths.
On a personal note, I'm excited to be getting back into music and to be rejoining my friends here in the Audiobus forum who were so helpful a few years ago. I'm just getting "back in the saddle," with grand plans to redesign my setup around Loopy Pro.
Thanks,
Steve
ThinAirX
Comments
So you just need a screen buttons, that will switch to the synth you wish to control via keyboards ?
I have two keyboards--a QuNexus (for arps and weirdness) and an 88-key stage piano. In my live sets I play any combination of four synths with one or the other or both keyboards. I control everything in AUM from MIDI Designer. All I need is a way to filter the incoming MIDI channel at the top of each synth track, controllable by a MIDI CC.
If there's a way to do this in AUM, I haven't found it (and I know AUM pretty well). I'm open for suggestions.
Thanks,
Steve
@ThinAirX - I think where you're probably going wrong is you need to route the control midi to AUM Midi Control, not to mfxStrip. Midi Control is where the mfxStrip AUv3 parameters for what you want to do are.
On the other subject, you may want to check out AUM Midi busses so that you don't need all those mfxStrip instances. Busses let you route a controller out to various synths and they can be enabled and disabled through midi commands. So, you could route your keyboards into busses instead of straight to the synths, then send midi to disable the ones you don't want and enable the ones you do.
Dont realy understand. Maybe someone will help you with mfx but made a vid of 2 keyboards routed through drambo. So all you do is press drambo track buttons or midi map the track buttons. Which then chooses the synth the keyboards control.
You would also gain a sequencer.
What about this.
A couple of Drambo au so buttons are at bottom of screen and synths cover all of the drambos apart from the track switching buttons, needed.
If both tracks chosen, from both drambos are the same. Both keyboards will trigger the same synth.
Then you just choose whatever tracks to play from the track buttons to seperate and play different tracks.
What could be easier to control 4 synth with 2 controllers.
Than a 2 x 4 buttons.
If you want to play synth 1. Then you press button 1 from each row.
If you want to play synth 3 with the controller to your right.
Then you press button 3 from the second row.
It might be me not understanding but sometimes I think theres overthinking, the app situation and the resolve.
Sometimes you gotta just be more dumb to be smart.
"Sometimes you gotta just be more dumb to be smart." That's about where I am now.
All, I'll work through all your excellent suggestions tomorrow and see what I can do. I would love to simplify.
FWIW, I had this working before and made lots of music with it. I'm just stuck now after this long hiatus.
Did you see my post about sending the controlling Midi to AUM Midi control rather than to mfxStrip? That seems like it would be the likely missing piece if you had it working before.
If you have any of your old saved sessions, they should still probably have the routings.
Cool ThinAirX.
Would have still been cool to know if the vid posted is what you mean.
Trying to also create 2 rows of buttons because 2 Drambos, which would be needed would have to be a Drambo at top of screen and a Drambo at bottom of screen. Just so it would be the apps buttons showing in AUMs screen.
A more custom screen layout, with an additional pad app, still needs to trigger the drambo tracks.
This is if you dont have a hardware pad controller to switch tracks.
Ideally you would be able to customise where the 2 x button grid would be ( side of screen even ) but IOS apps fail to deliver.
KB-1 are just note value midi out.
Xequence pads are just note value midi out.
I dont see why 2 devs thought no one might want to make a controller of keys with a row of cc buttons to switch tracks, so you can then use the same keys to play another track. Its like the only apps you dont want to be multiple instance.
Loopy has cc but seems hard to get midi out.
It has midi out ( aum )
Id be able to make with surface builder but refunded app as I didnt need because iv got enough hardware controllers.
With the correct midi cc button app.
You would have 2 rows of buttons to how many synths you have. Buttons anywhere on screen, top or side etc.
Then just press buttons to be on the same synth or seperate synths with the keyboards.
Thank you for your generous help and suggestions. I'll work through all of these one at a time; I have a lot to learn to get back up to speed. I'm going to look first at the "new" MIDI features in AUM that were added since I was last using it in 2021. That might be all for an elegant solution to this conrol problem.
@sigma79 , I appreciate you making the vid and your suggestions. I don't have Drambo, and you might have misunderstood that my two keyboards are outboard hardware and the synths are 4 separate apps hosted in AUM. I'm tracking down Wim's suggestion for going through MIDI Controller in AUM. Also, I'm digging in to learning about MIDI buses (which AUM didn't have when I first designed this) and I see how that would be a simpler solution.
BUT, the more I learn about Loopy Pro, I'm beginning to think I can replace MIDI Designer with LP widgets for routing my keyboard MIDI.
Steve
Loopy Pro is indeed flexible, but not quite as flexible and intuitive as AUM when it comes to routing. You can indeed set up widgets in it so you don't need Midi Designer. There's a helpful page on the Loopy Pro Wiki that might be helpful: https://wiki.loopypro.com/Synth_Routing_Switch.
(I'm not sure if you're looking into replacing both AUM and MDP2 with Loopy or if you just meant to use Loopy to replace MDP2 only. If the latter, then ignore my comment above.)
Hi dude.
The Drambos are hosted in aum ( as shown in vid )
The virtual keyboards were just for illustration purposes. You can obviously route hardware.
You simply press a button on a drambo track and it then allows you to control which synth with which controller.
It couldnt be simpler if thats all you are trying to achieve.
Control synths with hardware keyboards. Either both to same synth or then split to different synths.
I noticed you had another midi app. I installed but dosent appear to host in aum ? So I wouldnt use that anyway.
Id be hosting Drambo in aum then buying surface builder for whatever it is you need the midi app for.
Your aum screen could be all midi sliders etc.
Then the 2 rows of cc pads, which choose which keyboard triggers which synth or if combined.
So your keyboard points at Drambo ( which is hosted in aum )
Drambo then points at synths in aum.
Drambo is already setup, as is.
You then just go to aum channels and un-highlight all midi channels except for the channel strip you on.
Complete.
But where you wanted to either control a synth with 2 controllers but then flick a switch or whatever and then have a controller control a different synth.
You just then need 2 Drambos in aum. Setup exactly the same way.
You then have an aum hosted midi app thing for all your other slider or fader needs.
Id still opt for a Drambo at the bottom of screen and a Drambo at top of screen, just because if you made a surface builder buttons. There wouldnt be feedback to what track you pressed but with surface builder, there might well be.
Am I still not understanding the keyboard to synth issues ?
If not.
Is there actually anything easier ( wims opinion perhaps )
Then just pressing a button to reroute all your midi keyboards to whatever synths ?
Hello again.
If you forget the keyboards are there.
Its just to show you which of your keyboards will be able to control which synth at the press of a button.
Buttons will be either
a) Drambo at the top and bottom of screen ( and you need drambo for this to work anyway )
b) Some hardware buttons instead mapped to drambo tracks ( but drambos not be visible )
c ) Surface builder or loopy ( but I couldnt get midi out of loopy to drambo pads ) and perhaps mapping a midi apps pads to drambo, wont show you what track you on/just pressed etc ( but it may do )
and this other midi app you using anyway.
Does the pro version even host in aum or not?
With another midi app. All your midi faders etc will be in aum, plus the button thing for switching synths.
Is it not even what you mean lol
The keyboard question.
2 keyboards to synths.
Then choose what keyboard controls which synth
( as shown in vid )
?
Apologies if its me lol.
Ma dude.
Is this what you mean about using 2 hardware keyboards and freely switch to whatever synth or have both keyboards control the same synth?
Forget the on screen keyboards ( they are your hardware keyboards )
I bought Surface builder and will have to await a refund ( no worries )
Because I couldnt get midi out of loopy ( for widgets ) to the Drambo track pads.
Its up to you if you would need the Drambos to be also visible. Maybe it helps to show what track you on, when you do switch tracks. Midi apps probably dont un-highlight when you choose another pad etc.
I assume iv bought Surface builder because the midi designer app is for midi faders etc?
So the left keyboard is the top 4 pads/synths/drambo tracks.
The right keyboard is the bottom 4 pads/synths/drambo tracks.
Button 1 of the top row pads will be synth 1.
Button 1 of the bottom row pads will be synth 1.
Both keyboards trigger synth 1.
Button 1 of the top row pads will be synth 1.
Button 2 of the bottom row pads will be synth 2.
The left keyboard triggers synth 1 and the right keyboard triggers synth 2.
Or vice versa and for any keyboard to synth combo.
Alright, I have maybe a stupid question. I played around with creating MIDI buses in AUM and there's something I don't get. I make a new MIDI track but all I can do is add nodes to the bus. Unlike the audio tracks, there's no destination at the bottom, so no summing of the nodes or the MIDI inputs. I do see that the test nodes I added are available in the lists of MIDI sources for internal synths. I see that the MIDI bus nodes offer bindings. Is that it? It seems too simple and not much more than I can already do in the matrix. What am I missing?
Related question: one of the answers to my original quetion in this thread is to bind through MIDI Control rather than directly to the audio node (e.g. a synth). I don't really see what the difference is. I see all the different ways to get at the MIDI controls for a particlular track, but it seems like it's all the same in the end. What am I missing here? What is special about MIDI Control (other than the global commands it offers)?
Another minor annoyance: the manual says I can rename destination nodes in the matrix by clicking on it and entering a new name in the popup window. I can't get that to work either.
I've spent the last couple hours struggling with AUM and only came back here for your help because the AUM manual is cryptic and doesn't give enough detail, and I can't find anything online that helps with these specifics.
Thank you for your patience,
Steve
The purpose of midi busses is to put a layer of abstraction between the incoming midi and the destinations. For example, you can make a bus that routes to synth A and C, another that routes to A and B, another that routes to just B, etc.
Then you can route your controllers to all the busses and bypass the busses you don't want. So, with the busses above, if you want your controller to route to A and C, you would bypass all other busses but the first one. Bypass can be toggled from a midi message.
I probably didn't explain it very well. But the main difference is you don't have control over altering the matrix via midi. With busses you can.
The difference is what handles the control over parameters. Midi controls within an app are handled by the app. Many apps don't offer internal midi mapping. mfxStrip is an example of this. You can't change anything about the parameters by sending midi to the app itself.
Where an app supports controlling its own parameters via midi there's no reason you can't use it. In that case you route the midi directly to the app to exert control.
Many apps don't support such direct parameter control by midi but instead expose "AUv3 Parameters" to the host. In that case the host not the app handles modulating those parameters. So, rather than routing your controls to the app, you route them to the host parameter control system. That's the basic difference between the two routings.
I see what you mean. That seems to be a mistake in the manual if it says that. You can rename channels by tapping at the bottom of the channel. But even then the changed channel name doesn't show as such in the matrix.
No problem, ask all the questions you need to.
You may get more eyes on your questions if you change the thread title. Sure not nearly as many people are familiar with mfxStrip as are experts at AUM routing questions.
You can rename node "short name" and color by tapping the node itself in the channel, not the routing matrix. Those changes do show up in the matrix and can be somewhat helpful, though they're limited to six characters.
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In what way is it hard to get MIDI out of Loopy Pro? If you explain/demonstrate what you mean, I can probably elucidate the situation.
From photo.
Choose target ( midi out ) Set cc and midi ch. It says AUM.
Point loopy at Drambo, in aum matrix.
Set cc and midi ch for the drambo track pads to be mapped.
Dosent trigger.
Just assuming this were the way to send midi out from loopy.
Basically trying to use a loopy pad to trigger the drambo track pad.
Without going from aum parameters.
Maybe the midi wasn’t routed correctly? Midi out from loopy is straightforward. When the target from the AU is MIDI out, Midi will be sent out the loopy AU’s midi port. Maybe you had a routing error.
Did you check with a midi monitor?
Works now thanks.
The midi output command from loopy, needed to be press/release.
Not press.
To trigger the drambo track pad.
So OP shouldnt need surface builder perhaps, if needing custom virtual midi controllers, in aum.
Are you sure that loopy wasn’t sending in press? (I.e. checked in a midi monitor)
Press is what I am using in my example.
It might be that what you are triggering needs to receive two events value 127 and value 0.
Cheers dude.
You have to set to 0 value if sending press as midi out.
Or invert the reciever Drambo buttons midi, instead.
If you send press/release as the midi command.
You dont have to invert either app.
Just clarifying for anyone reading this since I was said earlier that there is a problem with Loopy sending midi cc’s which does not seem to be the case.
It sounds like the issue is about what your receiving app is needing to receive. It is likely that Loopy was sending what you told it to send, but the app you were sending it to needed something other than CC0 value 127.
And for those new to the thread and trying to unwind what it was originally focused on...
@ThinAirX is trying to get to the bottom of some routing questions in AUM, specifically to get back to a working configuration where two hardware synths can flexibly be routed to four soft synths and to be switched on the fly via midi.
The conversation has gone off on some tangents. I don't think @ThinAirX has Drambo to work with. Loopy was mentioned as a possible control surface replacement for Midi Designer Pro 2, but I think the first bridge to cross is getting the AUM routing change mechanism sorted out.
Wim, your explanation of the value of AUM MIDI buses and MIDI control (a few messages above in this thread) is right on. That's the kind of explanation I expected to find in the manual. I'm clear now what to do. Is there an AUM wiki somewhere where you can post that? I change the name of the thread so anybody else struggling with AUM can benefit.