Basic bindings to mixer

One thing I am frustrated a bit about is the inability to directly map midi controls to the stock plugins (gain controls, mixer, audio file player) without having to build a widget first and connect the functionality via controller -> widget -> plugin.

Am i missing something obvious that would get around doing this?

If not, it would be amazing if the widgets came with a pallet of pre-built tools that exactly resemble the built in plugins main functions.

bk

There are 40 different assignable functions on the built in Audio File Player. Even if there were some graphical widget-template of that player that you could drag into a panel, you’d still have to manually assign each one of the parameters that were pertinent to you. No way would you want all those controls auto-assigned to a MIDI parameter when most likely you only would use a handful of them.

I could see maybe the gain controls and the mixers having their own widget-templates. You’d still have to manually assign the controls on each of those, which is the same procedure you go through now.

right… so I think that is what I am getting at… it would be much less time consuming to recreate the UI of the mixer into widget format if at least those things were templatized.

You’d still need to map them to the external midi controller sure… but perhaps the function to widget mapping could be ‘bundled’ so the 16ch mixer widget was auto mapped to the 16ch mixer functions 1:1.

Or… put the bindings directly inside the plugin… then just use midi inputs and midi filters to adjust the external device to the bindings or have those bindings be editable within the plugin themselves.

For a lot of things, the widgets are cool, powerful and all you need… but for others it seems like an unnecessary layer that is very time consuming to setup.

You’re not supposed to be able to get around this. The indirection that widgets buy you (i.e, they sit between incoming MIDI on one side and plugin parameters on the other side) is a key piece of functionality.

Consider what would happen if you map your keyboard MIDI controls directly to plugin parameters. Sounds great until you show up at a gig and someone hands you a completely different MIDI controller!

For a long list of reasons why you should not do this, see the following blog article

https://gigperformer.com/use-host-automation-rather-than-midi-to-control-plugin-parameters/

Yeah, it’s a bit more work, but it buys you a lot

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here’s my use study if you will…

using a nanoKontrol2, I want to set up an 8 ch stereo mixer. Faders on the korg will control sends from an 8ch mixer out 1&2… rotary controls at the top of each channel on the korg will control sends from a parallel 8 ch mixer out interface 3&4. Idea here is the rotary are aux sends, the faders main mix… so I can control two different mixes from various vst’s and some input audio as well for a personal monitor mix and what I send to FOH.

I have to make a mixer GUI in widgets, then assign all the points in the mixer plugins then map all the surface controls.

Except… my nanoKontrol2 transmits CC0 for fader 1… and I can’t use a midi filter because I am not routing it’s midi output into a plugin… I am only mapping it to the widget and it will not learn CC0.

So here if the mixer plugin could take a midi input (and a direct binding that is editable)… problem solved.

Unless there is another way around this?

EDIT: I tried using rig manager to create “fader 1” which it would learn from the physical fader on the korg despite being cc0… but when I midi assign that “fader 1” to a widget… i get no control. it’s still blocking cc0.

EDIT: Solved the cc0 with the korg editor.

You are aware that you can save a panel as a template and load it into whatever rackspace you want?
This way ypu have to define once your widgets and MIDI mappings and you only need to map the widgets to you plugins.

As per pianopaul’s suggestion, I too use a template approach. I realise this is a slightly different use case, but in my case I wanted a consistent set of widgets that always mapped to my keyboard no matter what plugin I was using. I use a Keylab88 and spent a long time creating a template of every knob/slider switch the keyboard has and have laid it out so that its arranged as per my keyboard. After I import this, all that remains it to decide how I want to map my plug ins. I load this up and half the job is already done… all that remains is mapping to the plug in and cleaning up any widgets I don’t need

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