I’m starting to wrap my head around the idea that MIDI data that is consumed by a widget is not passed any further, but am running into a problem as a result.
Scenario:
Weighted controller has a sus pedal (CC64). This is a Yamaha pedal that transmits 0-127, enabling half pedal and general continuous controller usage.
-primary function is sustain for Ivory, notes coming from the same controller
-secondary function is mapping to delay feedback controls for an oboe, notes coming from a second keyboard controller.
If I use the CC64 values with a widget, then they are not passed to any other plugin without explicitly mapping them. If I try to map the CC64 value to a plugin parameter in Ivory, it is not al all clear which one it should be. There is no sustain pedal in the Ivory GUI to “learn”. It would be helpful to simply be able to pass the data to Ivory as CC64, but that is not in the parameter list.
Unfortunately, the enumerated parameter list for many plugins is quite cryptic when displayed in GP and frequently requires trial and error of quite a long list in hopes of finding the ambiguously named parameter of interest:
(The parameter enumeration of Kontakt 5 is almost unusable)
Somehow, Forte is able to add a little specificity to the parameter names (db becomes Gain or Synth Gain, for example) and also presents a window where all are visible:
As it happens, CC64 is the only CC message that you shouldn’t associate with a widget and that’s specifically because CC64 is used to handle Patch Persist and because it turns out that numerous plugins, for some totally bizarre reason that none of us understand, do not provide host automation for sustain.
Having said that, if you want a Widget to send values for an arbitrary CC number into a plugin, it’s trivial to do that. Simply create a new MidiIn Block (use an OSC block as those are not tied into a specific MIDI device) and and assign the widget to a CC parameter through that MidiIn Block’s host automation list. If you connect that new Block to your plugin, the CC value will go through.
That’s a very useful feature. From the plugin side, if you right-click on a knob in Ivory, a dropdown menu will appear, allowing you assign a CC# to it.
Interesting. I just tried the rt-click method and get no response in Ivory. This is true of GP and Forte, so appears to be a Windows issue. That said, if I could access sustain in the Ivory UI, I could probably use host automation and just learn the parameter in GP. There are a number of pedal-related parameters, but not the pedal itself as far as I can tell.
I’ll keep in mind the method to send arbitrary CC values, though I definitely prefer the host automation route. That said, my original problem remains, the inability to scale the CC64 values being sent to a plugin. I haven’t thought through the ramifications, but it seems like the ability to selectively tee the CC signal might be a solution. Since the “arbitrary CC” method you propose still captures CC64, it doesn’t help in this situation.
For now, I have a workaround of learning the CC in the plugin, but it has limited options for setting limits–I can scale the amplitude of the mod values, but setting a specific minimum value isn’t an option.
i just tested this on my home setup using a different computer.There is no RMB functionality in Ivory 2.5.2 on it, either. Both computers use Windows 10 Pro and are generally up-to-date. It would be truly ironic if the RMB menus were Mac only.
