MIDI programming (PC/CC, not sequencing) - anyone done it?

TimmyO

How possible is it to DIY a multi footswitch to send midi commands? Do the tools exist to make that possible or do the likes of Damage Control have to do some seriously serious stuff to develop their products ? 

Sporky

I am doing it currently - basically I wanted a separate set of footswitches to control the looping functions on the Helix.

There are quite a few options depending on how DIY you want to be. MIDI CPU is one; very flexible but requires programming by sending it SYSEX. That said there's a forum full of people who will write the SYSEX for you as long as you can clearly explain what each switch should do and when each LED should light.

I've gone down the MIDuino route - basically an Arduino with a MIDI daughterboard and custom firmware. For €60 I got the boards and a custom written config that sends the correct MIDI CCs, and also generates MIDI Clock for the Source Audio Reflex based on the tap-tempo switch on the Helix.

I've then resprayed a TC Helicon Switch 6, stuck some custom-made vinyl labels on, drilled out the jack hole to take a 7-way connector, made up a link cable and the next job is to house the MIDuino in a Hammond enclosure.

Total outlay is going to be somewhere around £140. Going the MIDICPU route or DIYing the code would reduce costs, and there are cheaper footswitches to base it on.

TimmyO

Fantastic - thanks Andi - exactly the kind of starting info I was looking for :-) 

Sporky

MIDICPU here - http://www.midicpu.com/

My MIDUino was from here:

http://www.midikits.net/

Had some initial issues where my MIDI-OX on my PC could see all the messages being send correctly, but the Helix wouldn't respond to them at all reliably. Tom went through a load of checks with me and ended up rewriting the code from scratch to get it to work. As far as I could tell it was a Helix issue (if there was another device in between it worked OK) but all works now.

I'll post some pictures once it's all up and running.

normula1

The MIDI CPU forum is very good. The amp and FX switchers I've built were based on another of their products which had now been superseded by the MIDI widget but was relatively simple.

If you need to do it yourself the SYSEX itself isn't too hard either once you get your head around it and as Sporky mentions John and the rest of the forum are really helpful

Sporky

The LED support on the MIDI CPU looks really good too - the MIDunio is a bit simpler in that respect.

On the other hand, being Arduino based means more scope (I believe) for complex behaviours - such as mine, which takes CC14 from the Helix's tap-tempo footswitch, times the pulses and generates synchronised MIDI clock messages to drive the Reflex. Both good solutions.

The Damage Control stuff looks very capable too, but I don't think it can hit the same complexity as either of these two DIY solutions.

Drew_TNBD

I've got a Midi CPU and put together a quick midi footswitch. Actually I'm going to be redoing it soon, so I can have a single switch that will bypass all my strymon pedals at once.