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Hi!

I'd like to use the faders and knobs on my Kawai MP6 to adjust virtual faders and knobs in virtual instruments, such as the ones on the VI labs Ravenscroft 275.
http://www.vilabsaudio.com/image/data/Ravie-full.jpg

Ideally I would get the 4 faders on the MP6 working to each adjust one of the 4 virtual faders on the Ravenscroft that control the 4 mic perspective amounts. I would also love to use the 4 rotary knobs on the MP6 to adjust some of the virutal Ravenscroft knobs, such as the reverb amount and resonance amount.

I'm not sure how to set it up. The Ravenscroft will "learn" any CC you send, but the majority of the faders and knobs on the MP6 are not sending anything by default. You can also manually select a midi CC number in the Ravenscroft instrument...
http://i.imgur.com/rCdkBYM.png?1

Could anyone give some insight into how to set this up correctly?

Thanks!!

I think you need to re-assign those faders or knobs to another CC number in the Kawai, then use the learn function in your software.
I don't have Kawai sorry, but I can do that with my Casio PX-5S. I use a specific "Stage setting" number (for you maybe it is a registration setting), say 99 and then re-assign all the knobs and faders beginning with, say CC21, then saving this setting and use it with Virtual Instruments (It would mostly remember your setting the next time).
Hope this helps till someone with MP6 tells you the exact steps to do in the menu.

chicolom,



Hmmm...I'm not sure to what extent this will be possible.

When set to 'EXT' mode, the MP6's four zone faders send CC#07 (Volume) to the assigned MIDI channel. I'm afraid I do not have access to the Ravenscroft package, but I believe this means that unless you can tell the software to listen for MIDI events on multiple channels (e.g. Mic1 = CC#07 on MIDI Channel 1, Mic2 = CC#07 on MIDI Channel 2, etc.) it may not be possible to control all four mics from the MP6's faders in real time.



This should definitely be possible.

Again, set a zone to 'EXT' mode, then press the ASSIGN button. The CC# values assigned to the four knobs will be shown. To select the CC# for each knob, press and hold the ASSIGN button, turn the knob to set the CC#, then press the ASSIGN button again to return to value control. For more information, please refer to page 32-33 of the MP6 owner's manual.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks for the info!

That advice on the knobs worked perfectly, and I've got them working great. They're flexible and easy to setup.

The faders are a bit trickier.

I've got the Ravenscroft hosted inside the Reaper DAW, and Reaper is set to accept all midi inputs AND all midi channels. I enabled all 4 zones on the Kawai and set all 4 zones to external (on channels 1-4).

Interestingly the Ravenscroft will recognize and "learn" a CC#7 message each from of the four faders on any of the 1-4 midi channels - HOWEVER, the virtual faders will ONLY respond and move when you set the MP6's zone/fader to midi channel 1. Moving the MP6 zone/fader off of channel 1 makes it stop affecting the virtual faders (even though the Ravenscroft was able to "learn" the CC send while they were on the other midi channels).
EDIT: - I just saw UVI's midi was set to A1 (channel 1), I changed it to "omni" and now the MP6 faders will move the ravenscroft faders regardless of what transmit channel they are set to.


Moving a fader on the MP6 moves ALL the Ravenscroft faders simultaneously (despite them having "learned" the CC#07 from a different midi channel). I guess they learn the CC#7 but then don't care which channel sends it - so all the ravenscroft faders get moved if any CC#07 comes in from the Kawai, regardless of the channel.

I'll keep playing with settings in Reaper (the DAW/host) and UVI workstation (the plugin that runs ravenscroft)it but it doesn't seem too hopeful.


Hmm...so is there no way to re-assign the faders to send a midi message OTHER than CC#07 (Volume)?

chicolom, glad to help, even if it's not working entirely as you'd hope.



Yes, that was what I was afraid of. ;(

I wonder if there's any MIDI piping plugin that can take a CC# from one channel and some redirect it as a different CC#?



No, I'm afraid not.

Kind regards,
James
x

OK.

I found a little plugin called "midiConverter3" that seems to do exactly what your talking about.

"Change and convert between CC, Channel Pressure, Poly Aftertouch, Program Change, Pitch Bend, NRPN/RPN, Note On/Off, and other messages in various ways."
http://www.thepiz.org/plugins/?p=pizmidi

It says it can take an input CC# from a particular channel and map it to a different CC#.

I need to figure out how to make the Ravenscroft get that remapped CC# though, as I loaded up the plug and configured it but the Ravenscroft is still getting the CC#7 from the faders. Perhaps some kind of midi routing setting in Reaper...

Yep, I found that too, although the website isn't working for me over here.

I think you're getting close though!

EDIT: I found the project homepage on github and download the archive. I played with the midiConverter3.dll in VSThost and it seems to do the trick.

I'm not sure how to chain more than one instance of the plugin together, though...

James
x

James, which setup on the MP6 would be good for using it as an external midi controller? I seem some that I think would work, like "4CH MIDImaster" and "4 MIDI Zones" (the latter has green lights on the zone ON/OFF buttons, what does the green mean?) Both seem to have the 4 zones set to external on different channels and have the knobs already set to "assign".

Also, are there any other buttons that are usable to send external CC# messages, like any misc. switches, or is it just the 4 knobs?

You can theoretically use any SETUP, provided you configure it correctly.
Some SETUPs may work 'out of the box' for specific sounds, songs, or for controlling MIDI devices.



From page 10 of the owner's manual:

3. ON/OFF buttons
The ON/OFF buttons are used to turn zones ON/OFF. When the button is lit, the zone is active. Normally the button color is red, but when a zone is not using the full keyboard range the color will be green to indicate it.



The foot switch (FSW), expression pedal (EXP), and modulation wheel (MOD) can all send CC#, as explained on pages 46-47 of the owner's manual.

Kind regards,
James
x

Awesome.

Thanks for all the help James!

Chicolom: in Reaper, you could try using the built-in effect "midi_CC_mapper" to convert the CC#7 on each MIDI channel to a different CC on the same channel.
Or, put the midiconverter3 plugin as the first step in your channel and route the Ravenscroft to receive its MIDI input from the output of the plugin