Question on the MB64E groups

[niccob]

Hi,

I am a newcomer to the forum. I am working on a MB64E project to control my Waldorf uQ synth. I have about 70 parameters to address with encoders, plus some others with buttons. Among these parameters, several parameters are of same type. For instance the uQ has 3 oscillators with identical parameters repeated for each one (such as waveform, level, etc.) The same for filters (uQ has 2 filters), envelopes (4) and LFOs (3).

I am trying to figure out how the group notion could help reducing the number of encoders, but I see no real solution. The perfect solution would be to gather encoders by type (oscillators, filters, etc.) and to have a local group selection with a dedicated button, similar to the MB SID interface, but I suspect it would require deep sofware adaptation (for which I am not really skilled). See the attached picture.

Does anybody have already thought about that, and could give me his point of view ?

Thank you for your help.

[stryd_one]

Welcome aboard.

I would write a custom app in C to do this, rather than use the MB64(e). MB64 has lots of features you don't need, and will be harder to customise.

If you get the software to a point where inputs will send valid sysex, I'll give you a hand to group them up. It's not too hard at all, but my motives are entirely selfish; I want to build a controller for a similar synth ;)

[8O]

Hi,

I just wrote something similar in another Waldorf controller thread. This looks like another interesting project! But as in the other thread, my devil's advocate question is: do you really want to reduce the number of encoders? Playing round with my Waldorf synth mapped to a commercial midi controller, and also thinking about building a dedicated midibox control for it, I would be thinking about giving as many of the parameters as possible their own dedicated knob/button. It means more knobs = more cost, but I recommend thinking about the extra usability it will bring.

Just an idea! Feel free to ignore completely!  ;D

[niccob]

Thank you for the answers.

8O, I am OK with you, reducing the number of pots can virtually limit creativity. But anyway you only have two hands ! Seriously, I want to reduce the number of controllers for 3 reasons: not to exceed the 128 allowed digital inputs, to reduce the size of the interface, and for the cost as well.

Stryd, I think I could start from the MB64E application, and simplify it in a first approach. To group encoders/buttons/leds by sections, I see two steps:

First, when you press a selection button the app must increment the selection (eg. [tt]SEL_FILTER++;[/tt]) or return to 1 when arrived at the last one ([tt]if (SEL_FILTER>MAX_FILTER){SEL_FILTER=1;}[/tt])

Second, when the app captures an encoder or button event, the actual action depends on the selection of the section it belongs to. For instance, the "cutoff" encoder is moved in the "filter" section, the ctrl# used to send the value depends on the selected filter (values from the microQ doc):

int iCtrlNb;
switch (SEL_FILTER)
    {
    case '1': iCtrlNb = 69;break;
    case '2': iCtrlNb = 80;break;
    default: break;
    }

Am i on the right way ?

I am waiting for a CORE and a DIN kits from SmashTV, and I could experiment a bit!

[stryd_one]

Am i on the right way ?

No - MB64 is written in ASM. That's why I suggested C ;)